John Russell Niklos II (born, June 19, 1979) 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 ...

fullback.

Early life

Niklos played high school football and track for

Thomas Worthington High School Thomas Worthington High School (TWHS) is a public school in Worthington, Ohio. The school was named Worthington High School until 1991, when sister school, Worthington Kilbourne High School, opened. With approximately 1700 students, TWHS is the ...

where he was an All American in both Track and Football. He won the indoor track state championship in the 200 and 4x400 and his 4x400 team also won the Ohio state championship and placed second in the nation at the National Championship. He was all-state, all-region and all-district for football as well as honorable mention

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 ...

College career

Safety was his first position as a collegiate athlete, at

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

. Niklos played one season for the Buckeyes and soon thereafter transferred to

Western Illinois University Western Illinois University (WIU) is a public university in Macomb, Illinois, United States. It was founded in 1899 as Western Illinois State Normal School. As the normal school grew, it became Western Illinois State Teachers College. Once West ...

where he was a three-time All-American tight end. Niklos finished his career at Western Illinois statistically as the top tight end in W.I.U. history.

Professional career

After college, Niklos went undrafted and signed a free agent contract with the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

. He was placed on

practice squad. The

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1995 through the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, California, where the team had played ...

moved him to the active roster due to the retirement of former Heisman Trophy winner Eric Crouch He then was a member of the

between 2002 and 2005 where Mike Martz labeled him "The Fastest Fullback In The NFL". He then played a season in Germany with

NFL Europa NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally founded ...

and won a World Bowl with the Frankfurt Galaxy. Due to the cancellation of

, Niklos returned to the United States, and signed with the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

. Niklos also spent time with 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 ...

and was on Injured Reserve with the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

Post career

Niklos is currently owner of Acceleration Sports Performance and Midwest BOOM Football. He also is the Special Teams Coordinator at College Of Dupage where he helped lead the team to win the 2021, 2022, and 2023 Junior College National Championship.

References

Camp homecoming for Rams’ Niklos
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External links

Just Sports StatsCareer transactions
{{DEFAULTSORT:Niklos, J. R. 1979 births Western Illinois Leathernecks football players Ohio State Buckeyes football players American football fullbacks American expatriate sportspeople in Germany Cleveland Browns players Frankfurt Galaxy players Living people Oakland Raiders players Sportspeople from Worthington, Ohio Players of American football from Franklin County, Ohio Seattle Seahawks players St. Louis Rams players