Justus Tavai (born June 26, 1998) 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 tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...

who is a free agent. He was signed by the Patriots as an undrafted free agent after the

2023 NFL draft The 2023 NFL Draft will be the 88th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players. The draft is scheduled to be held in the plaza outside of Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri, on April 27–29, ...

. 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 ...

at El Camino,

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

San Diego State San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

Personal life

He is the younger brother of current Patriots linebacker

Jahlani Tavai Jahlani Karl Tavai (born September 28, 1996) is an American football linebacker for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). He is the younger brother of J. R. Tavai and older brother of Justus Tavai. He played college ...

and defensive end

J. R. Tavai John Robert Tavai (born September 23, 1993) is a former professional gridiron football defensive lineman and linebacker. He played college football at USC Trojans football, Southern California. He was signed by Tennessee Titans as an undrafted fr ...

Professional career

After going

undrafted 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 ...

in the

, Tavai signed with the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

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) on June 5, 2023. He was waived on August 27, 2023.

References

External links

Hawaii Rainbow Warriors bio

San Diego State Aztecs bio
1998 births Living people Players of American football from Inglewood, California American football defensive tackles Mira Costa High School alumni Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football players New England Patriots players San Diego State Aztecs football players American sportspeople of Samoan descent Sportspeople from Manhattan Beach, California {{Defensive-lineman-1990s-stub