Amba Etta-Tawo (born November 10, 1993) is a

gridiron football Gridiron football,"Gridiron football"
''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Ret ...

Ottawa Redblacks The Ottawa Redblacks (officially stylized as REDBLACKS) ( French: Le Rouge et Noir d'Ottawa) are a professional Canadian football team based in Ottawa, Ontario. The team plays in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). Startin ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

(CFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

from 2012 to 2015 and at

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

in 2016.

College career

Maryland

Etta-Tawo began attending

in 2012 and redshirted his first season. On August 31, 2013, Etta-Tawo made his collegiate debut and caught first career touchdown reception in a 43–10 victory over

FIU Florida International University (FIU) is a public research university with its main campus in Miami-Dade County. Founded in 1965, the school opened its doors to students in 1972. FIU has grown to become the third-largest university in Florida ...

. On October 13, 2013, Etta-Tawo caught a season-high six passes for a career-high 109 receiving yards during a 34–10 loss to Wake Forest. On November 23, 2013, he made four receptions for 57-yards and a touchdown during a 29–26 loss to

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

. The following week, Etta-Tawo caught four passes for 106 receiving yards in a 41–21 victory over

NC State North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The university ...

. He played in 12 games with seven starts with 32 receptions for 500-yards and two touchdowns. Etta-Tawo returned in 2014 and played in 13 games, while starting the last six. On October 18, 2014, he caught a season-high three passes for 46-yards during a 38–31 victory to

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

. On November 29, 2018, Etta-Tawo caught a career-long 71-yard touchdown pass in Maryland's 41–38 loss to

Rutgers Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was a ...

. He finished the season with ten receptions for 220 receiving yards and one touchdown. He started the first two games of the 2015 season before being used as a reserve for the remainder of the season. On September 12, 2015, Etta-Tawo caught a season-high five receptions for 49-yards during a 48–27 loss to

Bowling Green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep on ...

. On November 14, 2015, Etta-Tawo tied his season-high of five receptions and also had a season-high of 63 receiving yards in a 24–7 loss to

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

. Etta-Tawo completed the season with 20 receptions for 216 receiving yards and zero touchdowns in 12 games and two starts. Head coach

Randy Edsall Randy Douglas Edsall (born August 27, 1958) is a retired American football coach, formerly the head football coach at the University of Connecticut from 1999 to 2010 and again from 2017 until his abrupt retirement in 2021. He also served as the h ...

was fired after Maryland started the season 2–4 and was replaced by

D. J. Durkin Daniel John Durkin (born January 15, 1978) is an American football coach, who is currently the defensive coordinator at Texas A&M. He is the former co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at the University of Mississippi ( Ole Miss) and he ...

when he announced his arrival with Maryland. On March 1, 2016, Etta-Tawo announced via

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

his intention to transfer schools for the upcoming 2016 season after graduating in May.

Syracuse

On March 23, 2016, Etta-Tawo announced via

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

that he had officially transferred to

as a graduate transfer. He opted to transfer after having his playing time decreased and falling on Maryland's depth chart. On September 2, 2016, Etta-Tawo made his official Syracuse Orange debut, catching a 12 passes for 210 receiving yards and a touchdown during a 33–7 routing over FCS's Colgate. On September 24, 2016, he made 12 receptions for a career-high 270 receiving yards and two touchdown receptions in Syracuse's 31–24 win over

UConn The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Ha ...

. On November 26, 2016, Etta-Tawo had a career-high 13 receptions for 178 receiving yards and a career-high five touchdown receptions during a 76–61 loss to

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

. He finished his only season under Syracuse head coach

Dino Babers Dino Sean Babers (born July 19, 1961) is an American football coach who is the current head football coach at Syracuse University. He was head coach at Bowling Green State University from 2014 to 2015. Prior to that, Babers had been head coach at ...

with 94 receptions for 1,482 receiving yards and 14 receiving touchdowns in 12 games and 12 starts. He led all ACC receivers with seven games with over 100+ receiving yards and set a Syracuse school record. His 14 receiving touchdowns tied Tommy Kane's school record set in 1987. His 1,482 receiving yards ranked eighth in the FBS and second in any power five conference behind only Oklahoma's

Dede Westbrook Decrick De'Shawn "Dede" Westbrook (; born November 21, 1993) is an American football wide receiver and return specialist who is a free agent. He played college football at Oklahoma. He was drafted 110th overall in the 2017 NFL Draft by the Jacks ...

(1,524). He was voted team captain at the end of the season and finished being ranked as the 15th best college player and second best wide receiver in the nation by

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

Professional career

On November 8, 2016, it was announced that Etta-Tawo had received an invitation to appear in the

2017 Senior Bowl The 2017 Senior Bowl was an all-star college football exhibition game featuring players from the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season, and prospects for the 2017 Draft of the professional National Football League (NFL). The game concluded th ...

. Etta-Tawo impressed scouts and teams during Senior Bowl practices and met with multiple team representatives, including Minnesota Vikings' head coach

Mike Zimmer Michael Zimmer (born June 5, 1956) is an American football coach for the Colorado Buffaloes football, Colorado Buffaloes. Prior to this, Zimmer was with Jackson State Tigers football, Jackson State, both college programs being led by Deion Sande ...

. Unfortunately, Etta-Tawo was unable to play in the Reese's Senior Bowl after dislocating a finger in practice. He was one of 57 collegiate wide receivers to attend the

NFL Scouting Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Footb ...

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mari ...

. He completed all of the combine drills and finished 17th among his position group at the

40-yard dash The 40-yard dash is a sprint covering . It is primarily run to evaluate the speed and acceleration of American football players by scouts, particularly for the NFL Draft but also for collegiate recruiting. A player's recorded time can have a he ...

. On March 20, 2017, he attended Syracuse's pro day, along with 11 other prospects. Scouts and team representatives from 16 NFL and two CFL teams attended to scout Etta-Tawo as Syracuse's top prospect at the event. He weighed in five pounds lighter and ran the majority of combine drills again. He was clocked by officials running a 4.35s in the 40-yard dash that would've ranked third among wide receivers at the combine, behind only Washington's John Ross (4.22s) and Ohio State's

Curtis Samuel Curtis Samuel (born August 11, 1996) is an American football wide receiver for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Ohio State, where he was a member of the team that won the 2015 Colle ...

(4.33s). He also ran positional and receiving drills, running NFL routes and catching passes from former Syracuse quarterback Terrel Hunt. At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, he was projected as a fifth to seventh round pick by NFL draft experts and scouts. He was ranked the 26th best wide receiver by

CBS Sports CBS Sports is the sports division of the American television network CBS. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on W 52nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS Broadcast Center on W 5 ...

and the 31st best wide receiver prospect by NFLDraftScout.com.

Jacksonville Jaguars

On April 30, 2017, the Jacksonville Jaguars signed Etta-Tawo to a three-year, $1.66 million contract as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

after he went unselected in the

2017 NFL Draft The 2017 NFL Draft was the 82nd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. It was held in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art on April 27–29, returning to Philadelphia f ...

. Multiple NFL teams contacted him immediately after the drafted concluded, but Etta-Tawo stated he ultimately chose the Jaguars due to their wide receivers coach

Keenan McCardell Keenan Wayne McCardell (; born January 6, 1970) is an American football coach and former wide receiver who is the wide receivers coach for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as the wide receivers c ...

, who he previously had played under at Maryland. On September 3, 2017, the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...

signed Etta-Tawo to their practice squad. Throughout training camp, Etta-Tawo competed for a roster spot against

Arrelious Benn Arrelious Markus Benn (born September 8, 1988) is a former American football wide receiver. He was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the second round of the 2010 NFL Draft. He played college football for the University of Illinois Fightin ...

, Larry Pinkard,

Jamal Robinson Jamal Tyrone Robinson (born December 27, 1973) is an American retired basketball small forward who played one season in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Miami Heat during the 2000–01 season. Born in Queens, New York ...

, Shane Wynn,

Keelan Cole Keelan Lawrence Cole Sr. (born April 20, 1993) is an American football wide receiver for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He was signed by the Jacksonville Jaguars as an undrafted free agent after the 2017 NFL Draft. ...

, and Kenneth Walker III. On September 19, 2017, the Jaguars released Etta-Tawo from their practice squad.

Kansas City Chiefs

On October 11, 2017, the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

signed Etta-Tawo to their practice squad. On November 16, 2017, he was released by the Chiefs.

New York Giants (first stint)

On December 20, 2017, the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

signed Etta-Tawo to their practice squad. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Giants on January 1, 2018. On September 1, 2018, Etta-Tawo was waived by the Giants. He was re-signed to the practice squad on September 26, 2018. He was released on October 4, 2018.

Houston Texans

On December 12, 2018, the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...

signed Etta-Tawo to their practice squad.

Birmingham Iron

On November 9, 2018, Etta-Tawo signed with the

Birmingham Iron The Birmingham Iron were a professional American football franchise based in Birmingham, Alabama, and one of the eight members of the Alliance of American Football (AAF), which played one season from February 2019 to April 2019. They played thei ...

of the

Alliance of American Football The Alliance of American Football (AAF) was a professional American football minor league. The AAF consisted of eight centrally owned and operated teams in the southern and western United States, seven of which were located in metropolitan are ...

. After his practice squad contract expired with the Texans at the end of the

2018 NFL season The 2018 NFL season was the 99th season of the National Football League (NFL) and the 53rd of the Super Bowl era. The season began on September 6, 2018, with the NFL Kickoff Game with defending Super Bowl LII champion Philadelphia defeating At ...

, he was signed to the Iron's active roster on January 15, 2019.

New York Giants (second stint)

On July 27, 2019, Etta-Tawo re-signed with the Giants due to injuries to

Sterling Shepard Sterling Clay Shepard (born February 10, 1993) is an American football wide receiver for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Oklahoma. Shepard was drafted by the Giants in the second round of ...

Darius Slayton Darius Slayton (born January 12, 1997) is an American football wide receiver for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Auburn and was drafted by the Giants in the fifth round of the 2019 NFL ...

, and

Corey Coleman Corey Defians Coleman (born July 6, 1994) is an American football wide receiver for the Philadelphia Stars of the United States Football League (USFL). He played college football at Baylor and was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the first ...

plus

Golden Tate Golden Herman Tate III (born August 2, 1988) is an American baseball player and former football wide receiver who is currently a center fielder for the Port Angeles Lefties of the West Coast League (WCL). He played college football at Notre D ...

facing a suspension. He suffered a torn Achilles in practice and was ruled out for the season.

Ottawa Redblacks

Etta-Tawo signed with the

of the CFL on December 14, 2020. He was placed on the suspended list on July 12, 2021.

References

External links

Syracuse Orange football bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Etta-Tawo, Amba 1993 births Living people American people of Omani descent People from Muscat, Oman People from Powder Springs, Georgia Sportspeople from Cobb County, Georgia Players of American football from Georgia (U.S. state) Omani players of American football American football wide receivers Maryland Terrapins football players Syracuse Orange football players Jacksonville Jaguars players Kansas City Chiefs players New York Giants players Houston Texans players Birmingham Iron players Ottawa Redblacks players