Xazavian Valladay (born July 3, 1998) 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 ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

. 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

Wyoming Cowboys The Wyoming Cowboys and Cowgirls are the sport, athletic teams that represent the University of Wyoming, located in Laramie, Wyoming, Laramie. Wyoming is a member of the Mountain West Conference (MW) and competes in NCAA Division I, fielding 17 ...

and

Arizona State Sun Devils The Arizona State Sun Devils are the sport, athletic teams that represent Arizona State University. ASU has nine men's and eleven women's Varsity team, varsity teams competing at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Divisi ...

Early life

Valladay's hometown is

Matteson, Illinois Matteson () is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 19,073 at the 2020 census. It is a suburb of Chicago. Matteson is located in Chicago Southland, Chicago's Southland area. The village is home to multiple wareho ...

and he attended Brother Rice High School. In his high school career, Valladay helped his high school to 9–3 record and to the 2016 Illinois Class 8A State Playoffs as the number eight seed. Valladay would decide to commit to play

at the

University of Wyoming The University of Wyoming (UW) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming, United States. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, ...

College career

Wyoming

In Wyoming's 2018 season finale, Valladay had a breakout game as he rushed for 192 yards and two touchdowns, as he helped the Cowboys beat

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

to become bowl eligible. Valladay finished the 2018 season with 396 yards and three touchdowns on 71 carries, while also hauling in four passes for 35 yards. In the

2019 Arizona Bowl The 2019 Arizona Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 31, 2019, with kickoff at 4:30 p.m. EST (2:30 p.m. local MST) on CBS Sports Network. It was the 5th edition of the Arizona Bowl, and one of the 2019–20 bowl ...

, Valladay had a monster game rushing for 204 yards and a touchdown, while also bringing in three passes for 91 yards and a score, as he helped Wyoming beat

Georgia State Georgia State University (Georgia State, State, or GSU) is a public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1913, it is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities. It is also the second large ...

to win their bowl game. For his performance on the game he was named the Offensive MVP for the game. Valladay finished his breakout 2019 season with 1,265 yards and six touchdowns on 247 carries, while also notching 11 receptions for 211 yards and two touchdowns. For his performance on the season he was named to the 2019 First Team All Mountain-West football team. In week two of the 2020 season, Valladay had an amazing performance rushing for 163 yards and two touchdowns, while also catching two passes for 32 yards, as he helped the Cowboys beat

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

31–7. Valladay finished the shortened 2020 season with 550 yards and four touchdowns on 99 carries, while also hauling in 13 receptions for 105 yards. For his performance on the year, Valladay was named First Team All Mountain West for the second straight season. In week nine of the 2021 season, Valladay had another great performance rushing for 172 yards, but Wyoming would fall to

San Jose State San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the List of oldest schools in California, oldest public university on the West Coast of ...

27–21. Valladay finished the 2021 season with 1,063 yards and six touchdowns on 209 carries, while also racking up 23 receptions for 233 yards. For his performance on the season, Valladay would be named Second Team All Mountain West. After the conclusion of the 2021 season, Valladay announced that he had decided to enter the NCAA transfer portal and continue out his career elsewhere.

Arizona State

Valladay would decide to transfer to

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is one of the largest ...

to play out his final season of eligibility. Valladay had a stellar debut with Arizona State in week one of the 2022 season, as he rushed for 116 yards and two touchdowns, as helped the Sun Devils beat

Northern Arizona Northern Arizona is an unofficial, colloquially defined region of the U.S. state of Arizona. Generally consisting of Apache, Coconino, Mohave, Navajo, and Yavapai counties, the region is geographically dominated by the Colorado Plateau, the ...

. In week nine, Valladay had another great performance rushing for 118 yards and three touchdowns, as he helped Arizona State take down

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

. Valladay finished the season with 1,192 yards and 16 touchdowns on 215 carries, while also bringing in 37 receptions for 289 yards and two touchdowns. For his performance on the season, Valladay was named second team all Pac-12. Valladay finished his college career with 4,466 rushing yards and 35 touchdowns on 841 carries, while also notching 88 receptions for 873 yards and four touchdowns.

Professional career

Houston Texans

After not being selected in the

2023 NFL draft The 2023 NFL draft was the 88th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2023 NFL season, 2023 season. The NFL draft, draft was held outside of Kansas City Union Station, Union Station i ...

, Valladay signed with the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

. On August 13, 2023, Valladay was released by the Texans.

Pittsburgh Steelers

On August 15, 2023, Valladay signed with the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

. On August 29, Valladay was released by the Steelers during final rosters cuts.

New York Jets

On August 30, 2023, Valladay signed to 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 ...

practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster on January 6, 2024. On August 27, 2024, Valladay was waived by the Jets and re-signed to the practice squad. He was released on September 11.

New Orleans Saints

On November 6, 2024, Valladay was signed to the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

practice squad. He signed a reserve/future contract with New Orleans on January 6, 2025. On June 20, Valladay was waived by the Saints.

References

External links

Arizona State Sun Devils bio

Wyoming Cowboys bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Valladay, Xazavian 1998 births Living people Players of American football from Cook County, Illinois American football running backs Arizona State Sun Devils football players Wyoming Cowboys football players Houston Texans players 21st-century American sportsmen New York Jets players Pittsburgh Steelers players New Orleans Saints players