John Wesley Ours (born December 30, 1977) is a former Arena football

Running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

Linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

. He played collegiately at

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State College ...

. He was nicknamed "Wes Express" in college because of his ability to run over other players. He also was the biggest

fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to: Sports * A position in various kinds of football, including: ** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position ** Fullback (gridiron football), in Americ ...

in the country during his senior season. He was signed as an

undrafted 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 ...

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 ...

by the Tennessee Titans 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 ...

. He ended his professional football career by winning ArenaBowl XXII with the Philadelphia Soul in 2008. In his career, Ours also played for the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

, Los Angeles Avengers, and

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 ...

High school career

Ours attended Westmar High School in Lonaconing, Maryland, where he rushed for 1,423 yards and 26 touchdowns as a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

College career

While at West Virginia, Ours played

defensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

Offensive Guard Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

and

Fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to: Sports * A position in various kinds of football, including: ** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position ** Fullback (gridiron football), in Americ ...

. As a sophomore, he started three games at Fullback. As a junior, he began the season on the defensive line before being switched to offense where he started three games at Left Guard. As a senior, he was the largest Fullback in college football and rushed 29 times for 77 yards and four touchdowns and caught 14 passes for 170 yards. He only totaled 83 rushing yards with four touchdowns and 199 receiving yards for his career, but he blocked for two record breaking

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

s: Amos Zereoué and

Avon Cobourne Avon Cobourne (born March 6, 1979) is an American former professional gridiron football running back who was most recently a running back coach for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He was a running back for the West ...

Professional career

National Football League (2001 - 2003)

Ours went unselected in the

2001 NFL Draft The 2001 NFL Draft was the 66th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible professional football players. The draft, which is officially referred to as the "NFL Player Selection Meeting," was held at the ...

and signed 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 ...

on April 21 with the

. He was then waived by the Colts, and then signed by the Tennessee Titans on September 27. He was cut again, then signed as a free agent by the Colts once more on November 21. He played in one game for the Colts and two games for the Titans in his rookie season, catching one pass for three yards while with the Titans. In

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

, Ours was with the Colts during their training camp, only to be cut before the season. In

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

, He spent his last season in the

. He signed as a free agent with the

on January 23, but was released by the Steelers on August 22, one day after catching the game-winning two-point conversion in a 15-14 preseason victory over the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

Arena Football League (2004 - 2008)

Los Angeles Avengers

After being released by the Steelers, Ours signed a two-year contract with the Los Angeles Avengers on November 23. In the 2004 season, Ours was placed on the

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

list by the Avengers on February 2. He eventually was activated by the Avengers from the injured reserve list on June 3.

Philadelphia Soul

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

, Ours played in seven games for the Philadelphia Soul. He had four carries for 10 yards and one touchdown. On the defense, he recorded five tackles, one sack, one pass broken up and one forced fumble. In

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, Ours played in 14 games for the Soul, he was also named Offensive Player of the Game once. He had four receptions for 33 yards and one touchdown for the season, and led the team with 50 carries for 130 yards with 11 touchdowns. He scored a total of 13 touchdowns on the season, and recorded 14 total tackles and two fumble recoveries on the defense. In

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

, Ours played in all 16 games while taking the majority of the rushes. He carried the ball 39 times, for 129 yards and eight touchdowns. He also had 12 receptions for 112 yards and a touchdown. He was first on the team in carries, rushing yards, tied for first with rushing touchdowns, fifth in scoring with 56 points, and seventh with 112 receiving yards. In the first game of

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, a victory over the

Orlando Predators The Orlando Predators were a professional arena football team based in Orlando, Florida and member of the Arena Football League (AFL). The team was most recently owned by Orlando Predators LLC, a company owned by David A. Siegel, and played its ...

, Ours scored the first touchdown of the game with a seven-yard reception. In the second game of the season, a victory over the

Chicago Rush The Chicago Rush were a professional arena football team based in Rosemont, Illinois Rosemont is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Located immediately northwest of Chicago, as of the 2010 census it had a population of 4,20 ...

, he made a 20-yard reception. He finished the season with 13 receptions for 96 yards and two touchdowns, and 23 carries for 78 yards and three touchdowns. He also won his first championship on the professional level when the Philadelphia Soul defeated the San Jose SaberCats 59-56 in ArenaBowl XXII.

Career summary

Ours has totaled 347 rushing yards and 23 rushing touchdowns and 29 receptions 240 receiving yards and three receiving touchdowns for his career. On the defense, he has totaled 26 career tackles, along with 1.5 sacks, one pass breakup, one forced fumble, and two fumble recoveries.

Personal life

During his career, Ours would live in Keyser, West Virginia in the offseason.

Notes

External links

ArenaFan profile

Profile at Scout.com

College Stats at WVUStats.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ours, Wes 1977 births Living people People from Christian County, Kentucky Players of American football from Kentucky American football fullbacks American football linebackers West Virginia Mountaineers football players Indianapolis Colts players Tennessee Titans players Los Angeles Avengers players Pittsburgh Steelers players Philadelphia Soul players People from Lonaconing, Maryland