Jeremiah Isaiah Valoaga (born November 15, 1994) 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 ...

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

for the

Memphis Showboats The Memphis Showboats were an American football franchise in the United States Football League. They entered the league in its expansion in 1984 and made the 1985 playoffs, losing in the semifinal round to the Oakland Invaders. Perhaps the mo ...

of the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

(USFL). 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 ...

UNLV The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. It includes the S ...

, and was signed by the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

as an undrafted free agent in 2017.

Early life

Valoaga was born in

Oxnard, CA Oxnard () is a city in Ventura County, California, United States. On California's South Coast, it is the most populous city in Ventura County and the 22nd-most-populous city in California. Incorporated in 1903, Oxnard lies approximately west ...

. He graduated from

Channel Islands High School Channel Islands High School (CIHS) is a secondary school located in Oxnard, California, United States. The school is part of the Oxnard Union High School District. CIHS had a student population of 2,596 during the 2018–19 school year. History C ...

in 2012. He is of Samoan descent.

College statistics

Professional career

Detroit Lions

Valoaga signed with the

as an undrafted free agent on May 12, 2017. On September 24, 2017, he recorded the first sack of his NFL career during a 26–30 loss against the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

. On November 25, 2017, Valoaga was waived by the Lions and was re-signed to the practice squad. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Lions on January 1, 2018. On August 31, 2018, Valoaga was waived by the Lions.

Miami Dolphins

On September 26, 2018, Valoaga was signed to the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

' practice squad. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Dolphins on January 1, 2019. On May 1, 2019, the Dolphins waived Valoaga.

San Francisco 49ers

On August 8, 2019, Valoaga was signed by the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

. In the

preseason In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of Se ...

, Valoaga led the 49ers in sacks. He was waived on August 31, 2019 and was signed to the practice squad the next day. He was promoted to the active roster on November 25, 2019. He was waived on December 23, 2019.

Oakland / Las Vegas Raiders

On December 24, 2019, Valoaga was claimed off waivers by the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

. Valoaga re-signed on a one-year

exclusive-rights free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

contract with the

Las Vegas Raiders The Las Vegas Raiders are a professional American football team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Raiders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West divis ...

on April 17, 2020. He chose to opt-out of the 2020 season due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

on August 3, 2020. He was waived after the season on March 1, 2021.

New York Jets

On July 27, 2021, Valoaga signed with the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

. He was waived on August 31, 2021.

Tampa Bay Bandits

Valoaga signed with the

Tampa Bay Bandits The Tampa Bay Bandits were a professional American football team in the United States Football League (USFL) which was based in Tampa, Florida. The Bandits were a charter member of the USFL and was the only franchise to have the same principal o ...

of the

on June 11, 2022, and was subsequently transferred to the team's inactive roster.

Memphis Showboats

Valoaga and all other Tampa Bay Bandits players were all transferred to the

after it was announced that the Bandits were taking a hiatus and that the Showboats were joining the league.

References

External links

Detroit Lions bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Valoaga, Jeremiah 1994 births Living people American sportspeople of Samoan descent American football defensive ends Sportspeople from Oxnard, California Players of American football from California UNLV Rebels football players Detroit Lions players Miami Dolphins players San Francisco 49ers players Oakland Raiders players Las Vegas Raiders players New York Jets players Tampa Bay Bandits (2022) players