John Tyler Varga (born September 24, 1993) is a dual Finnish-Canadian former professional

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 ...

fullback. He was signed by 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 ...

as an undrafted free agent on May 5, 2015. Varga 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 ...

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by resident ...

(2011), where he was named the

OUA Oua is an islet on the north-east of Nukufetau atoll, Tuvalu, next to Lafanga Lafanga or Lafaga is an islet of Nukufetau, Tuvalu. The traditional history of Nukufetau recalls that in order to protect the atoll from raiders from Tonga Tong ...

Rookie of the Year, and

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

(2012–2014).

Early life

Varga was born in Stockholm, Sweden. His mother Hannele Sundberg is originally from

Vantaa Vantaa (; sv, Vanda, ) is a city and Municipalities of Finland, municipality in Finland. It is part of the inner core of the Greater Helsinki, Finnish Capital Region along with Helsinki, Espoo, and Kauniainen. With a population of (), Vantaa i ...

, Finland, and his father John Varga is of Croatian descent.

College career

Varga attended the University of Western Ontario for one season in 2011 where he was named team MVP, conference player of the year and Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) National Freshman of the Year. Before the 2012 season, Varga transferred to Yale University and played there for the rest of his college career. He finished at Yale as a three-time All-Ivy honoree with 529 rushing attempts (ranked 5th in Yale history), 2,985 rushing yards (ranked 4th), 5.6 yards per carry (ranked 2nd), and 31 rushing touchdowns (ranked 3rd). Following Varga's senior performance, he was awarded the Bushnell Cup, which honours the Ivy League Player of the Year. He graduated in 2015 with a degree in ecology and evolutionary biology.

Professional career

Varga signed as an undrafted free agent with the

, he made the 53-man roster and was active for the Colts first game of the year against the

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

. Varga suffered a concussion in the Colts win against the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

on September 27, 2015 and was placed season-ending injury reserve on October 14, 2015. On July 26, 2016, Varga retired from the NFL.

Statistics

References

External links

Indianapolis Colts bio

Yale Bulldogs bio
1993 births Living people Canadian football running backs American football running backs Finnish players of American football Canadian players of American football Indianapolis Colts players Western Mustangs football players Canadian people of Finnish descent Yale Bulldogs football players Canadian people of Croatian descent Finnish people of Croatian descent Sportspeople from Stockholm {{runningback-1990s-stub