Golladay attended and played high school football at Chicago's St. Rita High School.
College career
North Dakota
Golladay began his collegiate career at North Dakota in 2012. As a freshman, Golladay had 30 catches for 429 yards and a touchdown. In his sophomore season in 2013, Golladay had a breakout year with a team-high 69 catches for 884 yards and eight touchdowns.
Northern Illinois
After two seasons at North Dakota, Golladay transferred to Northern Illinois in 2014. He had to sit out one season per NCAA transfer rules. As a junior, Golladay had 73 catches for 1,129 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2015. In his final collegiate season, Golladay had 87 catches for 1,156 yards and eight touchdowns in 2016.
Professional career
On December 23, 2016, it was announced that Golladay had accepted his invitation to play in the 2017 East–West Shrine Game but was not able to play after he suffered an elbow injury during Senior Bowl practice. He was one of 58 collegiate wide receivers to attend the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Indiana. Golladay had a mediocre performance as he finished 20th among all wide receivers in the 40-yard dash and 26th in the three-cone drill. On March 10, 2017, Golladay attended Northern Illinois' pro day, but opted to stand on his combine numbers and only performed positional drills. He performed well and caught every pass as scouts and team representatives from 18 NFL teams attended. Although 13 other prospects attended, Golladay was the featured prospect at the Huskies' pro day. He attended private workouts and visits with the Green Bay Packers, Detroit Lions, Pittsburgh Steelers, and New Orleans Saints. At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Golladay was projected to be a fourth or fifth round pick by NFL draft experts and scouts. He was ranked the 21st best wide receiver in the draft by NFLDraftScout.com. The Detroit Lions selected Golladay in the third round of the 2017 NFL Draft. He was the 12th wide receiver selected in 2017 and became the 39th player drafted from Northern Illinois as well as the sixth highest selection in school history.
2017
On June 19, 2017, the Detroit Lions signed Golladay to a four-year, $3.19 million contract that includes a signing bonus $718,824. Throughout training camp, Golladay competed against T. J. Jones, Keshawn Martin, Jared Abbrederis, and Ryan Spadola for third wide receiver role. Golladay made his NFL debut in the Detroit Lions' first preseason game at the Indianapolis Colts and caught three passes for 53 receiving yards and two touchdowns in their 24-10 victory. His first preseason touchdown came on a 23-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jake Rudock in the first quarter. Head coach Jim Caldwell named Golladay the third wide receiver on the depth chart, behind Golden Tate and Marvin Jones. He made his professional regular season debut in the Detroit Lions' season-opener against the Arizona Cardinals and made four receptions for 69 yards and two touchdowns in the Lions' 35–23 victory. His first career touchdown came on a 10-yard pass from Matt Stafford in the fourth quarter and he also caught a 45-yard reception to seal the game. Golladay missed five games after suffering a strained hamstring. On December 3, 2017, Golladay earned his first career start and caught two passes for 44 yards in the Lions' 44–20 loss at the Baltimore Ravens. The next week, he had the first carry of his career for a nine-yard gain and had three receptions for 17 receiving yards in a 24–21 win at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. in Week 17, Golladay caught two passes for a season-high 80 yards and scored a 54-yard touchdown during a 35-11 victory at the Green Bay Packers. Golladay finished the season with 28 receptions for 477 receiving yards and three touchdown receptions in 11 games and five starts. Detroit Lions finished second in the NFC North with a 9-7 record and fired head coach Jim Caldwell at the end of the season.
2018
With new head coach Matt Patricia, Golladay started his second professional season off strong with seven receptions for 114 yards in a losing effort to the New York Jets in the season opener on Monday Night Football. After the loss to the Jets, he scored a receiving touchdown in three of the following four games. He finished the season as the Lions' leading receiver with 70 receptions for 1,063 yards and five touchdowns.
2019
In Week 2 against the Los Angeles Chargers, Golladay caught eight passes for 117 yards and a touchdown as the Lions won 13-10. In Week 4 against the Kansas City Chiefs, Golladay caught five passes for 67 yards and two touchdowns in the 34-30 loss. In Week 6 against the Green Bay Packers, Golladay caught five passes for 121 yards in the 23-22 loss. In Week 8 against the New York Giants, Golladay caught six passes for 123 yards and two touchdowns in the 31-26 win. In Week 9 against the Oakland Raiders, Golladay caught four passes for a season high 132 yards and a touchdown in the 31–24 loss. During the Thanksgiving Series against the Chicago Bears in Week 13, Golladay finished with 158 receiving yards on only four receptions, with one of them being a 75-yard touchdown. The Lions lost 24-20. Golladay was selected to his first Pro Bowl at the end of the season. He finished the 2019 season with 65 receptions for 1,190 receiving yards and a league-leading 11 receiving touchdowns.
2020
Golladay was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list by the Lions on July 29, 2020.
