Alabama tight end Josh Cuevas looks to inspire Latinos
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Juan Beltran, Contributor
- December 30, 2025
Josh Cuevas knows his presence at the Rose Bowl matters to Latino kids
LOS ANGELES – Josh Cuevas played high school football only 15 miles from the Rose Bowl. The Alabama tight end appreciates the pageantry of the stadium and the iconic bowl game that is played there annually on New Year’s Day.
As a child, Cuevas dreamed of playing at the Los Angeles Coliseum and Rose Bowl. He knocked the Coliseum off his bucket list two years ago as a member of the Washington Huskies.
Now the 6-foot-3, 256-pound redshirt senior from Los Angeles is set to play in the Rose Bowl against Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza and the No. 1 Indiana Hoosiers on Thursday afternoon.
“It means everything,” Cuevas said. “This is one of the games that you kind of grow up, being in L.A., (dreaming of) playing in the Rose Bowl, ‘The Granddaddy of Them All.’ The two places I really wanted to play was the Coliseum and the Rose Bowl.
“I fulfilled the Coliseum (dream) two years ago. And now it’s just the Rose Bowl. It means the world to me. I have a lot of family coming, and looking forward to seeing all of them and getting back in my hometown.”
Circuitous route
Despite the short drive from his alma mater Campbell Hall High to the Rose Bowl, Josh Cuevas has taken a long, circuitous route to the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff.
Cuevas’ trek to Power 4 football is one of the most improbable in Division I football. The Mexican American began his collegiate career at Cal Poly in 2021. He played in only three games as a true freshman at Cal Poly before taking a redshirt in 2021.
After making 57 receptions for 622 receiving yards and six touchdowns to earn All-Big Sky Third Team honors in 2022 as a redshirt freshman, Cuevas transferred to the University of Washington.
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He then helped Washington reach the national championship game in 2023 before following Huskies coach Kalen DeBoer to Alabama.
Cuevas’ journey to one of the most storied programs in college football is so improbable, he didn’t even dare to dream about it. He admittedly would have dismissed the thought of playing in the Rose Bowl one day if somebody had predicted it when he was at Cal Poly.
‘Ridiculous’ dream
“‘You’re ridiculous. Get out of my face with that ridiculous nonsense,’” Cuevas says he would have told somebody in 2021 if they had said he would play in the 2026 Rose Bowl.
Nonetheless, he dared to dream. Josh Cuevas proudly strived to become “the best of the best and get to the top.” With one National Championship Game appearance already under his belt, he’s hungry for a return.
“Alabama, for sure, it was kind of a stretch being at Cal Poly, being in the Big Sky Conference,” Cuevas said. “But … not everybody’s journey is straight. I had great mentors along the way.
“And they just told me take it one step at a time and kind of worry about the next day. … I kind of did that, stacking days, and look where I am, Alabama. Kind of crazy.”
Cuevas has 33 receptions for 376 yards and four touchdowns for the Crimson Tide this season. He is fourth on the team in receptions, fifth in receiving yards and tied for third in receiving touchdowns.
He and Alabama cornerback Domani Jackson will probably have the biggest groups of relatives at the Rose Bowl on Thursday. Jackson was born and raised in Santa Ana, Calif., about an hour away from the Rose Bowl.
Strong familial support
Jackson expects to have more than 40 people at the game. Cuevas’ relatives on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border are excited to watch him in the Rose Bowl. His mother Andrea Ozaete is from Durango, Mexico. His mother father Ivan Cuevas is from Jalisco.
Josh Cuevas has secured seven tickets for his mother to distribute.
“As of right now I have about seven that I’m pushing out there,” he said. “But it’s not something I’m handling. I’m telling my mom, ‘Here, you’ve got seven tickets. You can divide them how you want to, but that’s all I’ve got for you.’”
Cuevas is a rarity even in the year of the Latino in college football with Mendoza winning the Heisman Trophy, Texas Tech’s Jacob Rodriguez winning the Butkus and Lombardi Awards, and KC Concepcion winning the Paul Hornung Awards.
He appreciates the opportunity to inspire the next generation of Latinos to play football.
“It means everything,” he said. “There’s so many kids like me growing up just kind of looking for those kind of public figures. … In the sports realm, especially in football, there’s not very many Latinos in kind of like the football realm.
“But as little kids, growing up, you’re kind of looking for those kinds of public figures to base your game off of and even seeing if you even have a chance of getting to the next level. I’m just so grateful I can be that for a little kid here and there.”
Juan Beltran
Contributor
Juan Beltran, who immigrated to the United States from El Salvador at 5 years old, is an experienced broadcast journalist
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