Cade Uluave (born May 2, 2005) is an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

for the

California Golden Bears The California Golden Bears are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Berkeley. Referred to in athletic competition as ''California'' or ''Cal'', the university fields 30 varsity athletic programs and various club te ...

. He was named the

Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I level for all sports, and its Co ...

Defensive Freshman of the Year in 2023.

Early life

Uluave was born on May 2, 2005 , and grew up in

South Jordan, Utah South Jordan is a city in south central Salt Lake County, Utah, United States, south of Salt Lake City. Part of the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, the city lies in the Salt Lake Valley along the banks of the Jordan River between the Oquirrh ...

. His father was also a

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

at Southern Utah University. Cade comes from Tongan Heritage . He attended Mountain Ridge High School and played football, baseball and track and field. In football, he was a two-way player as a linebacker and running back, running for 1,638 yards and 26

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 while totaling 154

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 ...

and five sacks in his high school career. Ranked a three-star recruit, the 11th-best player in the state and the 72nd-best linebacker nationally by

247Sports 247Sports is an American network of websites that focus mainly on college recruiting, athletic recruitment in college football and college basketball, basketball. It is owned and operated by Paramount Global, Paramount. The website hosts a large ...

, Uluave committed to play college football for the

College career

Uluave expected to see action on

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 ...

as a true

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...

at California in 2023, but after an injury to

Jackson Sirmon Jackson Sirmon (born April 15, 2000) is an American professional football linebacker for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Washington Huskies and California Golden Bears. Early life Sirm ...

he began to see extensive playing time on defense. He received

player of the week honors several times and finished the season with 13 games played, six as a starter. He was the leader in the conference among freshmen in tackles and tackles-for-loss (TFLs), totaling 66 tackles, 6.5 TFLs, 2.5 sacks, two

interception In Ball game, ball-playing Competitive sport, competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for ...

s, two forced

fumble A fumble in gridiron football occurs when a player who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed (tackled), scoring, or going out of bounds. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking, punting, or successful h ...

s and two fumble recoveries en route to being named the Pac-12 Defensive Freshman of the Year. He was selected third-team all-conference by

Phil Steele Phil Steele (c. 1960) is an American sportswriter and analyst who focuses exclusively on college and professional football. He is considered a "highly respected prognosticator" within the sports media. His company, Phil Steele Publications, pro ...

and was named a freshman

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

References

External links

California Golden Bears bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Uluave, Cade 2005 births Living people American football linebackers Players of American football from Utah California Golden Bears football players