JoJo Ward

Joseph "JoJo" Ward (born December 9, 1997) is an American football wide receiver who is currently a free agent. He was most recently a member of the Ottawa Redblacks of the Canadian Football League (CFL). Ward played college football at Hawaii. He has also been a member of the Arizona Cardinals, Cleveland Browns, and Houston Gamblers.

JoJo Ward
Personal information
Born: (1997-12-09) December 9, 1997
Waco, Texas
Height:5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Weight:175 lb (79 kg)
Career information
High school:Midway (TX)
College:Hawaii
Position:Wide receiver
Undrafted:2020
Career history
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career NFL statistics
Player stats at NFL.com

High school career

Ward attended Midway High School, where he was named the District 12-6A offensive MVP as a senior.[1]

College career

Ward played at Tyler Junior College in Tyler, Texas, where he racked up over 1,000 yards receiving and nine touchdowns in two seasons.[2] He joined the Hawaii roster in July 2018 at the last minute as a walk-on.[3]

Ward was named to the Earl Campbell Award watchlist before the start of the 2019 season, and was named its national player of the week in week 2 of the season, where he caught ten passes for 189 yards and all four of Hawaii's touchdowns against Oregon State.[4][5] He also was named the Mountain West Offensive Player of the Week for the same performance.[6]

College statistics
Hawaii Rainbow Warriors
Year Class GP Receiving Kick Returns Punt Returns
Rec Yds Avg TD Ret Yds Avg TD Ret Yds Avg TD
2018 Junior 14 51 865 17.0 9 0 0 0 0 3 13 4.3 0
2019 Senior 14 65 1134 17.4 11 2 31 15.5 0 3 1 0.3 0
Career 28 116 1999 17.2 20 2 31 15.5 0 6 14 2.3 0
Source:[7]

Professional career

Arizona Cardinals

After going undrafted in the 2020 NFL draft, Ward signed with the Arizona Cardinals on April 25, 2020.[8][9] On September 5, 2020, Ward was waived during final roster cuts.[10] He was re-signed to the practice squad a day later.[11] He signed a reserve/future contract on January 5, 2021.[12] He was waived on August 16, 2021.[13]

Cleveland Browns

On August 19, 2021, Ward signed with the Cleveland Browns.[14] Ward was waived by the Browns on August 20, 2021.[15]

Houston Gamblers

Ward was drafted by the Houston Gamblers of the United States Football League (USFL) in the 14th round of the 2022 USFL draft.[16] He was transferred to the team's inactive roster on April 22, 2022.[17] He was moved back to the active roster on May 20.[18] He was released on April 4, 2023.[19]

Ottawa Redblacks

On April 27, 2023, Ward signed with the Ottawa Redblacks of the Canadian Football League (CFL).[20] He was released by the Redblacks during the first week of training camp on May 16, 2023.[21]

References
  1. "Midway alum Ward making a splash in Hawaii". Waco Tribune-Herald. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  2. "2018 Warrior Football Position Preview: Wide Receivers". Hawaii Athletics. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  3. "The word is getting out on Warrior JC transfer receiver JoJo Ward". KHON2. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  4. Carlson, Kainoa. "Jojo Ward named to Earl Campbell Award Watch-list". Hawaii News Now. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  5. "Former Apache JoJo Ward named Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award National Player of the Week". Tyler Junior College Athletics. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  6. Tsai, Stephen. "Hawaii football: JoJo Ward wins Mountain West honor". Hawaii Warrior World. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  7. "JoJo Ward College Stats". Sports Reference. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  8. Tsai, Stephen. "Former Hawaii receiver JoJo Ward reaches deal on free-agent contract with Arizona Cardinals". The Star Advertiser. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  9. "Cardinals Agree To Terms With 21 Undrafted Rookie Free Agents". AZCardinals.com. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  10. Urban, Darren (September 5, 2020). "Cardinals Make Final Cuts To Get To Initial 53-Man Roster". azcardinals.com.
  11. Urban, Darren (September 6, 2020). "Cardinals Build Practice Squad, Including Weaver, Foster". azcardinals.com.
  12. Urban, Darren (January 5, 2021). "Cardinals Sign 15 Players To 'Futures' Contracts". AZCardinals.com.
  13. Urban, Darren (August 16, 2021). "Cardinals Bring Back Four From Covid List, Including James Conner". AZCardinals.com.
  14. Mueller, Jared (August 19, 2021). "Browns sign WR JoJo Ward, cut DT Damion Square". USAToday.com. Retrieved August 19, 2021.
  15. "Browns sign LBs Montrel Meander, Willie Harvey Jr". ClevelandBrowns.com. August 20, 2021.
  16. @USFLGamblers (February 23, 2022). "The pick is in! #USFLDraft Welcome to the squad, JoJo Ward! #AllIn" (Tweet). Retrieved April 23, 2022 – via Twitter.
  17. @USFLGamblers (April 22, 2022). "Roster Updates" (Tweet). Retrieved April 23, 2022 – via Twitter.
  18. @USFLGamblers (May 20, 2022). "Roster Updates" (Tweet). Retrieved May 23, 2022 – via Twitter.
  19. @USFLGamblers (April 4, 2023). "Released" (Tweet). Retrieved April 4, 2023 – via Twitter.
  20. Heilman, Michael (2023-04-27). "Ottawa Redblacks sign former Gamblers WR JoJo Ward and OL Peter Kourtis". BGMSportsTrax. Retrieved 2023-05-17.
  21. 3Down Staff (2023-05-17). "Ottawa Redblacks release eight, including QB Charlie Brewer". 3DownNation. Retrieved 2023-05-17.
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