Etu Baraka Molden (born January 18, 1979, in

Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento C ...

) is a former

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

(AFL) wide receiver/

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

. He attended the

University of Montana The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. UM reported 10,962 undergraduate and graduate students in the fal ...

High school years

Molden attended Jesuit High School in

Carmichael, California Carmichael is a census-designated place (CDP) in Sacramento County, California, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Sacramento metropolitan area. The population was 79,793 at the 2020 census. Geography and geology Carmichael is located a ...

, where he

lettered Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...

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 ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

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 ...

, and

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 ...

Collegiate career at Montana

He attended and played for Montana from 1998 to 2001. Molden finished his career at Montana with 161 catches for 2,300 yards and 26 touchdowns. Molden also tallied 51 receptions for 620 yards and 4 touchdowns in the

Division I-AA The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision. Sponsored by the National Collegiate Athletic ...

playoffs (which the Grizzlies reached each year of Molden's collegiate career). Molden was a first-team All-

Big Sky Conference The Big Sky Conference (BSC) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I with football competing in the Football Championship Subdivision. Member institutions are located in the western United States in the eigh ...

selection after catching a team high 102 passes for 1,414 yards and 14 touchdowns in his senior season, and started all 16 games during Montana's 2001 season, the Division I-AA national champions that year. Etu was named the co-winner of the team's outstanding offensive player award after recording 6 games with over 100 receiving yards. As a junior, Molden earned second team all-conference honors after catching a team high 56 passes for 699 yards and 6 touchdowns during the regular season. Played his first season as wide receiver in 1999, catching 29 passes for 456 yards and 6 scores. Molden spent his freshman season at Montana as a

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...

and made 19 tackles.Chicago Rush Arena Football
/ref> In 2001, Molden was tagged as Montana's "Go To Guy." He was instrumental in many key wins during the Grizzlies' national championship campaign, including a game-winning touchdown catch against conference foe

Eastern Washington Eastern Washington is the region of the U.S. state of Washington located east of the Cascade Range. It contains the city of Spokane (the second largest city in the state), the Tri-Cities, the Columbia River and the Grand Coulee Dam, the Hanfor ...

in double overtime. Molden was also nicknamed "The Sacramento Killer" for catching game-touchdown passes against

Sacramento State California State University, Sacramento (CSUS, Sacramento State, or informally Sac State) is a public university in Sacramento, California. Founded in 1947 as Sacramento State College, it is the eleventh oldest school in the 23-campus California ...

two consecutive years (1999 and 2000). This is notable considering Molden is from Sacramento. Molden was also a fan favorite at Montana, particularly with the infamous "North Endzone" of

Washington–Grizzly Stadium Washington–Grizzly Stadium is an outdoor college football stadium in the western United States, located on the campus of the University of Montana in Missoula, Montana. Opened in 1986, it is home to the Montana Grizzlies, a member of the Big S ...

Arena football career

In three seasons with the Rush, Molden caught 264 passes for 3,132 yards and scored 71 touchdowns. He was named to the league's All-

Rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

team in 2004 and the All-Ironman team in 2005. In 2006, despite missing four regular season games due to injury, he still led the Rush with 67 receptions and helped them win

ArenaBowl XX ArenaBowl XX, held on Sunday, June 11, 2006, was played to determine the championship of the 2006 season of the Arena Football League (AFL). For the second consecutive year, the game was played at the neutral site of the Thomas & Mack Center in P ...

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

. Molden was released by the Chicago Rush on February 27, 2007, in the team's final cutdown before the start of the regular season. He was signed by the

Las Vegas Gladiators {{Cat main, Thomas & Mack Center Paradise, Nevada University of Nevada, Las Vegas Wikipedia categories named after buildings and structures in the United States Wikipedia categories named after sports venues ...

, prior to the start of the season. 3/4 of the way through the season, Las Vegas released him. On May 31, 2007, the Chicago Rush re-signed Molden. In 2009, Molden, was signed by the

Jacksonville Sharks The Jacksonville Sharks are a professional indoor football team based in Jacksonville, Florida, playing their home games at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena. Beginning in 2017, the Sharks began play as charter members of the National Arena Leag ...

, but never played in a game due to failure to report.

References

External links

AFL stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Molden, Etu 1979 births Living people Players of American football from Sacramento, California American football wide receivers American football linebackers Montana Grizzlies football players Chicago Rush players Las Vegas Gladiators players Jacksonville Sharks players Sportspeople from Carmichael, California