Michael Joseph (born March 19, 1995) is an American football cornerback for the DC Defenders of the XFL. He played college football at Dubuque, and has also played for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League. He signed with the Bears as an undrafted free agent in 2018.

Early life and high school career

Joseph grew up in Oswego, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. Joseph barely played at Oswego High School in his hometown, never making a start and barely recording any stats in four years. One story said Joseph made nine tackles as a senior for the Panthers. “It was probably somewhere between six to nine tackles in my whole high school career,” Joseph said later before the North practice at Ladd-Peebles Stadium for the Senior Bowl in 2018.

College career

Some small schools were interested, and Joseph committed to play college football at Dubuque, a Division III school located about five miles away from the Iowa-Illinois border and only has about 2,200 students. Joseph had family ties to the Spartans as his cousin Bridget Hosley ran track there. He was only about 5'11' and 150 pounds as a freshman, so the Spartans put Joseph on the program's developmental squad before being called up to the roster later in the year. Starting as a sophomore in 2015, Joseph would make three straight All-Iowa Conference teams. In 2017, Joseph won the Cliff Harris Award as the best small-college defender. He was the only D-III player at the 2018 Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama.

Professional career

After a stellar output at the 2018 Senior Bowl, Joseph was a projected Round 6 or 7 prospect in the 2018 NFL Draft.

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