Bengals Receiver Andrei Iosivas ’23 Is Building a Solid NFL Career

Andrei Iosivas ’23 is quietly becoming one of the more successful Princeton players ever to suit up in the National Football League. Selected in the sixth round of the 2023 NFL draft by the Cinncinati Bengals, Iosivas has caught 84 passes, including 12 for touchdowns, in his first three NFL seasons. 

Playing alongside Pro Bowl receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, Iosivas has been a regular as the team’s third receiver in its three receiver packages. And with starting quarterback Joe Burrow back after missing much of last year due to injury, big things are expected for the former Princeton star as he enters his fourth season.

Iosivas acknowledges playing with a bit of a chip on his shoulder has fueled him in the pros. “Some of the guys would call me ‘Princeton.’ They didn’t even know my name,” Iosivas tells PAW about his first training camp with the Bengals. “Mostly it was just funny stuff, but internally being a late-round draft pick coming from a small school, you want to always prove something.”

While some might think the transition from Princeton to the NFL would be a big jump, the native Hawaiian says that wasn’t even close to the biggest transition he’s ever had to make.

“It was definitely Hawaii to Princeton,” Iosivas says. “I always tell people my first year at Princeton was one of the hardest years of my life. Being so far away from home, football was obviously really, really hard.” School and living in New Jersey were big adjustments, too.

“You walk into a store in Hawaii, you say ‘Hi, how are you doing?’ You walk into a corner store in Jersey, and they’re like, ‘What do you want?’ It’s just different ways of life, a harder exterior. You get through it though.”

At Princeton, Iosivas did much more than just get through it. He thrived on and off the field, finishing third on the school’s all-time list for career touchdown receptions (16). As a senior, Iosivas led the Ivy League in receptions (66), touchdowns (7), and receiving yards (943).

He also excelled in track, setting an Ivy League record in the heptathlon and finishing fourth at the 2022 NCAA Indoor Championships in the event. Iosivas notes that being fast, strong, and explosive are traits that translate to both football and track, and he says he misses competing in the heptathlon.

“The guys that beat me in nationals all got first, second, and third at the World Championships this past year. So I bet if I train I could probably beat them all, but they’re lucky I’m not doing that now,” he says with a laugh.

Iosivas more than adjusted to life at Princeton and says he tries to get back to Old Nassau every chance he gets. “Some of my closest friends are from there,” he says. “It was just a great community, and it’s a family. I go back to Reunions every year, and it’s like our Super Bowl.”

As for the upcoming season, Iosivas said he does not set personal goals but is excited by the Bengals’ acquisition of former Giants nose tackle Dexter Lawrence and believes his team will be in the mix for an AFC North title. 

“You just got to stay present and do the best you can in the moment and then things will happen for you in the way they’re supposed to,” he says.