Jaelen Strong (born January 25, 1994) 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 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 ...

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

Early years

Strong's father, John Rankin, played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

at Drexel and died of

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...

in 2003 when Strong was 9. Strong attended

West Catholic Preparatory High School West Catholic Preparatory High School is a co-educational Catholic high school in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. It is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at 45th and Chestnut Streets, the University City neighborhood of West Philadelphia. ...

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, where he played football and ran track. As a junior, he caught 24 passes for 385 yards with four touchdowns. As a senior, he had 17 receptions for 318 yards and four

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 ...

. He had scholarship offers from

Eastern Michigan Eastern Michigan University (EMU, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern), is a public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Founded in 1849 as Michigan State Normal School, the school was the fourth normal school established in the United Sta ...

, Villanova and VMI before opting to attend

Pierce College Pierce College may refer to: * Pierce College (Washington) * Los Angeles Pierce College ** Pierce College station See also * Peirce College * Franklin Pierce University Franklin Pierce University is a private university in Rindge, New Hampsh ...

. In

track & field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

, Strong posted personal-bests of 6.42 meters (20-11.5) in the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

and 12.42 meters (40-6.5) in the

triple jump The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to the long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down th ...

College career

Strong attended

Los Angeles Pierce College Los Angeles Pierce College (Pierce College or Pierce) is a public community college in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California. It is part of the Los Angeles Community College District and is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and C ...

for two years before transferring to

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

. At Pierce in 2012, he had 67 receptions for 1,263 yards and 15

in 10 games. In his first season at Arizona State in 2013, he had 75 receptions for 1,122 yards and seven

. In 2014, he had 82 receptions for 1,165 yards and 10 touchdowns. After his junior season, Strong entered the

2015 NFL Draft The 2015 NFL Draft was the 80th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. It took place in Chicago at the Auditorium Theatre and in Grant Park, from April 30 to May 2. The previous ...

Professional career

Coming into the draft, Strong was ranked by some analysts as a late first-round prospect. He had been criticized for his lack of vertical speed, but surprised many with a 4.44

40-yard dash The 40-yard dash is a sprint covering . It is primarily run to evaluate the speed and acceleration of American football players by scouts, particularly for the NFL Draft but also for collegiate recruiting. A player's recorded time can have a he ...

at the

NFL Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Footba ...

. His vertical jump of 42 inches was the 4th best among wide receivers over the past ten years.

Houston Texans

Strong was selected by the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...

with the 70th overall pick in the third round of the

. The Texans traded with 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 ...

for the pick, giving away their own third round pick (82nd overall, Jets picked

Lorenzo Mauldin Lorenzo Malik Mauldin IV (born October 1, 1992) is a professional gridiron football defensive end for the Ottawa Redblacks of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He was drafted by the New York Jets in the third round of the 2015 NFL Draft. He ...

), their fifth round pick (152nd overall, Jets picked Jarvis Harrison), a seventh round pick via the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

(229th overall, Jets traded pick to

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...

), and wide receiver

DeVier Posey DeVier Stewart Posey (born March 15, 1990) is an American professional gridiron football wide receiver who is currently a free agent. He most recently played for the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He was drafted by the Houston ...

. Against 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 ...

on October 8, 2015, he made his first two career receptions, both for touchdowns; the first was on a 42-yard

hail mary pass A Hail Mary pass is a very long forward pass in American football, typically made in desperation, with an exceptionally small chance of achieving a completion. Due to the difficulty of a completion with this pass, it makes reference to the Catho ...

to end the first half. He finished his rookie season with 14 receptions for 161 yards and three touchdowns. In Week 8 of the 2016 season, Strong suffered a serious ankle sprain against the Lions. The injury kept him out the next five weeks before being placed on injured reserve on December 10, 2016. He finished his second season with 14 receptions for 131 yards with no touchdowns in eight games. Strong was suspended the first game of the 2017 season for violating the NFL Policy and Program for Substances of Abuse. On September 18, 2017, Strong was released by the Texans.

Jacksonville Jaguars

On September 19, 2017, Strong was claimed off waivers by the

. He was released by the Jaguars on November 18, 2017 and was re-signed to the practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster on December 23, 2017. In Week 16, Strong caught three passes for 38 yards and a touchdown. However, he suffered a torn ACL in the game and was placed on injured reserve on December 26, 2017. He was released on April 30, 2018.

Cleveland Browns

After spending the 2018 season out of the NFL, Strong was signed by the

on February 20, 2019. Strong was waived by the Browns on August 27, 2019.

Personal life

On February 28, 2016, Strong was arrested in

Scottsdale, Arizona , settlement_type = City , named_for = Winfield Scott , image_skyline = , image_seal = Seal of Scottsdale (Arizona).svg , image_blank_emblem = City of Scottsdale Script Logo.svg , nick ...

for marijuana possession. He was later released from jail.

References

External links

*
Arizona State Sun Devils bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Strong, Jaelen 1994 births Living people Players of American football from Philadelphia American football wide receivers Pierce Brahmas football players Arizona State Sun Devils football players Houston Texans players Jacksonville Jaguars players Cleveland Browns players