John Ursua (born January 17, 1994), nicknamed "J-Dub", 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 ...

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Early life

Ursua was born in

Kailua-Kona, Hawaii Kailua-Kona is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Hawaii County, Hawaii, Hawaii County, Hawaii, United States. It is also known as Kailua (a name it shares with Kailua, Honolulu County, Hawaii, a community located o ...

on January 17, 1994, and is the youngest of five children to Larry and Laurie Ursua. Ursua was a multi-sport athlete in high school earning a total of 12 varsity letters in

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 ...

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 and 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 ...

. He attended

Kealakehe High School Kealakehe High School is a public high school located in Kailua CDP, Hawaii County, Hawaii, United States. It has the largest geographic school attendance boundary in the state and covers a geographic district wide, encompassing the communities ...

in Kailua-Kona, Westlake High School in

Saratoga Springs, Utah Saratoga Springs is a city in Utah County, Utah, United States. The elevation is 4,505 feet. It is part of the Provo–Orem, Utah Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city is a relatively new development along the northwestern shores of Utah ...

, and ultimately graduated from

Cedar High School ˌ Cedar High School, also known as Cedar City High School or CHS, is a public high school in Cedar City, Utah, United States. History Cedar High School was founded in September 1940. The school building was located on Center Street and 300 Wes ...

Cedar City, Utah Cedar City is the largest city in Iron County, Utah, United States. It is located south of Salt Lake City, and north of Las Vegas on Interstate 15. It is the home of Southern Utah University, the Utah Shakespeare Festival, the Utah Summer Gam ...

in 2012.

College career

Ursua was an accomplished quarterback during his high school football career. He was rated by

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as the Number 10 prospect and by

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as the Number 18 prospect for the state of

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 ...

. Initially, Ursua verbally committed to

BYU Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day S ...

during his sophomore year at Westlake High School.

Norm Chow Norman Yew Heen Chow (born May 3, 1946) is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the head coach for the Helvetic Guards in the European League of Football. He was the head football coach at the University of Hawaii at Man ...

, who was

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of an American football or Canadian football team who is in charge of the team's offense. Generally, along with the defensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator, this coach re ...

at the time, discovered Ursua's talents as a wide receiver. After Chow was named Hawaii's head coach in December 2011, he offered a scholarship to Ursua. In between high school graduation and the start of his collegiate football career, Ursua served on a two year mission for

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

Paris, France Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

Freshman season

Ursua was

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

for the 2015 season.

Freshman (redshirt) season

During his sophomore season of

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, Ursua appeared in all 14 games (13 starts) as a slot receiver. He finished second on the team with 53 receptions for 652 yards, 3 touchdowns, and two 100-yard games. He also carried the ball four times for eight yards during the season and scored his first career rushing touchdown against

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

. He was the team's primary punt returner with eight returns for 63 yards. Despite finishing the regular season with a losing record of 6-7, Hawaii qualified for a bowl game and won the 2016 Hawaii Bowl against

Middle Tennessee Middle Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of the U.S. state of Tennessee that composes roughly the central portion of the state. It is delineated according to state law as 41 of the state's 95 counties. Middle Tennessee contains the s ...

by a score of 52-35.

Sophomore (redshirt) season

Prior to the 2017 season, Ursua was named to the Polynesian College Football Player of the Year watch-list as well as to the

Fred Biletnikoff Award The Fred Biletnikoff Award is presented annually to the most outstanding receiver in American college football by the Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation, Inc. (TQCF), an independent not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization. The award was creat ...

watch-list for the nation's top wide receiver. He played in six games before suffering a season-ending injury against San José State on October 16. He entered that game leading the nation in receiving yards per game with 130.6 and second in receptions per game with 9.2. Despite missing half of the season, Ursua finished as the team's leader in receiving yards with 667 and receiving touchdowns with 5. He finished the season with 47 receptions, averaging 14.2 yards per catch, and produced three 100-yard receiving performances. On August 26 in an season-opening win against UMass, Ursua amassed 272 yards and one touchdown on 12 catches. The 272 yards was the best nationally in 2017 for a single game, the fourth-highest total ever by a UH player, the fourth-highest total ever by a Mountain West player, and his 85-yard touchdown catch during that game was the fifth-longest catch in school history.

Junior (redshirt) season

Ursua led the nation in receiving touchdowns with 16. His 17 total touchdowns (one rushing touchdown versus

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

) ranked 10th in the

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. He ranked fifth nationally in receiving yards with 1,343 and eighth in receiving yards per game with 103.3. He led the

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is one of the collegiate athletic conferences affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) (formerly I-A). The MW officially began operations o ...

in receiving touchdowns, receiving yards, receiving yards per game, and total touchdowns. He eclipsed 100-yards in seven games and scored multiple touchdowns in five games. He achieved a career-high 13 receptions in a game versus San Jose State. His senior year accomplishments included being named to the all-Mountain West first-team, selection to the

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and

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Mid-Season All America second-team, a Semifinalist for the Biletnikoff Award, a finalist for the Polynesian Player of the Year, and named the team's Most Valuable Player. During the 2018 season, he reached the feat of having at least one catch in 30 consecutive games dating back to his first season on the team. He missed the

2018 Hawaii Bowl The 2018 Hawaii Bowl was a college football bowl game being played on December 22, 2018, in Honolulu, Hawaii. It was the 17th edition of the Hawaii Bowl, and one of the 2018–19 bowl games concluding the 2018 FBS football season. This was the ...

due to an injury, in a game that Hawaii lost to

Louisiana Tech Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Ruston, Louisiana. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activi ...

31-14. Ursua completed his college football career ranked in Hawaii's top ten for career receptions (189, 9th), receiving yards (2,662, 9th), and receiving touchdowns (24, 7th).

College career statistics

Professional career

Despite one more year of eligibility at Hawaii, Ursua declared for 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 ...

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of 2018. He was drafted by 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 ...

in the seventh round with the 236th overall selection. Prior to the start of the draft, the Seahawks' last pick was in the 6th Round. However, during the draft they traded a 2020 sixth-rounder to the

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 ...

for the seventh-round pick that was ultimately used to select Ursua. He is the 72nd player in Hawaii history to be selected in the NFL Draft and the third ever selected by the Seahawks joining

Wayne Hunter Wayne Hunter (born July 2, 1981) is a former American football offensive tackle. Drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the third round of the 2003 NFL Draft, he played college football at Hawaii after transferring from Cal. Hunter has also play ...

in 2003 and M.L. Johnson in 1987. He was the second Rainbow Warrior selected in the 2019 Draft, joining

Jahlani Tavai Jahlani Karl Tavai (born September 28, 1996) is an American football linebacker for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). He is the younger brother of J. R. Tavai and older brother of Justus Tavai. He played college ...

, a second round pick 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 ...

. It is the first time Hawaii had multiple players drafted in the same year since the

2011 NFL Draft The 2011 NFL Draft was the 76th installment of the annual NFL Draft, where the franchises of the National Football League select newly eligible football players. Like the 2010 draft, the 2011 draft was held at Radio City Music Hall in New York C ...

when Alex Green (

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

Greg Salas Greg Salas (born August 25, 1988) is a former American football wide receiver. He was drafted by the St. Louis Rams in the fourth round of the 2011 NFL Draft. He played college football for University of Hawaii. College career While at Hawaii, S ...

(

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arr ...

), and

Kealoha Pilares Kealoha Pilares (born February 20, 1988) is a former American football wide receiver. He was drafted by the Carolina Panthers in the fifth round of the 2011 NFL Draft. He played college football at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Professi ...

(

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

) were selected. In the 2019 season, Ursua appeared in three regular season games and recorded one reception for 11 receiving yards, which occurred in Week 17 against the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

. Ursua was placed on the reserve/

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list by the team on August 9, 2020, and activated from the list three days later. He was waived on September 8, 2020, and was re-signed to the

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, ...

the next day. He signed a reserve/future contract on January 13, 2021. Ursua suffered a torn ACL in the second preseason game of 2021. He was placed on injured reserve on August 23, 2021.

Personal life

Ursua is an active member of

and participated in mission trips to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, and

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

, and as a result speaks French. He also speaks Hawaiian.Video
/ref> Both of his older brothers were also college football players, having played for

Southern Utah Southern Utah University (SUU) is a public university in Cedar City, Utah. Founded in 1897 as a normal school, Southern Utah University now graduates over 1,800 students each year with baccalaureate and graduate degrees from its six colleges. ...

References

External links

Hawaii Rainbow Warriors bio

Seattle Seahawks bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ursua, John 1994 births Living people American football wide receivers African-American players of American football Native Hawaiian sportspeople Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football players People from Cedar City, Utah People from Kailua-Kona, Hawaii Players of American football from Hawaii Players of American football from Utah Seattle Seahawks players American Mormon missionaries in France American Mormon missionaries in Belgium American Mormon missionaries in Luxembourg Latter Day Saints from Hawaii 21st-century African-American sportspeople