by Lee Hubbard
It has been a whirlwind of events for Julian Neal. He was sitting in the office of San Francisco City Supervisor Shamann Walton just days after he had been drafted in the third round by the Seattle Seahawks.
“I feel good,” said Neal. “I am excited and yes I need to make the team, but I am ready to go up there and try to have a legendary career.”
Neal, a 6-foot-2 defensive back, was selected by the Seahawks with the 99th overall pick. He was the first player from the San Francisco Academic Athletic Association (AAA), public schools, to be drafted to the NFL since 1998, when Galileo’s Bobby Shaw was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers.
“This goes to show you that we have a lot of talented people in District 10 in the city,” said Supervisor Walton. “JuJu went from the Bombers to Mission, to Division 1 football. This is very exciting and young people can see that this can be a reality. I represented him and his family in this office in San Francisco, and now he will represent the city at the national level in the NFL.”
This was a long time coming for Neal. Born in San Francisco and raised in Bayview Hunters Point, Neal began playing football with the Brown Bombers Pop Warner football team from eight years old all the way to high school. He played basketball and football coming up, but when he got to Mission High School, his primary focus was football.
He was All-City in football and basketball, graduating in 2021, and he earned a football scholarship as a defensive back to Fresno State, despite the season being shortened due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Neal was the first football player in the San Francisco Public Schools to receive a football scholarship in 20 years.
In his senior season at Fresno in 2024, he had 35 tackles (22 solo), five pass breakups, two interceptions, and one sack. With one year of eligibility left, he decided to transfer to Arkansas, where he made an immediate impact on the defensive end. He started all 12 games in 2025, recording 55 tackles (32 solo) and two interceptions.
He switched from safety to cornerback and this switch helped propel his NFL stock. Leading up to the draft, teams such as the Las Vegas Raiders, Green Bay Packers and Miami Dolphins mentioned they were interested in Neal, but a longtime suitor, the Seahawks, the 2025 Super Bowl champion, let Neal know that he was their top target.
“The Seahawks were talking to me the most,” said Neal. “I want to go in there and compete on the defensive end and see how I fit in their scheme, so I can be the best player I can be.”
Neal signed a 4-year, $6.69 million rookie contract, with a $1.33 million fully guaranteed signing bonus. The Seahawks, with a very strong and aggressive defense, will be able to fit Neal right in, initially as a nickel cornerback. They play in the NFC West against teams such as the San Francisco 49ers, Arizona Cardinals and Los Angeles Rams, so all of their games are only an hour flight away, which pleases Neal’s father, Emmitt Neal Sr., who was reflecting on his son’s journey.
“This is mission accomplished,” said Emmitt Neal, Julian’s father. “Ju Ju never had a ceiling, as he was always in the gym working and training to get bigger and faster.”
“He was a kid that stayed focused from the beginning when he first worked in my gym,” said Rico Armstrong, his personal trainer. “He was very quiet, but he would come into the gym ready to work and get better.”
Neal’s drafting to the Seahawks was something that even Mayor Daniel Lurie celebrated with Neal.
“From Mission High School to the NFL and the Seattle Seahawks,” said Mayor Lurie. “He’ll be representing Hunters Point and all of San Francisco on the national stage.”
