Burl Tamayo Toler III (born April 7, 1983) is a former

Arena football Arena football is a variety of gridiron football designed to be played indoors. The game is played on a smaller field than American or Canadian football, designed to fit in the same surface area as a standard North American ice hockey rink, an ...

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

and the current wide receivers coach for the

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Big Ten Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF ...

. He was originally signed by the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

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 ...

in 2006. He 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 ...

Cal Cal or CAL may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Cal'' (novel), a 1983 novel by Bernard MacLaverty * "Cal" (short story), a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov * ''Cal'' (1984 film), an Irish drama starring John Lynch and Helen Mir ...

. After serving as the wide receiver coach at

from 2019-2024, Toller III was named the pass game coordinator, recruiting coordinator, and wide receivers coach for the UCLA football program by head coach

DeShaun Foster DeShaun Xavier Foster (born January 10, 1980) is an American college football coach and former player who is the head football coach of the UCLA Bruins. He played professionally as a running back for six seasons in the National Football League ...

on Dec. 20, 2024.

Early life

Toler attended

Bishop O'Dowd High School Bishop O'Dowd High School is a Catholic, co-educational, college preparatory school in Oakland, California, administered by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland and named after the late auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, ...

. He helped his team win the league championship in his

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of Post-secondary school, post-secondary educatio ...

and

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Aircraft * Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft * PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft * SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider Arts and entertainment Characters * Bowser Jr., ...

years and won the NCS Championship during his sophomore season. He earned First-team All-League on offense and defense as a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

. He also lettered in track all four years and attended the League of Champions meet in his final three years.

College career

Toler, like his father was a walk-on at

. As a senior, he was the team's leading receiver with 61 receptions for 795 yards (13.0 avg.) and three

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

Professional career

National Football League (2006)

Toler went unselected in the

2006 NFL draft The 2006 NFL draft, the 71st in league history, took place in New York City, New York, at Radio City Music Hall on April 29 and April 30, 2006. For the 27th consecutive year, the draft was telecast on ESPN and ESPN2, with additional coverage offe ...

. Later, he was signed as an

by the

on May 10, 2006. He spent all of

training camp A training camp is an organized period in which military personnel or athletes participate in a rigorous and focused schedule of training in order to learn or improve skills. Athletes typically utilise training camps to prepare for upcoming events ...

and the

preseason In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of S ...

with the Raiders. He was signed to their

practice squad In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

on September 4, 2006. However, the team released him on September 12, 2006.

Arena Football League (2007)

In late 2006, Toler signed with the

San Jose SaberCats The San Jose SaberCats were a professional arena football team based in San Jose, California. The SaberCats had been members of the Arena Football League (AFL) since 1995 (the year in which the team was founded); and until 2015, they belonged to ...

of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

. However, he never played for them as he played for the Cologne Centurions of

NFL Europe NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa) was a professional American football league that functioned as the List of developmental and minor sports leagues, developmental minor league of the Nati ...

National Football League (2007)

In 2007, Toler signed with the

Washington Redskins 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

and spent training camp and the preseason with the team before being released on September 1, 2007. Two days later, he signed to the team's practice squad. However, he was released again on September 11, only to be re-signed on November 13. He was released again, a week later. He was then re-signed to the Redskins practice squad on November 28, and spent the rest of the season there.

Arena Football League (2008–present)

Toler then re-joined the SaberCats, however he did not play for them in 2008, as he re-signed with the Redskins on January 9, 2008, and spent the AFL season at the Redskins training camp. He was released by the Redskins again on August 20, 2008. On September 22, 2008, Toler was activated by the SaberCats. On April 8, 2009, Toler signed a short-term deal with the Bologna Doves of the Italian Football League.

Personal

Toler's father, Burl Jr., was also a walk-on at Cal and a two-year starter at

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 ...

in the mid-1970s. His grandfather,

Burl Toler Burl Abron Toler Sr. (May 9, 1928 – August 16, 2009) was an American football official in the National Football League (NFL) for 25 seasons from 1965 to 1989. He was a field judge and head linesman throughout his career and is most notable for ...

, was an All-American at the

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit university in San Francisco, California, United States. Founded in 1855, it has nearly 9,000 students pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees ...

in 1951 and later became 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 ...

’s first African-American

official An official is someone who holds an office (function or Mandate (politics), mandate, regardless of whether it carries an actual Office, working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority (eithe ...

. After being released by the Washington Redskins, Toler III was a substitute teacher. Toler and his wife, Drea, have a daughter named Laleaga and a son named Burl IV.

Notes

External links

Cal Bears bio

Washington Redskins bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Toler, Burl III 1983 births Living people Players of American football from Berkeley, California American football wide receivers California Golden Bears football players Oakland Raiders players Washington Redskins players San Jose SaberCats players Orlando Predators players San Antonio Talons players California Golden Bears football coaches Fresno State Bulldogs football coaches UC Davis Aggies football coaches Bishop O'Dowd High School alumni