Christian Josiah Olave ( ; born June 27, 2000) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

wide receiver for the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He played college football at

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

, where he holds the school record of most career touchdown receptions at 35. Olave was drafted by the Saints in the first round of the

2022 NFL Draft The 2022 NFL Draft was the 87th edition of the National Football League's annual draft and was held from April 28–30, 2022, at the Caesars Forum on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The first round was held on Thursday, April 28, and ...

High school career

Of Cuban descent on his father's side and African-American on his mother's, Olave was born on June 27, 2000, in

San Ysidro, California San Ysidro (Spanish for " St. Isidore", ) is a district of the City of San Diego, immediately north of the Mexico–United States border. It neighbors Otay Mesa West to the north, Otay Mesa to the east, and Nestor and the Tijuana River Valley ...

. He played football at Eastlake High School in

Chula Vista Chula Vista (; ) is the second-largest city in the San Diego metropolitan area, the seventh largest city in Southern California, the fifteenth largest city in the state of California, and the 78th-largest city in the United States. The popu ...

for two seasons before transferring to

Mission Hills High School Mission Hills High School is a high school located in San Marcos, California. It first opened in August 2004 on of land that was previously part of the local Hollandia dairy. It has many career-oriented programs, such as the Academies of Busin ...

San Marcos, California San Marcos ( ; Spanish for " St. Mark") is a city in the North County region of San Diego County, California. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 94,833. It is the site of California State University San Marcos. The city is borde ...

. He had to sit out his junior year due to

California Interscholastic Federation The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) is the governing body for high school sports in the U.S. state of California. CIF membership includes both public and private high schools. Unlike most other state organizations, it does not have a ...

transfer rules. During his senior season, Olave caught 93 passes for 1,764 yards and 26 touchdowns. He was also a member of the school's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

and track teams. He committed to

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

in January 2018.

College career

As a freshman at

, Olave played on both offense and special teams. He recorded 12 catches for 197 yards and three touchdowns during his debut season. During the 2018 match up against

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

, he was able to bring in two touchdowns and block a punt in the 62–39 Ohio State win. The following week in the 2018 Big Ten Football Championship Game, he caught five passes for 79 yards and a touchdown against Northwestern. Following the 2021 season, Olave announced that he would be opting out of the

2022 Rose Bowl The 2022 Rose Bowl was a college football bowl game played on January 1, 2022, with kickoff at 5:13 p.m. EST (2:13 p.m. local PST) and televised on ESPN. It was the 108th edition of the Rose Bowl Game, and was one of the 2021–22 bowl games co ...

in order to prepare for the

Professional career

Olave was drafted by the

in the first round (11th overall) of the

2022 season

Olave made his NFL debut in Week 1 against the Atlanta Falcons with three receptions for 41 yards and a two-point conversion in the 27–26 victory. In Week 3, against the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. ...

, Olave had nine receptions for 147 yards. In Week 4, against the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...

, he had his first professional touchdown reception on a four-yard reception from

Andy Dalton Andrew Gregory Dalton (born October 29, 1987) is an American football quarterback for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). Nicknamed "Red Rifle", Dalton previously played for the Cincinnati Bengals, Dallas Cowboys, and ...

References

External links

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New Orleans Saints bioOhio State Buckeyes bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Olave, Chris 2000 births Living people People from San Marcos, California Sportspeople from San Diego County, California Players of American football from California American football wide receivers Ohio State Buckeyes football players All-American college football players New Orleans Saints players American sportspeople of Mexican descent