Joseph Jules Fauria (; born January 16, 1990) is a former

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 ...

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 ...

. He was signed by the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

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 ...

in 2013. 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 ...

at Notre Dame and

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 ...

. He also played for the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

and the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

Early years

Fauria attended

Crespi Carmelite High School Crespi Carmelite High School, shortly known as Crespi, is a private Catholic all-male four-year college preparatory high school located in Encino District, Los Angeles, California. It is part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles. The ...

Encino, California Encino (Spanish language, Spanish for "oak") is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. History In 1769, the Spanish Portolá expedition, first Europeans to see inland areas of California, traveled north t ...

. Fauria was named to the first-team all-state by CalHiSports.com. He was ranked the 7th best tight end prospect in the nation and was ranked the 24th prospect in the state of California by rivals.com.

College career

He played

at Notre Dame and

. On June 27, 2009, during his sophomore year, he was suspended by Notre Dame for "slapping a priest on the butt in jest", which led him to transfer to

. He finished college with a total of 88 receptions, 1,139 receiving yards, and 20 receiving touchdowns.

Professional career

Detroit Lions

Fauria went undrafted in the

2013 NFL Draft The 2013 NFL Draft was the 78th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in ...

. On April 27, 2013, he signed with the

as a free agent. Fauria made the Lions opening day roster. He scored a touchdown in his first regular season game with the team, on a one-yard pass from

Matthew Stafford John Matthew Stafford (born February 7, 1988) is an American football quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Georgia, where he was a first-team All-American, and was selected ...

. In a Week 6 matchup against 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 ( ...

, Fauria caught a career-high three touchdowns on three catches for 34 yards. He finished his rookie season with only 18 receptions, but seven of those resulted in a touchdown. Fauria's 2014 season was limited due to an ankle injury. In seven games, Fauria had six receptions for 74 yards and one touchdown. His sole touchdown came against the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

on December 7.

Arizona Cardinals

On September 10, 2015, Fauria was signed by the

. On September 19, 2015, he was released by the Cardinals. On September 23, 2015, Fauria was re-signed to the Cardinals' practice squad. On October 2, 2015, the Cardinals placed Fauria on the practice squad injured list. On October 13, 2015, the Cardinals waived Fauria from their

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, ...

injured list.

New England Patriots

On November 18, 2015, the

signed Fauria to their practice squad. He was released on December 8, 2015.

Arizona Hotshots (AAF)

Fauria attempted a comeback with the

Arizona Hotshots The Arizona Hotshots were a professional American football franchise based in Tempe, Arizona, and one of the eight members of the Alliance of American Football (AAF), which played one season from February 2019 to April 2019. They played their h ...

of the

Alliance of American Football The Alliance of American Football (AAF) was a professional American football minor league. The AAF consisted of eight centrally owned and operated teams in the southern and western United States, seven of which were located in metropolitan are ...

(AAF) in advance of the team and league's inaugural 2019 season but did not make the team's final roster on January 30, 2019.

Personal life

Fauria is the nephew of

Christian Fauria Christian Ashley Fauria (born September 22, 1971) is an American former football tight end. Early life Fauria attended Crespi Carmelite High School in Encino, California and lettered in football, track, and once in basketball. In football, as ...

, who was also an NFL

from 1995 to 2007. Fauria was born in

Woodland Hills, California Woodland Hills is a neighborhood bordering the Santa Monica Mountains in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Geography Woodland Hills is in the southwestern region of the San Fernando Valley, which is located east of Ca ...

, to Christian Fauria's older sister, Julie Ann Fauria. At

, he was a three-sport athlete, lettering in football,

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 ...

, and

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

References

External links

Notre Dame Fighting Irish bioUCLA Bruins bioDetroit Lions bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fauria, Joseph 1990 births Living people UCLA Bruins football players Players of American football from Los Angeles American football tight ends Detroit Lions players Arizona Cardinals players New England Patriots players Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players