Sunday’s feel-good story in NFL: Former KU receiver Kwamie Lassiter II gets 1st catch

Former Kansas wide receiver Kwamie Lassiter II, who has spent the vast majority of his two seasons in the NFL on the practice squad of the Cincinnati Bengals, caught the first regular-season pass of his pro career with 1:11 left in Cincy’s 34-20 victory over Arizona on Sunday at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

The 2-yard pass from Joe Burrow to Lassiter, which had no bearing on the final score, nonetheless emerged as one of the feel-good stories in the entire NFL on Sunday.

Lassiter — he was elevated from the practice squad Saturday to fill in for the injured Tee Higgins — made the catch against the Arizona Cardinals, the team his father, Kwamie Lassiter, played safety for seven seasons. According to Bengals.com, State Farm Stadium is the same facility in which Kwamie II lost a state title game his junior year of high school.

The elder Kwamie Lassiter played defensive back at KU from 1992 to 1994. He played safety for Arizona from 1995-2002, San Diego in 2003 and the St. Louis Rams in 2004. He had an NFL record-tying four interceptions in a game for Arizona against the San Diego Chargers. He died in January of 2019 at the age of 49.

Bengals coach Zac Taylor, who appreciates the hard work of Lassiter II since the 5-foot-11, 185-pound receiver joined the team as an undrafted free agent out of KU in 2022, made Lassiter one of the team captains for Sunday’s contest.

Taylor also called the play that assured Lassiter of his first catch as a pro in his former backyard.

“It was special. I appreciate what Zac and the staff did,” Lassiter told Bengals.com, referring to being elevated to captain.

“It was an RPO,” he added of the play that resulted in his late-game catch. “If the ball was going to come to me, I was going to be ready for it.”

Taylor awarded Lassiter a game ball in the locker room after the contest. Lassiter raced to give the ball to family members before boarding the team bus to the airport for the trip back to Cincinnati, Bengals.com reported.

“Kwamie has been everything that we want to be around. He’s done a great job on our practice squad and did a great job when his number was called last year, when he came in against Tennessee when we elevated him,” Taylor told Bengals.com.

Lassiter was called up from the practice squad for one game in his rookie NFL season (2022). He did not make a catch against Tennessee while playing eight snaps.

“He’s a guy that’s very dependable. We have a lot of trust in him. His dad was a tremendous player here in the late ‘90s, early 2000s,” Taylor added. “And I think that’s a really special moment for a guy that is exactly what we want to be about, able to maybe have a moment for himself and his family to honor his late dad.”

Taylor added to Bengals.com: “His dad went to my junior college, Butler County, so there’s that fraternity. It’s special for Kwamie. It’s a bonus that he got a catch on a red alert. Hopefully it was a good moment. When the right people are doing the right things, you want to find a way to draw attention to that, and Kwamie is a great example. Kwamie represents everything we want to be about.”

Darrin Simmons, the Bengals’ special teams coordinator who played with the late Kwamie Lassiter at KU, told Bengals.com: “What a great guy his dad was. It was just awesome to see and for him to get his first NFL catch back here.”

It’s unknown if Lassiter will be recalled from the practice squad for the Bengals’ next game, Sunday at home, vs. Seattle.

According to cincyjungle.com, “Lassiter II on Sunday was classified as standard elevation. As a practice squad player being elevated to the active roster for the game, he automatically will revert to the practice squad on Monday.”

Lassiter’s brother, Kwinton Lassiter, is a cornerback on KU’s football team. Kwinton and Kwamie’s brother, Darius Lassiter, plays receiver for BYU. Their mom, Ericka, who is the leader of a foundation that supports sickle cell anemia family support and education, attended the KU-BYU game on Sept. 23 in Lawrence. KU won 38-27.

Darius had a TD catch in the game, while Kwinton had two tackles. According to deseret.com, mom Ericka and some other family members in attendance wore jerseys of the two teams sewn together with Darius’ No. 5 and Kwinton’s No. 8 on them.

Ericka was unable to attend Sunday’s Bengals game.

“Kwamie coming home is just another answered prayer. The opportunity to play at home where his father’s career started, in front of his family and friends, is truly nothing but God,” Ericka told Bengals.com before the game. “Over 20 family and friends will be at the game cheering him on. I pray he scores his first career touchdown at State Farm Stadium. That for sure will have heaven written all over it.”