José Joaquín Arcega-Whiteside ( ; born December 31, 1996) is a Spanish-born

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, 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 ...

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

and was drafted by the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

in the second round of the

2019 NFL Draft The 2019 NFL Draft was the 84th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2019 NFL season. The draft was held on April 25–27 in Nashville, Tennessee. The first round was held on April 2 ...

Early years

Arcega-Whiteside was born in

Utebo Utebo ( an, Utevo) is a town located in the province of Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain. At the time of the 2011 census (INE), the municipality had a population of 18,602 inhabitants, being the third most populous town of the province, only surpassed by ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, on December 31, 1996, and moved to

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

in the United States when he was six. He attended Paul M. Dorman High School in

Roebuck, South Carolina Roebuck is a census-designated place (CDP) in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 2,200 at the 2010 census. History The community was named for Revolutionary War Officer, Benjamin Roebuck. Roebuck is home to th ...

. During his career, he had 207 receptions for 3,779 yards and 38

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether Rush (gridiron football), running, Forward pass, passing, returning a Kickoff (gridiron football), kickoff or Punt (gridiron football), punt, or recovering a Turno ...

. Arcega-Whiteside committed to

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

to play college football.

College career

After redshirting his first year at Stanford in 2015, Arcega-Whiteside played in 12 games as a sophomore, recording 24 receptions for 379 yards and five touchdowns. As a junior in 2017, he had 48 receptions for 781 yards and nine touchdowns. As a senior in 2018, he had a season record of 63 receptions for 1,059 yards and 14 touchdowns. After the season, Arcega-Whiteside declared for the

College statistics

Professional career

Philadelphia Eagles

Arcega-Whiteside was drafted by the

in the second round (57th overall) of the

. In Week 13, in the 37–31 loss to the

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

, Arcega-Whiteside caught one pass for 15 yards for his first professional touchdown. Overall in 2019, he caught ten passes for 169 yards and one touchdown. In Week 6 of the 2020 season against the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...

, Arcega-Whiteside caught his first two-point conversion and recovered a

Miles Sanders Miles Adam Sanders (born May 1, 1997), nicknamed "Boobie Miles", is an American football running back for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Eagles in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft afte ...

fumble for a touchdown in the 30–28 loss. Arcega-Whiteside was placed on the reserve/

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

list by the Eagles on November 19, 2020, and activated on December 2. Overall, his second season was less productive, catching only 4 passes over 8 games played. Arcega-Whiteside entered the 2021 season fifth on the Eagles wide receiver depth chart. He was placed on injured reserve on January 10, 2022. He finished the season with just two catches for 39 yards and no touchdowns through 16 games. During the 2022 offseason, Arcega-Whiteside converted from wide receiver to

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

Seattle Seahawks

On August 15, 2022, Arcega-Whiteside was traded to the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

for cornerback Ugo Amadi. He was waived on August 30, 2022 and signed to the practice squad the next day. He was released on November 1, 2022.

Personal life

Both of his parents, Joaquín Arcega and Valorie Whiteside, played professional basketball in Spain. Arcega is Spanish and Whiteside is an African American from South Carolina. Valorie Whiteside played college basketball at

Appalachian State Appalachian State University (; Appalachian, App State, App, or ASU) is a public university in Boone, North Carolina. It was founded as a teachers college in 1899 by brothers B. B. and D. D. Dougherty and the latter's wife, Lillie Shull Dough ...

and is the all-time leading scorer in women's basketball for the Southern Conference. She later played professionally in Europe and met Joaquín Arcega in Spain. Two of Arcega's uncles,

Fernando Arcega Fernando Arcega Aperte (; born 3 September 1960 in Ainzón, Zaragoza, Aragón) is a retired basketball player from Spain. He used to play as forward. Arcega earned 121 caps for the Spain national basketball team and played at three Olympic Gam ...

and

José Arcega José Ángel Arcega Aperte (born 31 May 1964) is a retired basketball player from Spain. Arcega competed in the men's tournament at the 1992 Summer Olympics. His brother Fernando also represent Spain in the Olympics. Arcega's nephew, J. J. Arc ...

, also played basketball professionally in Spain and represented Spain in the Olympics. While at Stanford, Arcega-Whiteside majored in international relations. He interned with the office of former Secretary of State

Condoleezza Rice Condoleezza Rice ( ; born November 14, 1954) is an American diplomat and political scientist who is the current director of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. A member of the Republican Party, she previously served as the 66th Uni ...

References

External links

Philadelphia Eagles bioStanford Cardinal bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arcega-Whiteside, Jj 1996 births Living people American football tight ends American football wide receivers People from Inman, South Carolina Players of American football from South Carolina Spanish players of American football Sportspeople from the Province of Zaragoza Stanford Cardinal football players Philadelphia Eagles players Seattle Seahawks players Spanish emigrants to the United States