Maurice Alexander Jr. (born January 10, 1997) 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 for 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 ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He was selected with the 8th pick in the 17th round (No. 139 overall) of the

2022 USFL draft The 2022 USFL Draft, also known as the 2022 USFL Player Selection Meeting, was the player selection process to fill the rosters of the eight teams for the 2022 USFL season. The draft was held on February 22–23, 2022, with results released throug ...

. 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 the

Florida International University Florida International University (FIU) is a public university, public research university with its main campus in Miami-Dade County. Founded in 1965, the school opened its doors to students in 1972. FIU has grown to become the third-largest uni ...

. After college, he went unsigned 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 the

2020 NFL Draft The 2020 NFL Draft was the 85th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2020 NFL season. The first round was held on April 23, followed by the second and third rounds on April 24. The d ...

Early years

As a junior, Alexander threw for 2,111 yards and 26 touchdowns on his way to earning Second-team All-Miami Dade County selection, as well as being named 2014 Team MVP for Booker T. Washington Tornadoes. As a senior, he guided the Tornadoes to a perfect 15–0 season, throwing for 3,060 yards and 32 touchdowns, rushing for 466 yards seven touchdowns. This culminated with a state championship, and 34–28 victory in the 2015 Burger King State Champions Bowl Series against Bingham Miners, with Alexander rushing for the winning touchdown. He was named 2015 Dade County Player of the Year, First-team All-Date County, Class 4A First-team All-State and Booker T. Washington Offensive MVP.

College career

Alexander was recruited to Florida International as a dual threat player. After redshirting the 2015 season, Alexander went on to appear in eight games (starting four) as a redshirt freshman. He was primarily a backup to

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

Alex McGough Alex McGough ( ; born November 19, 1995) is an American football quarterback for the Birmingham Stallions of the United States Football League (USFL). He played college football at FIU, and was selected by Seattle Seahawks in the seventh round ...

with his gametime coming in relief of McGough. He finished the 2016 season with 613 passing yards and two touchdowns, 109 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown. In the 2017 season Alexander played in eight games for the Panthers. He filled in, in the

2017 Gasparilla Bowl The 2017 Gasparilla Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 21, 2017, at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. The tenth edition of the game previously known as the St. Petersburg Bowl, it featured the Temple Owls of the Am ...

when McGough went down with a fractured collarbone.

FIU Florida International University (FIU) is a public research university with its main campus in Miami-Dade County. Founded in 1965, the school opened its doors to students in 1972. FIU has grown to become the third-largest university in Florida ...

went on to lose the game 28–3 with Alexander completing 16-of-33 passes for 162 yards being intercepted twice. At the beginning of his redshirt junior year, Alexander made the switch from

to wide receiver. He featured in 13 games (starting nine) finishing first on the team in receptions (40), second in receiving touchdowns (5) and third in receiving yards (474). Against

UMass The University of Massachusetts is the five-campus public university system and the only public research system in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The university system includes five campuses (Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, Lowell, and a medical ...

, Alexander became the first FIU Panther in school history to score a receiving and punt return touchdown in the same game. He ended the season being named First-team All-

Conference USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are l ...

as a punt returner. Alexander's 2019 season ended prematurely after 9 games, suffering a season ending injury against

Old Dominion Old Dominion most commonly refers to: *The Old Dominion, a nickname for the U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia ** Colony of Virginia *Old Dominion University, a public university in Norfolk, Virginia **Old Dominion Monarchs, the athletic teams represe ...

. He once again had a game to remember against

, racking up 140 yards in punt returns including a 90-yard touchdown return, the longest of the season in the FBS. His best performance came at

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 ...

catching five passes for 87 yards, scoring his only receiving touchdown of the year.

College statistics

Professional career

Philadelphia Stars

On February 23, 2022, Alexander was selected by Philadelphia Stars of the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

(USFL) on Day 2 of the

. Wide receivers became eligible for selection between rounds 13–17 and again in the supplemental draft. Alexander was the penultimate wide receiver selected in the draft proper, picked in round 17, 139th overall. Alexander was named in the Week 2 All-USFL Team. He finished the game against

Pittsburgh Maulers Pittsburgh Maulers may refer to: * Pittsburgh Maulers (1984), United States Football League team * Pittsburgh Maulers (2022) The Pittsburgh Maulers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Maulers compet ...

with 186 all-purpose yards, 87 receiving yards from 8 receptions and 2 receiving touchdowns. Despite this, he has been used predominantly as a return specialist, leading the team in both kick and punt return yards.

Detroit Lions

Alexander signed with the

on August 3, 2022. He was waived on August 30, 2022, and 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 was promoted to the active roster on October 8, 2022. He was waived two days later. He was re-signed to the practice squad two days later. He was promoted back to the active roster on October 22. He was waived on October 24, 2022. He was re-signed to the practice squad two days later. He signed a reserve/future contract on January 9, 2023. On August 29, 2023, Alexander was waived by the Lions and re-signed to the practice squad.

Professional statistics

;Regular season ;Postseason

Personal life

Alexander is the son of Maurice Alexander Sr. and Kevia Morrison. He has one sibling, Maurkevia. Alexander has three cousins who played

to a collegiate level. Shaun and Nate Terry played at

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

while James Terry played at Kansas State.

Notes

References

External links

Detroit Lions bioFIU Panthers bioFox Sports player bioTwitter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Maurice Living people 1997 births Detroit Lions players Philadelphia Stars (2022) players Players of American football from Miami-Dade County, Florida FIU Panthers football players Booker T. Washington Senior High School (Miami, Florida) alumni American football wide receivers American football quarterbacks