Jordan Taalolo Ta'amu-Perifanos (born December 10, 1997) 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 ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

for the

DC Defenders The DC Defenders are a professional American football team based in Washington, D.C. The team was founded by Vince McMahon’s Alpha Entertainment and is an owned-and-operated member of the new XFL owned by Dwayne Johnson’s Alpha Acquico. The ...

of the

XFL XFL may refer to: Sports * XFL (2001), a defunct American football league that played its only season in 2001 * XFL (2020), a professional American football league Vehicles * Bell XFL Airabonita, a 1940 U.S. Navy experimental interceptor aircra ...

. 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 ...

for Ole Miss. Ta'amu has been a member of several National Football League (NFL) teams and has started for the St. Louis BattleHawks of the XFL and

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

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). With the Bandits, he led the

2022 USFL season The 2022 USFL season is the planned inaugural season of the United States Football League (USFL), and the first by a league of the name since the 1985 season of the previous incarnation of the league. Planned to be played from April 16, 2022 to ...

in passing yardage and touchdowns.

Early life and college

Ta'amu attended the Pearl City High School in

Pearl City, Hawaii Pearl City is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located in the Ewa District and City & County of Honolulu on the Island of Oahu. As of the 2010 Census, the CDP had a total population of 47,698. Pearl City is located ...

. As a senior, he passed for 1,779 yards with 29

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether Rush (gridiron football), running, Forward pass, passing, returning a Kickoff (gridiron football), kickoff or Punt (gridiron football), punt, or recovering a Turno ...

against four

interceptions In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team b ...

. Ta'amu played at the

New Mexico Military Institute New Mexico Military Institute (NMMI) is a public military junior college and high school in Roswell, New Mexico. Founded in 1891, NMMI operates under the auspices of the State of New Mexico, under a dedicated Board of Regents that reports to the G ...

for two seasons, passing for 3,014 yards and 32 touchdowns as a sophomore. He transferred to Ole Miss in 2017, entering the season as the backup to

Shea Patterson Shea Christopher Patterson (born January 17, 1997) is an American football quarterback for the New Orleans Breakers of the United States Football League (USFL). He played college football for the Michigan Wolverines (2018–2019) and the Ole M ...

before taking over as the starter for the final five games after Patterson suffered an injury. He finished the season with 1,682 passing yards, 11 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. He also rushed for 165 yards and 4 touchdowns. With Patterson transferring to the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

, Ta'amu entered the 2018 season as the starting quarterback. In his senior season he passed for 3,918 yards, 19 touchdowns and 8 interceptions. He also rushed for 342 yards and 6 touchdowns. He finished the season ranked second in SEC passing yards, behind Alabama's

Tua Tagovailoa Tuanigamanuolepola Tagovailoa ( ; born March 2, 1998) is an American football quarterback for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Alabama, where he was the Offensive MVP of the 2018 College Fo ...

, who played in three more games.

Professional career

Houston Texans

On August 7, 2019, Ta’amu signed with the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...

; he was released on August 30, 2019.

St. Louis BattleHawks

On October 15, 2019, Ta'amu was allocated to the St. Louis BattleHawks of the

, the first player for the team. He was the only one of the XFL's first eight quarterbacks to not have any professional regular season experience. He signed a contract with the team on November 4, 2019. On January 29, 2020, Ta'amu was named the starting quarterback. During the BattleHawks first game against the

Dallas Renegades The Arlington Renegades are a professional American football team based in Arlington, Texas. The team was founded as the Dallas Renegades by Vince McMahon’s Alpha Entertainment and is an owned-and-operated member of the new XFL owned by Dwayne ...

on February 9, Ta'amu threw for 209 yards and a passing touchdown, while rushing for 77 yards, helping the team win a 15–9 victory against the Renegades. He had another productive game in Week 2 against the

Houston Roughnecks The Houston Roughnecks are a professional American football team based in Houston, Texas. The team is an owned-and-operated member of the new XFL founded by Vince McMahon's Alpha Entertainment and plays its home games at TDECU Stadium. History ...

, with 316 combined yards of offense and four total touchdowns, but threw 2 interceptions as the Battlehawks lost 24–28. After the XFL's season was cut short, Ta'amu was placed on the reserve/other league list on April 2, 2020, in order to sign with the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

. He had his contract terminated when the league suspended operations on April 10, 2020.

Kansas City Chiefs

Ta’amu signed with the

on April 2, 2020. On September 5, 2020, he was waived. He was signed to the practice squad the following day. On October 3, 2020, he tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

and was placed on the practice squad/COVID-19 reserve list. He was removed from the COVID-19 list on October 21. He was released on October 27.

Detroit Lions

On December 16, 2020, Ta'amu was signed to 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 ...

' practice squad.

Kansas City Chiefs (second stint)

Ta'amu was signed to a reserve/future contract on January 12, 2021. He was waived on May 10, 2021.

Detroit Lions (second stint)

Ta'amu signed with the Detroit Lions on August 17, 2021. He was cut six days later on August 23, 2021.

Washington Football Team

On December 15, 2021, Ta'amu was signed to the

Washington Football Team The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) E ...

's practice squad, but was released eight days later. During this time the starting quarterback for Washington was

Taylor Heinicke Taylor Heinicke ( ; born March 15, 1993) is an American football quarterback for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Old Dominion and signed with the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted f ...

, who was Ta’amu’s back up in the XFL.

Carolina Panthers

On December 30, 2021, Ta'amu was signed to the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

practice squad. He was released on January 4, 2022.

Tampa Bay Bandits

Ta'amu was selected with the second pick of the

2022 USFL Draft The 2022 USFL Draft, also known as the 2022 USFL Player Selection Meeting, was the player selection process to fill the rosters of the eight teams for the 2022 USFL season. The draft was held on February 22–23, 2022, with results released throug ...

by the

. He would lead the USFL in passing yards at 2,014 and touchdowns with 14.

DC Defenders

Ta'amu was assigned to the

of the XFL on January 6, 2023. On May 5, 2023, Ta'amu was announced as the XFL's 2023 Offensive Player of the Year.

Career statistics

References

External links

Ole Miss Rebels bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ta'amu, Jordan 1997 births Living people American football quarterbacks Detroit Lions players Houston Texans players New Mexico Military Institute Broncos football players Ole Miss Rebels football players St. Louis BattleHawks players People from Pearl City, Hawaii Players of American football from Hawaii Kansas City Chiefs players American sportspeople of Samoan descent Washington Football Team players Carolina Panthers players Tampa Bay Bandits (2022) players DC Defenders players