Jonathan Quinn "Jake" Ferguson (born January 18, 1999) is an American 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 ...

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 ...

for 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 ...

of 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

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 ...

for the

Wisconsin Badgers The Wisconsin Badgers are the College athletics in the United States, athletic teams representing the University of Wisconsin–Madison. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I ...

and was selected by the Cowboys in the fourth round of the

2022 NFL draft The 2022 NFL draft was the 87th edition of the National Football League's annual NFL draft, draft and was held from April 28–30, 2022, at the Caesars Forum on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, Paradise next to Las Vegas. The first round ...

Early life

Ferguson attended James Madison Memorial High School now known as Vel Phillips Memorial High School in Madison,

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

. He played

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 ...

and

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 ...

in high school. During his career he had 1,795 receiving yards and 15 touchdowns on offense and 314 tackles, five sacks and five interceptions on defense. He committed to the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

to play

College career

Ferguson played at Wisconsin from 2017 to 2021. After redshirting his first year in 2017, he played in 47 games over the next four years, recording 145 receptions for 1,618 yards and 13 touchdowns. As a senior he broke Lee Evans' school record for consecutive games with a reception.

College statistics

Professional career

Ferguson was selected by the

in the fourth round, 129th overall, of the

. In Week 6, he scored his first NFL touchdown on a seven-yard touchdown reception in the 26–17 loss to the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

. He finished his rookie season with 19 receptions for 174 yards and two receiving touchdowns in 16 games and eight starts. In the 2023 season, he recorded 71 receptions for 761 yards and five touchdowns in 17 games and 16 starts. In the Cowboys' Wild Card Round loss to the Packers, he had ten receptions for 93 yards and three touchdowns.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Postseason

Personal life

Ferguson's grandfather is former Wisconsin head coach

Barry Alvarez Barry Lee Alvarez (born December 30, 1946) is an American former college football coach and athletic director at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He served as the head football coach at Wisconsin for 16 seasons, from 1990 to 2005, compili ...

; Alvarez was also an athletic director for the university. Ferguson has been in a relationship with Haley Cavinder since 2023 and the pair announced their engagement in April 2025.

References

External links

Dallas Cowboys bioWisconsin Badgers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferguson, Jake 1999 births Living people American people of Spanish descent Players of American football from Madison, Wisconsin American football tight ends Wisconsin Badgers football players Dallas Cowboys players