| No. 6, 7 | |
|---|---|
| Position: | Wide receiver |
| Personal information | |
| Born: | (1993-11-10)November 10, 1993 (age 31) Muscat, Oman |
| Height: | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
| Weight: | 194 lb (88 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school: | McEachern (Powder Springs, Georgia) |
| College: | Syracuse Maryland |
| Undrafted: | 2017 |
| Career history | |
| |
| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| Stats atPro Football Reference | |
Amba Etta-Tawo (born November 10, 1993) is a formerAmerican footballwide receiver. He playedcollege football atMaryland from 2012 to 2015 and atSyracuse in 2016.
Etta-Tawo began attendingMaryland in 2012 and redshirted his first season. On August 31, 2013, Etta-Tawo made his collegiate debut and caught first career touchdown reception in a 43–10 victory overFIU. On October 13, 2013, Etta-Tawo caught a season-high six passes for a career-high 109 receiving yards during a 34–10 loss toWake Forest. On November 23, 2013, he made four receptions for 57-yards and a touchdown during a 29–26 loss toBoston College. The following week, Etta-Tawo caught four passes for 106 receiving yards in a 41–21 victory overNC State. He played in 12 games with seven starts with 32 receptions for 500-yards and two touchdowns.[1]
Etta-Tawo returned in 2014 and played in 13 games, while starting the last six. On October 18, 2014, he caught a season-high three passes for 46-yards during a 38–31 victory toIowa. On November 29, 2018, Etta-Tawo caught a career-long 71-yard touchdown pass in Maryland's 41–38 loss toRutgers. He finished the season with ten receptions for 220 receiving yards and one touchdown.
He started the first two games of the 2015 season before being used as a reserve for the remainder of the season. On September 12, 2015, Etta-Tawo caught a season-high five receptions for 49-yards during a 48–27 loss toBowling Green. On November 14, 2015, Etta-Tawo tied his season-high of five receptions and also had a season-high of 63 receiving yards in a 24–7 loss toMichigan State. Etta-Tawo completed the season with 20 receptions for 216 receiving yards and zero touchdowns in 12 games and two starts.[2] Head coachRandy Edsall was fired after Maryland started the season 2–4 and was replaced byD. J. Durkin when he announced his arrival with Maryland.
On March 1, 2016, Etta-Tawo announced viaTwitter his intention to transfer schools for the upcoming 2016 season after graduating in May.[3]
On March 23, 2016, Etta-Tawo announced viaFacebook that he had officially transferred toSyracuse as a graduate transfer. He opted to transfer after having his playing time decreased and falling on Maryland's depth chart.[4]
On September 2, 2016, Etta-Tawo made his official Syracuse Orange debut, catching a 12 passes for 210 receiving yards and a touchdown during a 33–7 routing overFCS'sColgate. On September 24, 2016, he made 12 receptions for a career-high 270 receiving yards and two touchdown receptions in Syracuse's 31–24 win overUConn. On November 26, 2016, Etta-Tawo had a career-high 13 receptions for 178 receiving yards and a career-high five touchdown receptions during a 76–61 loss toPittsburgh. He finished his only season under Syracuse head coachDino Babers with 94 receptions for 1,482 receiving yards and 14 receiving touchdowns in 12 games and 12 starts.[5]
He led all ACC receivers with seven games with over 100+ receiving yards and set a Syracuse school record. His 14 receiving touchdowns tiedTommy Kane's school record set in 1987. His 1,482 receiving yards ranked eighth in the FBS and second in any power five conference behind onlyOklahoma'sDede Westbrook (1,524). He was voted team captain at the end of the season and finished being ranked as the 15th best college player and second best wide receiver in the nation byESPN.[1]
On November 8, 2016, it was announced that Etta-Tawo had received an invitation to appear in the2017 Senior Bowl.[6][7] Etta-Tawo impressed scouts and teams during Senior Bowl practices and met with multiple team representatives, includingMinnesota Vikings' head coachMike Zimmer.[8][9] Unfortunately, Etta-Tawo was unable to play in theReese's Senior Bowl after dislocating a finger in practice.[10] He was one of 57 collegiate wide receivers to attend theNFL Scouting Combine inIndianapolis, Indiana.[11] He completed all of the combine drills and finished 17th among his position group at the40-yard dash.[12] On March 20, 2017, he attendedSyracuse's pro day, along with 11 other prospects. Scouts and team representatives from 16 NFL and twoCFL teams attended to scout Etta-Tawo as Syracuse's top prospect at the event.[13] He weighed in five pounds lighter and ran the majority of combine drills again. He was clocked by officials running a 4.35s in the 40-yard dash that would've ranked third among wide receivers at the combine, behind onlyWashington'sJohn Ross (4.22s) andOhio State'sCurtis Samuel (4.33s).[14] He also ran positional and receiving drills, running NFL routes and catching passes from former Syracuse quarterback Terrel Hunt. At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, he was projected as a fifth to seventh round pick by NFL draft experts and scouts.[15] He was ranked the 26th best wide receiver byCBS Sports and the 31st best wide receiver prospect by NFLDraftScout.com.[16]
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | 208 lb (94 kg) | 32 in (0.81 m) | 9+1⁄8 in (0.23 m) | 4.49 s | 1.58 s | 2.62 s | 4.32 s | 6.95 s | 31 in (0.79 m) | 10 ft 5 in (3.18 m) | 14 reps | |
| All values fromNFL Combine[17] | ||||||||||||
On April 30, 2017, the Jacksonville Jaguars signed Etta-Tawo to a three-year, $1.66 million contract as anundrafted free agent after he went unselected in the2017 NFL draft.[18] Multiple NFL teams contacted him immediately after the drafted concluded, but Etta-Tawo stated he ultimately chose the Jaguars due to their wide receivers coachKeenan McCardell, who he previously had played under at Maryland.[19] On September 3, 2017, theJacksonville Jaguars signed Etta-Tawo to their practice squad.[20]
Throughout training camp, Etta-Tawo competed for a roster spot againstDede Westbrook,Arrelious Benn,Larry Pinkard,Jamal Robinson,Shane Wynn,Keelan Cole, andKenneth Walker III.[21] On September 19, 2017, the Jaguars released Etta-Tawo from their practice squad.[22]
On October 11, 2017, theKansas City Chiefs signed Etta-Tawo to their practice squad.[23] On November 16, 2017, he was released by the Chiefs.[24]
On December 20, 2017, theNew York Giants signed Etta-Tawo to their practice squad. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Giants on January 1, 2018.[25]
On September 1, 2018, Etta-Tawo was waived by the Giants.[26] He was re-signed to the practice squad on September 26, 2018.[27] He was released on October 4, 2018.[28]
On November 9, 2018, Etta-Tawo signed with theBirmingham Iron of theAlliance of American Football.[29]
On December 12, 2018, theHouston Texans signed Etta-Tawo to their practice squad.[30]
After his practice squad contract expired with the Texans at the end of the2018 NFL season, he was signed to the Iron's active roster on January 15, 2019.[31]
On July 27, 2019, Etta-Tawo re-signed with the Giants due to injuries toSterling Shepard,Darius Slayton, andCorey Coleman plusGolden Tate facing a suspension.[32][33] He suffered a torn Achilles in practice and was ruled out for the season.[34]
Etta-Tawo signed with theOttawa Redblacks of the CFL on December 14, 2020.[35] He was placed on the suspended list on July 12, 2021.[36] He was released on February 15, 2022.[37]