Donald Tialavea Jr. (born July 27, 1991) is a former

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 ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

who is currently a tight ends coach for

Utah State Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public land-grant research university in Logan, Utah. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. With nearly 20,000 students living on or near campus, USU is Utah's ...

. 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 ...

Utah State University Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public land-grant research university in Logan, Utah. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. With nearly 20,000 students living on or near campus, USU is Utah's ...

. He signed with 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 ...

in 2014 as an

undrafted 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 ...

. Tialavea was formerly a

prior to switching positions before the

2017 NFL season The 2017 NFL season was the 98th season in the history of the National Football League (NFL) and the 52nd of the Super Bowl era. The season began on September 7, 2017, with Kansas City defeating defending Super Bowl LI champion New England in ...

Early years

Tialavea attended

West Jordan High School West Jordan High School is a public high school founded in 1981. Located southwest of Salt Lake City in West Jordan, Utah, United States, it enrolls around 1,700 students. The men's varsity basketball team won the 2001 state championship, as well ...

West Jordan, Utah West Jordan is a city in Salt Lake County, Utah, United States. It is a suburb of Salt Lake City and has a mixed economy. According to the 2020 Census, the city had a population of 116,961, placing it as the third most populous in the state. T ...

. During his high school football career, he also played on the offensive and defensive lines. In addition to being a three-year letterwinner in football, Tialavea was also a three-year letterwinner in basketball and baseball.

College career

Tialavea appeared in 40 games for the

Utah State Aggies The Utah State Aggies are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Utah State University, located in Logan. The school fields 16 sports teams – seven men and nine women – and compete in the Mountain West Conference. Sports spon ...

. He ended his college career with 198 receiving yards and five touchdowns.

Professional career

Jacksonville Jaguars

Tialavea was signed by the

after going undrafted in the

2014 NFL draft The 2014 NFL draft was the 79th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players to the league. The draft, officially the "Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in New Y ...

. He was released on May 12, 2014.

Buffalo Bills

After being released by the Jaguars, Tialavea was signed to the

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

practice squad on September 2, 2014. He was released by the Bills on September 30, 2014.

Atlanta Falcons

Tialavea was signed to the Falcons' practice squad on November 24, 2015. After spending almost two seasons on the practice squad, he was promoted to the active roster on December 22, 2016. In his NFL debut two days later against 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 ...

, Tialavea caught a touchdown for his only reception of the day. Tialavea was inactive for the Falcons' 34-28 overtime loss to 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 ...

in the

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...

. On September 1, 2017, Tialavea was released by the Falcons.

Chicago Bears

On September 20, 2017, Tialavea was signed to 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 ...

' practice squad. He was released on September 26, 2017. He was re-signed on December 27, 2017.

Coaching career

Utah State

In 2020, Tialavea joined the coaching staff at his alma mater,

, as a

graduate assistant A graduate assistant serves in a support role at a university, usually while completing post-graduate education. The assistant typically helps professors with instructional responsibilities as teaching assistants or with academic research respons ...

working with the

s. Head Coach

Gary Andersen Gary Lee Andersen (born February 19, 1964) is an American football coach who was most recently head football coach at Utah State University. Andersen has also been the head football coach of Southern Utah (2003), Wisconsin (2013–2014), and Oreg ...

was fired mid-season that year. The following January, Tialavea was promoted to tight ends coach by newly hired head coach

Blake Anderson Blake Raymond Anderson (born March 2, 1984) is an American actor, comedian, producer, screenwriter, and fashion designer. Beginning in 2006, Anderson helped create and join the sketch-comedy troupe Mail Order Comedy, which produced online videos ...

Personal life

D.J.'s parents are Don and Tami Tialavea. He has two sisters. Tialavea graduated from Utah State with a degree in sports management in 2013, and then a master's degree in education in 2019, also from Utah State. D.J. is also an

Eagle Scout Eagle Scout is the highest achievement or rank attainable in the Scouts BSA program of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Since its inception in 1911, only four percent of Scouts have earned this rank after a lengthy review process. The Eagle Sc ...

References

External links

Utah State Aggies bio

Atlanta Falcons bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tialavea, D.J. 1991 births Living people American sportspeople of Samoan descent People from West Jordan, Utah Sportspeople from Salt Lake County, Utah Players of American football from Utah Coaches of American football from Utah American football tight ends Utah State Aggies football players Jacksonville Jaguars players Buffalo Bills players Atlanta Falcons players Chicago Bears players Utah State Aggies football coaches