ArDarius Stewart (born December 8, 1993) is a professional

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

wide receiver who is a free agent. 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 ...

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

, and was drafted by the

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

in the third round of 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 ...

Early years

Stewart attended

Fultondale High School Fultondale High School is a combined middle school and high school in the Birmingham, Alabama suburb of Fultondale. It is one of fourteen high schools in the Jefferson County School System. School colors are navy blue and Burnt orange, and the a ...

Fultondale, Alabama Fultondale is a city in Jefferson County, Alabama, United States and a northern suburb of Birmingham. As of the 2010 census, the population of the city is 8,380. History Fulton was a mining town in the 1900s. Fulton was incorporated in 1947. T ...

, a suburb outside of

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, where he played on the Wildcats

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

team. He played

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

, and wide receiver in high school. Stewart committed to the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...

to play college football under head coach

Nick Saban Nicholas Lou Saban Jr. (; born October 31, 1951) is an American football coach who has been the head football coach at the University of Alabama since 2007. Saban previously served as head coach of the National Football League's Miami Dolphins ...

College career

After redshirting his first year at Alabama in 2013, Stewart played in 13 games with two starts in 2014 and recorded 12 receptions for 149 yards. As a sophomore in 2015, he played in all 15 games, recording 63 receptions for 700 yards and four touchdowns. As a junior, he had 54 receptions for 864 yards and nine touchdowns. After the season, Stewart decided to forgo his senior year and enter the

Professional career

New York Jets

Stewart was drafted by the

in the third round (79th overall) of the

. On May 25, 2017, Stewart signed a four-year deal with the Jets worth $3.25 million. On September 10, 2017, Stewart made his NFL debut. He had two receptions for 10 yards in the 21–12 loss to the

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

. Overall, in his rookie season, he finished with six receptions for 82 receiving yards in 15 games. On July 27, 2018, Stewart was suspended for the first two games of the 2018 regular season for violating the NFL policy on performance-enhancing substances. He was waived by the Jets on September 19, 2018 and was re-signed to the practice squad. He was released on October 5, 2018.

Oakland Raiders

On November 14, 2018, Stewart was signed to the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

practice squad. He was released on November 28, 2018.

Washington Redskins

The

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

signed Stewart to their practice squad on December 26, 2018. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Redskins on December 31, 2018. The Redskins waived him on January 7, 2019.

Winnipeg Blue Bombers

On February 27, 2020, Stewart signed with the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West division. They play their home games at IG Fiel ...

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 ...

BC Lions

On March 14, 2022, Stewart signed with the

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions played their first season ...

of the

. He was released on May 30, 2022.

DC Defenders

Stewart was assigned to the

DC Defenders The DC Defenders are a professional American football team based in Washington, D.C. The team was founded by Vince McMahon’s Alpha Entertainment and is an owned-and-operated member of the new XFL owned by Dwayne Johnson’s Alpha Acquico. The ...

of the

XFL XFL may refer to: Sports * XFL (2001), a defunct American football league that played its only season in 2001 * XFL (2020), a professional American football league Vehicles * Bell XFL Airabonita, a 1940 U.S. Navy experimental interceptor aircra ...

on January 6, 2023. He was removed from the teams roster on January 23, 2023.

References

External links

Alabama Crimson Tide bio

New York Jets bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Ardarius 1993 births Living people Alabama Crimson Tide football players American football wide receivers DC Defenders players New York Jets players Oakland Raiders players Players of American football from Jefferson County, Alabama Washington Redskins players