Jamize Robert Olawale (born April 17, 1989) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a fullback in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

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for the North Texas Mean Green and was signed by 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager 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 a contract at present ...

in 2012.

Early life

Olawale attended three high schools: Long Beach Poly High School, De La Salle High School, and St. Ignatius College Preparatory.

College career

Olawale played two seasons at El Camino College as a

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

, recording 15 receptions for 338 yards and three

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

s. As a junior, he transferred to the

University of North Texas The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public university, public research university located in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Its main campus is in Denton, Texas, Denton, with a satellite campus in Frisco, Texas, Frisco. It serves as the ...

, where he was switched to H-back, recording seven receptions for 79 yards. In his senior season, he was moved to

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

, appearing in eight games and recording two receptions for nine yards.

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys (first stint)

After not being selected in the 2012 NFL draft, Olawale received a tryout invitation for

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience, a rookie is typically considered needing more tra ...

mini-camp where he was converted from wide receiver to full back, and performed well enough to be signed as an

on May 14. Although he enjoyed a successful preseason, he was waived on August 31, after the team decided to keep Phillip Tanner. Olawale was then signed to the team's

practice squad In gridiron football, 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. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

Oakland Raiders

On December 4, 2012, the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

hampered by injuries to

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)#Offense ...

s Darren McFadden and Mike Goodson, signed Olawale from the Dallas Cowboys practice squad. He appeared in three games during the

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as a fullback. Olawale would become a core

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their position. Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

player. In

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, he recorded eight special teams

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position) A tackle is a playing position in American football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent ...

(third on the team). In addition, he had seven receptions for 63 yards. On December 21, 2014, he scored his first professional touchdown against the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

. In the next game, he had another receiving touchdown, this time against the Denver Broncos. He recorded 5 receptions for 18 yards, 2 receiving touchdowns and 7

tackles. On December 8, 2015, he was signed to a three-year contract extension. On November 8, against the Pittsburgh Steelers, he had a 19-yard rushing touchdown. He posted 24 carries for 110 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown to go along with nine receptions for 84 yards and 10

tackles (led the team). On November 21, 2016, against the Houston Texans, he had a 75-yard receiving touchdown from quarterback Derek Carr in the 27–20 victory at Azteca Stadium. He finished the season with 17 carries for 47 rushing yards, 12 receptions for 227 receiving yards, one receiving touchdown and 2

tackles. His production dipped in the 2017 season but he still recorded nine rushes for 43 yards and a rushing touchdown to go along with six receptions for 33 receiving yards and 3

tackles.

Dallas Cowboys (second stint)

In March 2018, the Raiders traded Olawale and a 2018 sixth-round pick (#192- Jamil Demby) to the Dallas Cowboys in exchange for a fifth-round choice (#173- Johnny Townsend). He appeared in 16 games with 4 starts, registering 2 receptions for 13 yards and 13

tackles (led the team). On March 13, 2019, Olawale signed a three-year, $5.4 million contract extension with the Cowboys. He appeared in 16 games with 5 starts, collecting 5

tackles (tied for fifth on the team). Although he was expected to contribute in the passing game, he could not record an offensive statistic during the season. On March 10, 2020, Olawale's second-year option was exercised by the Cowboys. On August 2, 2020, Olawale announced he would opt out of the 2020 season due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. He was released after the season on March 10, 2021.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Olawale, Jamize 1989 births Living people American football running backs Dallas Cowboys players El Camino Warriors football players North Texas Mean Green football players Oakland Raiders players Players of American football from San Francisco Players of American football from Long Beach, California Long Beach Polytechnic High School alumni St. Ignatius College Preparatory alumni