Khyiris Tonga (born July 7, 1996) 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 ...

nose 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 ...

for the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

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 ...

BYU Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day S ...

and was drafted by the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

in the seventh round of the

2021 NFL Draft The 2021 NFL Draft was the 86th National Football League Draft, the annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2021 NFL season. The draft was held in Cleveland from April 29 to May 1, 2021 ...

College career

Initially committed to

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

after high school, Tonga flipped to

after former Oregon State defensive coordinator

Kalani Sitake Kelaokalani Fifita "Kalani" Sitake (born October 10, 1975) is a Tongan–American football coach and former player. He has been the head football coach at Brigham Young University (BYU) since December 2015, and is the first Tongan to become a ...

was named the Cougars' head coach while Tonga was serving his two-year mission. After a strong junior season where he made 45 tackles, Tonga was expected to be an NFL draft prospect, but announced he would return for his senior season.

Professional career

Tonga was praised by draft analysts for his ability to eat up space as a nose tackle, but was expected to be a day three prospect due to his age, short arms, and below-average hand size.

Chicago Bears

Tonga was drafted by the

in the seventh round, 250th overall, of the

. On June 2, 2021, Tonga signed his four-year rookie contract with Chicago. He was waived by the Bears on August 31, 2022.

Atlanta Falcons

On September 5, 2022, Tonga was signed to 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 ...

practice squad.

Minnesota Vikings

On October 5, 2022, Tonga was signed by the

off the Falcons practice squad.

Personal life

Before enrolling at BYU, Tonga served a two-year mission for

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had ...

References

External links

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Minnesota Vikings bio

BYU Cougars bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tonga, Khyiris 1996 births Living people Players of American football from Utah People from West Valley City, Utah Sportspeople from Salt Lake County, Utah American Mormon missionaries in the United States American football defensive tackles BYU Cougars football players Chicago Bears players Atlanta Falcons players Minnesota Vikings players