Exclusive: Packers WR J. Michael Sturdivant Has Unique Athletic Background

J. Michael Sturdivant, the potential-packed receiver the Green Bay Packers signed after the draft, isn’t the only member of his family in the National Football League.

His sister is a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader.

“She beat me to the NFL,” he told Packers On SI with a laugh on Monday.

Now, Sturdivant has joined her. With solid production through four seasons of college football and an excellent physical skill-set, the expectation is he would be drafted. Instead, he went undrafted, though he refused to dwell on the outcome.

“I had my family, I had my close friends around me. So, obviously, disappointing situation where you think it’s going to go one way and it goes another,” he said. “But, at the end of the day, I got opportunities, so I’m going to come into Green Bay with a great, positive mentality. I’m excited to work, excited to earn my keep, earn my spot on the team and just bring another title to Titletown.”

As the draft was coming to a close, “my phone was hot” as the undrafted recruiting process began.

Ultimately, he chose Green Bay, which he called a “great situation.” He’s right. With Romeo Doubs and Dontayvion Wicks no longer on the roster and with only Skyy Moore, who was signed in free agency, added during the offseason, there is an opening on the roster for a sixth receiver.

J. Michael Sturdivant caught 16 touchdown passes during his college career. | Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

“They didn’t draft a receiver,” he said. “They got a great receiver room, they have a great quarterback, a great head coach that calls great plays. And it’s got a lot of stability, and that’s something that I never really had in my college career.

“So, being able to pick to go to a very stable situation that could allow me to play and develop more as a receiver under people that know what they’re doing and have receivers in the room that look like me, that have been successful in the league to be able to play next to is great.”

Yes, stability. As he said, he didn’t have much of that during his college career.

The Under Armour All-American started his college career at Cal. After redshirting in 2021, he led all FBS freshmen with 65 catches for 755 yards and was second with seven touchdowns in 2022.

From there, he spent the 2023 and 2024 seasons at UCLA, where he caught a total of 58 passes. He finished his college career at Florida, where he caught 27 passes for 406 yards (15.0 average) and three touchdowns.

He “loved every part” of his college career, even if the production didn’t match his expectations.

“At the end of the day, I play receiver, so we can’t throw ourselves the ball. We just got to catch the ball when it comes our way,” he said. “So, that’s what I did my whole career and that’s what I’m going to continue to do for the rest of my career. So, you got to attack your reality, attack your situation and go through it with a smile on your face. …

“I made great relationships at every spot I was at. And I grew a lot. Ultimately, it ended up landing me here, and now it’s up to me to go and be successful.”

Jack of All Trades

Athleticism is in his family’s DNA. His father, Michael Sturdivant, played receiver at Virginia Tech and got a chance with the Seattle Seahawks. His mom, Melodie, is in the Bradley University Athletics Hall of Fame for her prowess on the track.

J. Michael is the middle child. His oldest sister, Camille, is the Cowboys cheerleader. His youngest sister, Crystal, is a sprinter in high school. More on her in a second.

If that’s not enough, his uncle is the late Pro Football Hall of Fame running back Floyd Little.

“Our family, we used to meet every year for Christmas, so I was able to get close to him when I was growing up playing football,” Sturdivant said. “And then he ultimately passed while I was starting to get more offers and get deeper into my career. It was definitely cool to have him around when I was growing up.”

Florida receiver J. Michael Sturdivant catches a pass at pro day. | Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Sturdivant started his football journey as a running back.

“You got two runs in the playbook: You run right and you run left,” he recalled. “It was kind of cool to play the same position at a young age that he did.”

Sturdivant wasn’t just a football player. He was an all-around athlete as a kid who gave just about every sport a shot.

“I played football, I ran track, I played basketball, I swam for a little bit,” he said. “I tried out gymnastics – not like competition or anything, but going to classes, trying to learn how to flip. I played soccer, played a little bit of baseball. But, yeah, I was all over the place just trying to see what stuck and what I had a natural talent for and what I was passionate about. And football ended up rearing its head.”

Other than football, what sport did he like?

“I liked to run track. It was fun,” he said. “That’s what I played the second-longest. Basketball was fun but the floor just hurt my knees too much and I lost too much weight every offseason. So, that one ultimately had to get kicked to the curb. Swimming was fun, too. It was kind of cool because I was pretty good when I was little and I would swim up with the older people, so it felt good swimming faster than the people that were a lot older than me. But I ultimately got tired of getting in the cold water every morning. So, I was like, yeah, this one’s got to go.

“Baseball was fun. It just got hot in them long pants and it was just too much standing around for me. So, I had to get out of there. And then soccer was fun. It’s just a lot of running. It just wasn’t physical enough for me.”

In football, Sturdivant switched from running back to receiver in middle school because the position better fit his body as he got taller. Middle school is also when he tried gymnastics. That’s where Crystal fits in this story.

“My little sister was a gymnast and she learned how to do a backflip,” Sturdivant said. “I want to say she was like 5 or 6. She came home one day and did a backflip in front of me. I felt disrespected. So, I made it a mission to learn how to do one myself, and so I went to class with her. It was me and both my sisters just to learn how to do a backflip. And I think it took me like two or three classes. And then I was good.”

Florida wideout J Michael Sturdivant does a flip during the NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Flipping to Titletown

Officially, his name is Michael Anthony Sturdivant Jr. The “J” at the start is his father’s idea, and it’s short for Junior. It was Michael Sturdivant who laid the foundation for his son to reach the NFL.

“He’s been the guy I leaned on throughout my whole athletic career,” he said. “He’s had a blueprint since the beginning, and I’m just kind of living it out at this point. He’s been a great parent for me, great dad, great mentor. He’s had advice for me every step of the way, and I’m very thankful to have him in my corner.”

In four seasons on the field, Sturdivant caught 150 passes and scored 16 touchdowns. While the blockbuster freshman season didn’t quite prove to be the launching point of his career, he landed at the East-West Shrine Bowl, where he got to show scouts the totality of his game.

“Just being able to run the full route streak, being able to play inside and outside and be able to win short, win intermediate and win deep,” he said. “So, just showing that you’re the ultimate receiver and not just being put in one category, that’s something that I wanted to accomplish while I was there and was ultimately able to do.”

Florida Gators receiver J. Michael Sturdivant (9) makes a catch against the Florida State Seminoles. | Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images

A good week at the all-star game and a strong showing at the Scouting Combine, where he measured 6-foot-3 and 207 pounds with 4.40 speed in the 40 – equating to an elite Relative Athletic Score of 9.96 – put him in position to be drafted.

It didn’t happen, but he’s in the NFL, which is all he wanted.

“Yeah, it was cool,” he said of his dream coming true after agreeing to a contract with Green Bay. “I was around my family and friends. It had some mixed feelings to it because, obviously, you want to be drafted but, at the end of the day, you just want to be picked up by somebody that day and give yourself a chance to go fulfill your dream.

“It was a blessing to be put in that position. I’m blessed to be signed with Green Bay and I’m excited for the future.”

Sturdivant will be on his way to Green Bay on Thursday for the rookie minicamp, which will be held Friday and Saturday. It will be the first steps toward what he hopes will be a long and successful career.

The chip on the shoulder after not being drafted will fuel the fire.

“Yeah, for sure,” he said. “I’m never going to forget how I felt on Saturday. So that’s going to carry me through the rest of my career and the rest of my life.”

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