Chad Muma (born August 18, 1999) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

for the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

and was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the third round of the

2022 NFL Draft The 2022 NFL Draft was the 87th edition of the National Football League's annual draft and was held from April 28–30, 2022, at the Caesars Forum on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The first round was held on Thursday, April 28, and w ...

Early life and high school

Muma grew up in

Lone Tree, Colorado The City of Lone Tree is a home rule municipality located in northern Douglas County, Colorado, United States. Lone Tree is a part of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city population was 10,218 at the 2010 Un ...

. He was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes while in the seventh grade. Muma attended

Legend High School Legend High School is a public high school in Parker, Colorado. It is part of the Douglas County School District RE-1. It is the first high school to be located in Parker since Parker High School closed in 1958. Campus Legend High School is locate ...

, where he initially played defensive back. He was named second-team Class 5A All-State as senior after finishing the season with 77 tackles and 8 tackles for loss despite missing half of Legend's games due to a torn patella. Muma committed to play college football at

, where his father had played, over offers from

Colorado State Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado State University is classified among "R1: ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

and

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

College career

Muma played in all 12 of Wyoming's games as a freshman, mostly on special teams. He began to see significant playing time on defense during his sophomore season and finished the year with 51 total tackles. As a junior, Muma led the Cowboys with 71 tackles, eight tackles for loss, and three sacks and was named first-team All-

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is one of the collegiate athletic conferences affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) (formerly I-A). The MW officially began operations o ...

. For his senior season, he doubled his tackle output to 142, again had 8 tackles for loss, had 1.5 sacks, added 3 interceptions for 45 return yards, and a fumble recovery as well, enroute to another All-Mountain West season. Muma was invited to play in the 2022

Senior Bowl The Senior Bowl is a post-season college football all-star game played annually in late January or early February in Mobile, Alabama, which showcases the best NFL Draft prospects of those players who have completed their college eligibility. Pr ...

and was named a finalist for the

Butkus Award The Butkus Award, instituted in 1985 by the Downtown Athletic Club of Orlando, is given annually to the top linebackers at the high school, collegiate and professional levels of football. The award, named in honor of College Football Hall of Fame ...

Professional career

Muma was drafted in the third round (70th overall) of the

by the

. The Jaguars reportedly selected Muma after hearing that the Broncos were planning to draft him 75th overall. He was the fourth inside linebacker selected in the draft and the second inside linebacker selected by the Jaguars after they drafted

Devin Lloyd Devin Eric Lloyd (born September 30, 1998) is an American football linebacker for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Utah Utes football, Utah and was drafted by the Jaguars in the first r ...

in the first round. As a rookie, Muma appeared in 16 regular season games and started two. He finished with 1.5 sacks, 47 total tackles, and one pass defended.

Personal life

Muma's father, Ty Muma, and his maternal grandfather, Rick Desmarais, also played college football at Wyoming. Chad’s younger sister Payton plays basketball at

Gonzaga University Gonzaga University (GU) () is a private Jesuit university in Spokane, Washington. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. Founded in 1887 by Joseph Cataldo, an Italian-born priest and Jesuit missionary, the univ ...

References

External links

Jacksonville Jaguars bioWyoming Cowboys bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Muma, Chad Living people American football linebackers Wyoming Cowboys football players Players of American football from Douglas County, Colorado People with type 1 diabetes Jacksonville Jaguars players 1999 births