James Ware
Arizona Cardinals | |||||||
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| Tight End | |||||||
Personal information | |||||||
| Date of birth: October 18, 1991 (age 32) | |||||||
| Place of birth: Carroll, IA | |||||||
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Career information | |||||||
| High school: A.A. Stagg High School, Palos Hills, IL | |||||||
| College: Northwestern | |||||||
| NFL Draft: 2015 / Round: 1 / Pick: 17 | |||||||
| Debuted in 2015 for the Dallas Cowboys | |||||||
Career history
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| Roster status: Active | |||||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||||
Career NFL statistics as of Week 1, 2023 | |||||||
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James Ware is a tight end currently playing for the Arizona Cardinals. He played college football at Northwestern.
Early Years
Ware attended A.A. Stagg High School in Palos Hills, Illinois.
College Career
Ware attended Northwestern for 5 years, originally enrolling there for academic purposes and to play on the club basketball team. When Northwestern began offering football at the FBS level in 2014, coach funtubs jumped at the chance to get 6'8" Ware onto the inaugural football team.
Statistics
| Season | Games | Receiving | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sheets | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | |||||||||
| 2014 | 12 | 44 | 609 | 13.84 | 5 | ||||||||
| NCAA Career Totals | 39 | 129 | 1,855 | 14.37 | 21 | ||||||||
Professional Career
Draft
Hills was selected with the 17th overall pick of the 2021 NFLHC Draft by the Arizona Cardinals. He was the first tight end taken.
Dallas Cowboys
2015 Season
As a rookie, Ware was named the starting tight end over fellow rookie A.J. Carter.
2016 Season
Despite the Cowboys cycling through two new head coaches over the course of the season, Ware again was named starter for the 2016 season.
Buffalo Bills
2017 Season
NFLHC expanded to its current 32 team format in 2017, with the addition of 8 new franchises to the League. Ware was selected in the 5th round of the 2017 NFLHC Expansion Draft, 38th overall, by the Buffalo Bills.
Ware was named the inaugural starter for the Bills, over rookie James Perez.
Washington Redskins
2018 Season
Prior to the 2018 season, the Bills traded Ware, DE Ulysses Smith, ILB Steve Pointer, and a 7th round pick in the upcoming draft to the Redskins for ILB Mike Bledsoe and a 4th round selection in the upcoming draft.
Ware was named the starter over Nathan Taylor and Joseph Baum.
2019 Season
Ware retained his starting role over Nathan Taylor.
2020 Season
Ware again remained the starter for the Redskins, but was reportedly being shopped around for trade. No trade was ever made.
2021 Season
Ware was finally supplanted on the depth chart by Tony DeMarco.
Chicago Bears
2022 Season
Ware signed a 2-year, $3.5M deal with the Bears. Ware was named as the primary backup to starter Donnie Allen.
During the 2023 offseason, following the draft, Ware was released.
Arizona Cardinals
2023 Season
Ware was signed to a 1 year, minimum contract by the Cardinals to compete with Emanuelu Lesa and Casey Swann as the primary backup to Noah Hills during training camp and the preseason.
Ware made the initial 53 man roster during 2023, but once Emanuelu Lesa was healthy enough to return to play for the Cardinals, they released Ware following week 3 of the season.
NFL career statistics
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Led the league | |
| NFL record | |
| Super Bowl champions | |
| Super Bowl MVP | |
| NFL MVP | |
| Bold | Career high |
