John Ursua (born January 17, 1994), nicknamed "J-Dub", 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 ...

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 ...

. 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

Hawaii Rainbow Warriors The Hawaii Rainbow Warriors and Rainbow Wāhine are the athletic teams that represent the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (UH), in Honolulu, Hawaii. The UH athletics program is a member of the Big West Conference in most sports and competes at ...

Early life

Ursua was born in

Kailua-Kona, Hawaii Kailua-Kona is an Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Hawaii County, Hawaii, Hawaii County, Hawaii, United States. It is most commonly referred to simply as Kona (a name it shares wit ...

on January 17, 1994, and is the youngest of five children to Larry and Laurie Ursua. Ursua was a multi-sport athlete in high school earning a total of 12

varsity letters A varsity letter (or monogram) is an award earned in the United States for excellence in school activities. A varsity letter signifies that its recipient was a qualified varsity team member, awarded after a certain standard was met. A person who ...

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 and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

. He attended

Kealakehe High School Kealakehe High School is a public high school located in Kailua, Hawaii County, Hawaii, United States. It has the largest geographic school attendance boundary in the state and covers a geographic district wide, encompassing the communities of Kai ...

in Kailua-Kona, Westlake High School in

Saratoga Springs, Utah Saratoga Springs is a city in Utah County, Utah, United States. The elevation is 4,505 feet. It is part of the Provo– Orem, Utah Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city is a relatively new development along the northwestern shores of Ut ...

, and ultimately graduated from Cedar High School in

Cedar City, Utah Cedar City is the largest city in Iron County, Utah, United States. Located south of Salt Lake City, it is north of Las Vegas on Interstate 15 in Utah, Interstate 15. Southern Utah University is located in Cedar City. It is the home of the Ut ...

in 2012.

College career

Ursua was an accomplished

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

during his

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

career. He was rated by Rivals.com as the Number 10 prospect and 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 ...

as the Number 18 prospect for the state of

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

. Initially, Ursua verbally committed to BYU during his sophomore year at Westlake High School.

Norm Chow Norman Yew Heen Chow (born May 3, 1946) is an American football coach and former player. He was the head football coach at the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football, University of Hawaii at Manoa, a position he held from December 2011 until November ...

, who was

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator (OC) is a Coach (sport), coach responsible for a gridiron football team's offense (American football), offense. Generally, the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second ...

at the time, discovered Ursua's talents as a

. After Chow was named Hawaii's head coach in December 2011, he offered a scholarship to Ursua. In between high school graduation and the start of his collegiate football career, Ursua served on a two year mission for

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

Paris, France Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Freshman season

Ursua was

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

for the 2015 season.

Freshman (redshirt) season

During his sophomore season of

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

, Ursua appeared in all 14 games (13 starts) as a

slot 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, WR gets its name from the player being split ...

. He finished second on the team with 53 receptions for 652 yards, 3 touchdowns, and two 100-yard games. He also carried the ball four times for eight yards during the season and scored his first career rushing touchdown against

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

. He was the team's primary punt returner with eight returns for 63 yards. Despite finishing the regular season with a losing record of 6–7, Hawaii qualified for a bowl game and won the 2016 Hawaii Bowl against

Middle Tennessee Middle Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee that composes roughly the central portion of the state. It is delineated according to state law as 41 of the state's 95 counties. Middle Tennessee contains the state's capital an ...

by a score of 52–35.

Sophomore (redshirt) season

Prior to the 2017 season, Ursua was named to the

Polynesian College Football Player of the Year The Polynesian Football Player of the Year Award is given annually by the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame to the most outstanding player of Polynesians, Polynesian descent at the high school football, high school, college football, college, and ...

watch-list as well as to the

Fred Biletnikoff Award The Fred Biletnikoff Award is presented annually to the most outstanding receiver in American college football by the Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation, Inc. (TQCF), an independent not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization. The award was creat ...

watch-list for the nation's top wide receiver. He played in six games before suffering a season-ending injury against San José State on October 16. He entered that game leading the nation in receiving yards per game with 130.6 and second in receptions per game with 9.2. Despite missing half of the season, Ursua finished as the team's leader in receiving yards with 667 and receiving touchdowns with 5. He finished the season with 47 receptions, averaging 14.2 yards per catch, and produced three 100-yard receiving performances. On August 26 in a season-opening win against

UMass The University of Massachusetts is the public university system of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The university system includes six campuses (Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, Lowell, a medical school in Worcester and a law school in Dartmouth ...

, Ursua amassed 272 yards and one touchdown on 12 catches. The 272 yards was the best nationally in 2017 for a single game, the fourth-highest total ever by a UH player, the fourth-highest total ever by a

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States, participating in NCAA Division I. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The MW officially began operations on Ja ...

player, and his 85-yard touchdown catch during that game was the fifth-longest catch in school history.

Junior (redshirt) season

Ursua led the nation in receiving touchdowns with 16. His 17 total touchdowns (one rushing touchdown versus

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

) ranked 10th in the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

. He ranked fifth nationally in receiving yards with 1,343 and eighth in receiving yards per game with 103.3. He led the Mountain West in receiving touchdowns, receiving yards, receiving yards per game, and total touchdowns. He eclipsed 100-yards in seven games and scored multiple touchdowns in five games. He achieved a career-high 13 receptions in a game versus San Jose State. His senior year accomplishments included being named to the all-Mountain West first-team, selection to the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

and

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

Mid-Season All America second-team, a Semifinalist for the Biletnikoff Award, a finalist for the Polynesian Player of the Year, and named the team's Most Valuable Player. During the 2018 season, he reached the feat of having at least one catch in 30 consecutive games dating back to his first season on the team. He missed the

2018 Hawaii Bowl The 2018 Hawaii Bowl was a college football bowl game being played on December 22, 2018, in Honolulu, Hawaii. It was the 17th edition of the Hawaii Bowl, and one of the 2018–19 bowl games concluding the 2018 FBS football season. This was the ...

due to an injury, in a game that Hawaii lost to

Louisiana Tech Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Ruston, Louisiana, United States. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – Hig ...

31–14. Ursua completed his

career ranked in Hawaii's top ten for career receptions (189, 9th), receiving yards (2,662, 9th), and receiving touchdowns (24, 7th).

Statistics

Professional career

Seattle Seahawks

Despite one more year of eligibility at Hawaii, Ursua declared for the

2019 NFL draft The 2019 NFL draft was the 84th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2019 NFL season. The draft was held on April 25–27 in Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville. The first round was held ...

Christmas Day Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A liturgical feast central to Christianity, Chri ...

of 2018. He was selected by 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 ...

in the seventh round with the 236th overall selection. Prior to the start of the draft, the Seahawks' last pick was in the 6th Round. However, during the draft they traded a 2020 sixth-rounder to the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team ...

for the seventh-round pick that was ultimately used to select Ursua. He is the 72nd player in Hawaiian history to be selected in the

NFL draft The NFL draft, officially known as the Annual Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the most common source of player recruitment in the National Football League. Each team is given a position in the drafting order in reve ...

and the third ever selected by the Seahawks, joining M.L. Johnson in 1987 and Wayne Hunter in 2003. He was the second Rainbow Warrior selected in the 2019 Draft, joining Jahlani Tavai, a second round pick by the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

. It is the first time Hawaii had multiple players drafted in the same year since the

2011 NFL draft The 2011 NFL draft was the 76th installment of the annual National Football League draft, NFL draft, where the franchises of the National Football League select newly eligible football players. Like the 2010 draft, the 2011 draft was held at Rad ...

when

Alex Green Alexander Denell Green (born June 23, 1988) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) and Canadian Football League (CFL). He played college football for the Hawaii Rainbow Wa ...

(

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

), Greg Salas (

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 ...

), and Kealoha Pilares (

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

) were selected. In the 2019 season, Ursua appeared in three regular season games and recorded one reception for 11 receiving yards, which occurred in Week 17 against the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

. Ursua was placed on the reserve/

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

list by the team on August 9, 2020, and activated from the list three days later. He was waived on September 8, 2020, and was re-signed to the

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 ...

the next day. He signed a reserve/future contract on January 13, 2021. Ursua suffered a

torn ACL An anterior cruciate ligament injury occurs when the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is either stretched, partially torn, or completely torn. The most common injury is a complete tear. Symptoms include pain, an audible cracking sound during in ...

in the second preseason game of 2021. He was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...

on August 23, 2021.

Saskatchewan Roughriders

Ursua was signed to the practice roster of the

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 19 ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL) on September 12, 2023. He was released on September 27, 2023.

BC Lions

On December 20, 2023, Ursua signed with the

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions playe ...

of the CFL. On May 12, 2024, Ursua was placed on the reserve/suspended list. He was released on July 20, 2024.

Personal life

Ursua is an active member of

and participated in mission trips to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, and

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

, and as a result speaks

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

. He also speaks Hawaiian.Video
/ref> Both of his older brothers were also college football players, having played for

Southern Utah Dixie is a nickname for the populated, lower-elevation area of south-central Washington County, the southwest corner of the State of Utah, bordering nearby Arizona to the south, and Nevada to the west. The area lies in the northeastern Mojave ...

References

External links

Hawaii Rainbow Warriors bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ursua, John 1994 births Living people American football wide receivers Native Hawaiian sportspeople Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football players People from Cedar City, Utah People from Kailua-Kona, Hawaii Sportspeople from Hawaii County, Hawaii Players of American football from Hawaii Players of American football from Utah Seattle Seahawks players American Mormon missionaries in France American Mormon missionaries in Belgium American Mormon missionaries in Luxembourg Latter Day Saints from Hawaii 21st-century African-American sportsmen BC Lions players Canadian football wide receivers Players of Canadian football from Hawaii Saskatchewan Roughriders players Pacific Islander American players of American football