Etu Baraka Molden (born January 18, 1979, in

Sacramento, California Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat, seat of Sacramento County, California, Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento Rive ...

) is a former

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

(AFL)

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 ...

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 ...

. He attended the

University of Montana The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana, United States. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. Fall 2024 saw total enrollment hit 10,811, marki ...

Early life

Molden attended Jesuit High School in

Carmichael, California Carmichael is a census-designated place (CDP) in Sacramento County, California, Sacramento County, California, United States. It is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated suburb in the Sacramento metropolitan area, Greater Sacramento metropolitan ...

, where he lettered in

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baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

, and track.

College career

He attended and played for Montana from 1998 to 2001. Molden finished his career at Montana with 161 catches for 2,300 yards and 26 touchdowns. Molden also tallied 51 receptions for 620 yards and 4 touchdowns in the

Division I-AA The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). Sponsored by the National Collegiate A ...

playoffs (which the Grizzlies reached each year of Molden's

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career). Molden was a first-team All-

Big Sky Conference The Big Sky Conference is a List of NCAA conferences, collegiate athletic conference, affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I with college football, football competing in the Football Cha ...

selection after catching a team high 102 passes for 1,414 yards and 14 touchdowns in his senior season, and started all 16 games during Montana's 2001 season, the Division I-AA national champions that year. Etu was named the co-winner of the team's outstanding offensive player award after recording 6 games with over 100 receiving yards. As a junior, Molden earned second team all-conference honors after catching a team high 56 passes for 699 yards and 6 touchdowns during the regular season. Played his first season as wide receiver in 1999, catching 29 passes for 456 yards and 6 scores. Molden spent his freshman season at Montana as a

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and made 19 tackles.Chicago Rush Arena Football
/ref> In 2001, Molden was tagged as Montana's "Go To Guy." He was instrumental in many key wins during the Grizzlies' national championship campaign, including a game-winning touchdown catch against conference foe

Eastern Washington Eastern Washington is the region of the U.S. state of Washington located east of the Cascade Range. It contains the city of Spokane (the second largest city in the state), the Tri-Cities, the Columbia River and the Grand Coulee Dam, the H ...

in double overtime. Molden was also nicknamed "The Sacramento Killer" for catching game-touchdown passes against

Sacramento State California State University, Sacramento (CSUS, Sacramento State, or informally Sac State) is a public university in Sacramento, California, United States. Founded in 1947 as Sacramento State College, it is part of the California State Universit ...

two consecutive years (1999 and 2000). This is notable considering Molden is from Sacramento. Molden was also a fan favorite at Montana, particularly with the infamous "North Endzone" of

Washington–Grizzly Stadium Washington–Grizzly Stadium is an outdoor college football stadium in the western United States, located on the campus of the University of Montana in Missoula, Montana. Opened in 1986, it is home to the Montana Grizzlies, a member of the Big ...

Professional career

In three seasons with the Rush, Molden caught 264 passes for 3,132 yards and scored 71 touchdowns. He was named to the league's All-

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 ...

team in 2004 and the All-Ironman team in 2005. In 2006, despite missing four regular season games due to injury, he still led the Rush with 67 receptions and helped them win

ArenaBowl XX ArenaBowl XX, held on Sunday, June 11, 2006, was played to determine the championship of the 2006 season of the Arena Football League (AFL). For the second consecutive year, the game was played at the neutral site of the Thomas & Mack Center in ...

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

. Molden was released by the Chicago Rush on February 27, 2007, in the team's final cutdown before the start of the regular season. He was signed by the Las Vegas Gladiators, prior to the start of the season. 3/4 of the way through the season, Las Vegas released him. On May 31, 2007, the Chicago Rush re-signed Molden. In 2009, Molden, was signed by the

Jacksonville Sharks The Jacksonville Sharks are a professional indoor football team based in Jacksonville, Florida, that competes in the Indoor Football League (IFL). The team plays its home games at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena. They were members of the Are ...

, but never played in a game due to failure to report.

References

External links

AFL stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Molden, Etu 1979 births Living people Players of American football from Sacramento, California American football wide receivers American football linebackers Montana Grizzlies football players Chicago Rush players Las Vegas Gladiators players Jacksonville Sharks players Sportspeople from Carmichael, California Jesuit High School (Carmichael) alumni