JoJo Ward

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JoJo Ward
Personal information
Born: (1997-12-09) December 9, 1997 (age 26)
Waco, Texas
Height:5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Weight:175 lb (79 kg)
Career information
High school:Midway (TX)
College:Hawaii
Position:Wide receiver
Undrafted:2020
Career history
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career NFL statistics
Player stats at NFL.com

Joseph "JoJo" Ward (born December 9, 1997) is an American football wide receiver who is currently a free agent. He was most recently a member of the Ottawa Redblacks of the Canadian Football League (CFL). Ward played college football at Hawaii. He has also been a member of the Arizona Cardinals, Cleveland Browns, and Houston Gamblers.

High school career[edit]

Ward attended Midway High School, where he was named the District 12-6A offensive MVP as a senior.[1]

College career[edit]

Ward played at Tyler Junior College in Tyler, Texas, where he racked up over 1,000 yards receiving and nine touchdowns in two seasons.[2] He joined the Hawaii roster in July 2018 at the last minute as a walk-on.[3]

Ward was named to the Earl Campbell Award watchlist before the start of the 2019 season, and was named its national player of the week in week 2 of the season, where he caught ten passes for 189 yards and all four of Hawaii's touchdowns against Oregon State.[4][5] He also was named the Mountain West Offensive Player of the Week for the same performance.[6]

College statistics[edit]

Hawaii Rainbow Warriors
Year Class GP Receiving Kick Returns Punt Returns
Rec Yds Avg TD Ret Yds Avg TD Ret Yds Avg TD
2018 Junior 14 51 865 17.0 9 0 0 0 0 3 13 4.3 0
2019 Senior 14 65 1134 17.4 11 2 31 15.5 0 3 1 0.3 0
Career 28 116 1999 17.2 20 2 31 15.5 0 6 14 2.3 0
Source:[7]

Professional career[edit]

Arizona Cardinals[edit]

After going undrafted in the 2020 NFL draft, Ward signed with the Arizona Cardinals on April 25, 2020.[8][9] On September 5, 2020, Ward was waived during final roster cuts.[10] He was re-signed to the practice squad a day later.[11] He signed a reserve/future contract on January 5, 2021.[12] He was waived on August 16, 2021.[13]

Cleveland Browns[edit]

On August 19, 2021, Ward signed with the Cleveland Browns.[14] Ward was waived by the Browns on August 20, 2021.[15]

Houston Gamblers[edit]

Ward was drafted by the Houston Gamblers of the United States Football League (USFL) in the 14th round of the 2022 USFL draft.[16] He was transferred to the team's inactive roster on April 22, 2022.[17] He was moved back to the active roster on May 20.[18] He was released on April 4, 2023.[19]

Ottawa Redblacks[edit]

On April 27, 2023, Ward signed with the Ottawa Redblacks of the Canadian Football League (CFL).[20] He was released by the Redblacks during the first week of training camp on May 16, 2023.[21]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Midway alum Ward making a splash in Hawaii". Waco Tribune-Herald. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  2. ^ "2018 Warrior Football Position Preview: Wide Receivers". Hawaii Athletics. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  3. ^ "The word is getting out on Warrior JC transfer receiver JoJo Ward". KHON2. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  4. ^ Carlson, Kainoa. "Jojo Ward named to Earl Campbell Award Watch-list". Hawaii News Now. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  5. ^ "Former Apache JoJo Ward named Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award National Player of the Week". Tyler Junior College Athletics. Retrieved 15 August 2020.[permanent dead link]
  6. ^ Tsai, Stephen. "Hawaii football: JoJo Ward wins Mountain West honor". Hawaii Warrior World. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  7. ^ "JoJo Ward College Stats". Sports Reference. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  8. ^ Tsai, Stephen. "Former Hawaii receiver JoJo Ward reaches deal on free-agent contract with Arizona Cardinals". The Star Advertiser. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  9. ^ "Cardinals Agree To Terms With 21 Undrafted Rookie Free Agents". AZCardinals.com. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  10. ^ Urban, Darren (September 5, 2020). "Cardinals Make Final Cuts To Get To Initial 53-Man Roster". azcardinals.com.
  11. ^ Urban, Darren (September 6, 2020). "Cardinals Build Practice Squad, Including Weaver, Foster". azcardinals.com.
  12. ^ Urban, Darren (January 5, 2021). "Cardinals Sign 15 Players To 'Futures' Contracts". AZCardinals.com.
  13. ^ Urban, Darren (August 16, 2021). "Cardinals Bring Back Four From Covid List, Including James Conner". AZCardinals.com.
  14. ^ Mueller, Jared (August 19, 2021). "Browns sign WR JoJo Ward, cut DT Damion Square". USAToday.com. Retrieved August 19, 2021.
  15. ^ "Browns sign LBs Montrel Meander, Willie Harvey Jr". ClevelandBrowns.com. August 20, 2021.
  16. ^ @USFLGamblers (February 23, 2022). "The pick is in! #USFLDraft Welcome to the squad, JoJo Ward! #AllIn" (Tweet). Retrieved April 23, 2022 – via Twitter.
  17. ^ @USFLGamblers (April 22, 2022). "Roster Updates" (Tweet). Retrieved April 23, 2022 – via Twitter.
  18. ^ @USFLGamblers (May 21, 2022). "Roster Updates" (Tweet). Retrieved May 23, 2022 – via Twitter.
  19. ^ @USFLGamblers (April 4, 2023). "Released" (Tweet). Retrieved April 4, 2023 – via Twitter.
  20. ^ Heilman, Michael (2023-04-27). "Ottawa Redblacks sign former Gamblers WR JoJo Ward and OL Peter Kourtis". BGMSportsTrax. Retrieved 2023-05-17.
  21. ^ 3Down Staff (2023-05-17). "Ottawa Redblacks release eight, including QB Charlie Brewer". 3DownNation. Retrieved 2023-05-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

External links[edit]