Maxwell Tooley (born March 5, 1998) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

for the

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

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He previously played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

BYU Cougars The BYU Cougars are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Brigham Young University (BYU), located in Provo, Utah. BYU fields 21 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) varsity athletic teams. They are a member of the Big 12 C ...

Early life and high school

Tooley attended high school at Bountiful in Utah. Coming out of high school, Tooley was rated as a three star recruit where he decided to commit to play

for the

College career

In Tooley's first two seasons with BYU in 2018 and 2019, he played in 17 totaled games, where he recorded 50 tackles with two being for a loss, and an interception. During the COVID shorted 2020 season, Tooley notched 44 tackles with three going for a loss, a pass deflection, and an interception. In 2021, Tooley would finish the season posting 68 tackles with five and a half being for a loss, a sack, three pass deflections, and an interception. In week one of the 2022 season, Tooley recorded five tackles and an interception which he returned for his first career touchdown in a 50-21 win over

South Florida South Florida, sometimes colloquially shortened to SoFlo, is the Regions of the United States#Florida, southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the two others are ...

. In week six, Tooley tallied 13 tackles as well as an interception for the Cougars versus Notre Dame. Tooley finished the 2022 season notching 57 tackles, a forced fumble, three interceptions, and two touchdowns. During Tooley's final collegiate season he totaled 92 tackles with five being for a loss, a sack, an interception, and a forced fumble.

Professional career

Houston Texans

After not being selected in the

2024 NFL draft The 2024 NFL draft was the 89th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players. The draft was held at Campus Martius Park and Hart Plaza in Detroit on April 25–27, 2024. The draft had an attendanc ...

, Tooley decided to sign with the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager 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 a contract at present ...

. He was waived on August 27, and re-signed to the practice squad. He was released on September 17.

Minnesota Vikings

On September 19, 2024, Tooley was signed to the practice squad of the

. He signed a reserve/future contract on January 16, 2025.

Personal life

Tooley is a member of

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 Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

and served a mission for the church in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

References

External links

Minnesota Vikings bioBYU Cougars bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tooley, Max 1998 births Living people Players of American football from Utah People from Bountiful, Utah American football linebackers BYU Cougars football players Houston Texans players 21st-century American sportsmen Minnesota Vikings players