Ethan W. Fernea (born March 2, 1998) 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 with ...

wide receiver for the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

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 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 ...

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

before signing with the

in 2022.

Early life and education

Fernea was born on March 2, 1998, in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

. He attended

Dripping Springs High School Dripping Springs High School is a comprehensive public high school in Dripping Springs, TX, located in Hays County, Texas. The only high school in the Dripping Springs Independent School District, it contains grades 9, 10, 11, and 12. Its enrollm ...

and was a three-time

varsity letter A varsity letter (or monogram) is an award earned in the United States for excellence in school activities. A varsity letter signifies that its recipient was a qualified varsity team member, awarded after a certain standard was met. Description ...

winner in football, where he played on both offense and defense. He earned first-team All-District on both sides of the field and was also a third-team All-CenTex selection. Additionally, he played three seasons of

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

, earning All-District and All-CenTex honors, and three years of

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

. After graduating from high school, Fernea was lightly recruited. Although he received a

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

offer from

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...

, he declined, stating he wanted to play at a higher level. Around Christmas 2015, Fernea's father and uncle visited a friend who was the father of Robbie Paton, a UCLA recruiter. They showed highlights of Fernea to him, and the tape eventually made its way to the UCLA staff, who offered Fernea a chance to make the team as a

walk-on Walk On may refer to: Music * ''Walk On'', a 1994 album by Boston, and its title song Albums * ''Walk On'' (Boston album), 1994 * ''Walk On'' (John Hiatt album), 1995 * ''Walk On'' (Randy Johnston album), 1992 *''Walk On'', a 2007 album by ...

College career

Fernea made the team at UCLA but was initially buried on the depth chart, only seeing action on

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

. He appeared in one game as a true freshman in 2016 and eight games for the team in 2017, before playing in all 12 games in 2018. He began seeing his first action on offense in 2018 and made two receptions. Having impressed coach Chip Kelly, Fernea was given a scholarship for the 2019 season, despite having suffered a broken leg during spring camp. He recovered, and in the fall, was given the number 36, a tribute to the late Nick Pasquale, a UCLA football walk-on who died in a 2013 traffic accident. In a game against

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

, Fernea caught a 45-yard

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

, the first score of his college career. He finished the season having appeared in all 12 games with two starts (against Colorado and

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

). In 2020, Fernea's primary position was changed from wide receiver to

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 ...

. In a game against rival

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

, he recorded a 33-yard receiving touchdown. He finished the shortened season with six games played and one special teams tackle, while having the highest yards-per-catch average on the team for players with more than one reception. Fernea was given an extra year of eligibility due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

and opted to return to the team in 2021. In his sixth and final season of college football, he played in 11 games, with 10 rushes for 82 yards and one touchdown, which came against USC at the end of a 62–33 blowout win for the Bruins. At the end of the year, he won the Tommy Prothro Award for "excellence on special teams."

Professional career

Despite his relative lack of playing time in college, Fernea was signed by the

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 going unselected in 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 w ...

. He converted back to wide receiver in training camp, but had an insignificant impact in preseason and was waived during final roster cuts on August 30. However, one day after being released, Fernea was re-signed to the Colts'

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

. He was activated from the practice squad for the team's Week Seven game against the Tennessee Titans, and made his NFL debut in the 10–19 loss, appearing on 10 combined offense and special teams snaps. He signed a reserve/future contract on January 27, 2023. He was placed on injured reserve on August 5, 2023, and was waived with an injury settlement five days later. He was signed to the practice squad on December 1, 2023. He signed a reserve/future contract on January 8, 2024.

References

External links

Indianapolis Colts bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fernea, Ethan 1998 births Living people American football wide receivers American football running backs Players of American football from Austin, Texas UCLA Bruins football players Indianapolis Colts players