Mario Urrutia Jr. (born January 18, 1986) is a former

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 ...

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 was selected by the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

in the seventh round of the

2008 NFL draft The 2008 NFL draft was the 73rd NFL draft, annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York (state), New York ...

. 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 ...

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

. Urrutia was also a member of the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

, Hartford Colonials, Sacramento Mountain Lions,

Utah Blaze The Utah Blaze was a professional arena football team based in Salt Lake City, Utah and competed in the West Division of the Arena Football League. Home games were played at the EnergySolutions Arena. In 2013, the team did not submit proper ...

New Orleans VooDoo The New Orleans VooDoo were a professional arena football team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. They were members of the Arena Football League from 2004 to 2015. The VooDoo were the second team to play in the Arena Football League and play in ...

, Kentucky Xtreme and

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division (CFL), West division. They play thei ...

. He was also a co-owner of the Xtreme.

Early life

Born the son of Ruth Annette and Mario Urrutia Sr., Urrutia attended Fern Creek High School in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

, where he was a member of the Tigers football team. Urrutia committed to the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public university, public research university in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. Chartered in 1798 as the Jefferson Seminary, it became in the 19t ...

on January 18, 2004. He chose Louisville over football scholarships from

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

and

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

College career

In Urrutia's freshman year, he was named second-team All

Big East Conference The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...

. Catching 37 passes for 797 yards, he ranked third on the team in both statistics. He was also named a ''

Sporting News ''The Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a ...

'' Freshman All-American. While the squad went 12–1, including a win over ACC champion Wake Forest in the

2007 Orange Bowl The 2007 FedEx Orange Bowl game was a college football Bowl Championship Series (BCS) bowl game following the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The game was played on January 2, 2007, at Dolphin Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. The g ...

, Urrutia had his best statistical season during this year, catching a career-high 58 balls for 973 yards. He also had 6 touchdown catches. He was second on the team in catches. Urrutia did not repeat the success of his 2006 season in 2007. He played in only 8 games, catching 35 passes for 501 yards and 3 touchdowns. He left Louisville on December 14, 2007.

Professional career

Cincinnati Bengals

Urrutia was selected by the

in the seventh round of the

. He was waived on August 30, 2008, and signed to the Bengals' practice squad on September 1, 2008. He signed a reserve/future contract on December 29, 2008. He was waived by the Bengals on June 22, 2009.

New York Jets

Urrutia signed with the

on June 25, 2009. He was waived on August 5, 2009.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Urrutia was signed by the

on August 7, 2009. He was waived on September 5 and signed to the practice squad on September 7, 2009. He was promoted to the active roster on September 26, 2009, waived on September 28, and signed to the practice squad on September 30, 2009. Urrutia was promoted to the active roster for the second time on December 21, 2009. He was waived by the Buccaneers on August 10, 2010.

Sacramento Mountain Lions

Urrutia signed with the Sacramento Mountain Lions of the United Football League (UFL) in May 2011.

Utah Blaze

On March 1, 2013, Urrutia was assigned by the

of the

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 ...

as a wide receiver. He caught 142 passes for 1,675 yards and scoring 39 touchdowns in 2013, winning the Arena Football League Rookie of the Year Award.

New Orleans VooDoo

On September 6, 2013, Urrutia was selected by the

during the dispersal draft.

Kentucky Xtreme

In November 2013, Urrutia announced that he would be joining the Kentucky Xtreme front office as a co-owner. Urrutia also played for the Xtreme.

Winnipeg Blue Bombers

Urruita signed with the

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 March 7, 2014. He was released on June 20, 2014.

References

External links

Louisville Cardinals bioTampa Bay Buccaneers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Urrutia, Mario 1986 births Living people Players of American football from Louisville, Kentucky Players of Canadian football from Louisville, Kentucky American football wide receivers Canadian football wide receivers Louisville Cardinals football players Cincinnati Bengals players New York Jets players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Hartford Colonials players Utah Blaze players New Orleans VooDoo players Winnipeg Blue Bombers players Fern Creek High School alumni Louisville Xtreme players Sacramento Mountain Lions players American football executives