Chad Tyler Muma (born August 18, 1999) 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

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 of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team ...

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 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

Wyoming Cowboys The Wyoming Cowboys and Cowgirls are the sport, athletic teams that represent the University of Wyoming, located in Laramie, Wyoming, Laramie. Wyoming is a member of the Mountain West Conference (MW) and competes in NCAA Division I, fielding 17 ...

and was selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the third round of the

2022 NFL draft The 2022 NFL draft was the 87th edition of the National Football League's annual NFL draft, draft and was held from April 28–30, 2022, at the Caesars Forum on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, Paradise next to Las Vegas. The first round ...

Early life

Muma grew up in

Lone Tree, Colorado The City of Lone Tree is a home rule municipality located in northern Douglas County, Colorado, United States. The population was 14,253 at the 2020 census, and was estimated to be 14,061 in 2024. Lone Tree is a part of the Denver metropol ...

. He was diagnosed with

Type 1 diabetes Type 1 diabetes (T1D), formerly known as juvenile diabetes, is an autoimmune disease that occurs when the body's immune system destroys pancreatic cells (beta cells). In healthy persons, beta cells produce insulin. Insulin is a hormone require ...

while in the seventh grade after losing 30 pounds. He also won homecoming king, Mr. Titan, in 2017. Muma attended Legend High School, where he initially played defensive back. He wore #19 out of respect for his father due to him also playing football. During his junior year, he broke his

clavicle The clavicle, collarbone, or keybone is a slender, S-shaped long bone approximately long that serves as a strut between the scapula, shoulder blade and the sternum (breastbone). There are two clavicles, one on each side of the body. The clavic ...

bone while playing 7-on-7, after surgery he excelled and played the entire year. He was named second-team Class 5A All-State as senior after finishing the season with 77 tackles and 8 tackles for loss despite missing half of Legend's

games A game is a Structure, structured type of play (activity), play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an Educational game, educational tool. Many games are also considered to be Work (human activity), work (such as p ...

due to a seventy-percent torn

patella The patella (: patellae or patellas), also known as the kneecap, is a flat, rounded triangular bone which articulates with the femur (thigh bone) and covers and protects the anterior articular surface of the knee joint. The patella is found in m ...

. Muma committed to play

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

, where his father and maternal grandfather had played, over offers from Colorado State,

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

and

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

. Chad Muma also played Basketball his junior year. During the 2016–2017 season, he averaged 0.9 points per game, 1.0 rebounds per game, and 0.1 assists per game. Legend went on to be ranked 20th and made the 2017 CHSAA Boys Basketball State

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

Tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...

. The team made it to the Sweet 16 before losing to Mountain Vista. Chad Muma continued with athletic by participating in

Track and Field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

from 2015 to 2017. He performed in a multitude of events: 100 meter, 200 meter, 400 meter and Long Jump. His fastest time for all events came during his sophomore season where he ran 11.55, 23.32, and 54.18 respectfully. His farthest jump in Long Jump also came from his sophomore season when he jumped 20' 2.00".

College career

Muma played in all 12 of Wyoming's games as a freshman, mostly on special teams. He began to see significant playing time on defense during his sophomore season and finished the year with 51 total tackles. As a junior, Muma led the Cowboys with 71 tackles, eight tackles for loss, and three sacks and was named first-team All-

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States, participating in NCAA Division I. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The MW officially began operations on Ja ...

. For his senior season, he doubled his tackle output to 142, again had 8 tackles for loss, had 1.5 sacks, added 3 interceptions for 45 return yards, and a fumble recovery as well, en route to another All-Mountain West season. Muma was invited to play in the 2022

Senior Bowl The Senior Bowl is a post-season college football all-star game played annually in late January or early February in Mobile, Alabama, which showcases the best NFL Draft prospects of those players who have completed their college eligibility. Pr ...

and was named a finalist for the

Butkus Award The Butkus Award, instituted in 1985 by the Downtown Athletic Club of Orlando, is given annually to the top linebackers at the high school, collegiate and professional levels of football. The award, named in honor of College Football Hall of Fame ...

Professional career

Muma was drafted in the third round (70th overall) of the

by the

. The Jaguars reportedly selected Muma after hearing that the Broncos were planning to draft him 75th overall. He was selected using a selection Jacksonville acquired in a trade with 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

. He was the fourth inside linebacker selected in the draft and the second inside linebacker selected by the Jaguars after they drafted Devin Lloyd in the first round. As a rookie, Muma appeared in 16 regular season games and started two. He finished with 1.5 sacks, 47 total tackles, and one pass defended. In the 2023 season, Muma appeared in 17 regular season games and started two. He finished with 15 tackles and two passes defended as a result of the Jaguars decision to permanently place Devin Lloyd as the main inside linebacker. In the 2024, he appeared in 17 games and started three. He finished with 32 tackles.

Personal life

Muma's father, Ty Muma, and his maternal grandfather, Rick Desmarais, also played college football at Wyoming. Chad's younger sister Payton played basketball at

Gonzaga University Gonzaga University (GU) ( ) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit university in Spokane, Washington, United States. It is Higher education accreditation in the United States, accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges ...

from 2021-24 before transferring to the Wyoming Cowgirls basketball team. Chad's younger brother Jaxon plays football at the

University of Sioux Falls The University of Sioux Falls (USF) is a private university in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA. In fall 2014, the university enrolled a total of 1,142 undergraduate students and 311 graduate students. ...

. Chad Muma got engaged to his longtime girlfriend, Alyssa Huey, on May 28, 2023, in Saint Augustine, Florida. Together they own a

Goldendoodle The Goldendoodle is a designer dog created by crossbreeding a Golden Retriever and a Poodle. First widely bred in the 1990s, they are bred in three different sizes—each corresponding to the size of Poodle used as a parent. Goldendoodles ofte ...

named Ollie. During Chad Muma's childhood, he learned how to play

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

. In one specific case, during a school event, Chad Muma performed "

Great Balls of Fire "Great Balls of Fire" is a 1957 popular song recorded by American rock and roll musician Jerry Lee Lewis on Sun Records and featured in the 1957 movie '' Jamboree''. It was written by Otis Blackwell and Jack Hammer. The Jerry Lee Lewis 1957 reco ...

" by Jerry Lee Lewis.https://x.com/MumaKara/status/1383191830288818178?s=20 During mid-April 2017, Chad Muma's

Subaru Outback The Subaru Outback is an automotive nameplate used by the Japanese automaker Subaru for two different themed vehicles: a Legacy-derived station wagon, the Outback (1994–present, also sold as in some markets), and an Impreza-derived off-road ...

was stolen when he left the keys in the car. It was later found by police with his jersey and chest pads still inside. In multiple short interviews done by the

media team, it has been revealed that Chad Muma's top song in 2023 was '' get him back!'' by

Olivia Rodrigo Olivia Isabel Rodrigo (born February 20, 2003) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. She began her career as a child, appearing in commercials and the direct-to-video film '' An American Girl: Grace Stirs Up Success'' (2015). She rose ...

. He also told the media team that he listens to

Adele Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (; born 5 May 1988) is an English singer-songwriter. Regarded as a British cultural icon, icon, she is known for her mezzo-soprano vocals and sentimental songwriting. List of awards and nominations received by Adele, ...

. In a player interview, he revealed his pregame song is "

In the Air Tonight "In the Air Tonight" is the debut solo single by English drummer and singer-songwriter Phil Collins. It was released as the lead single from Collins's debut solo album, ''Face Value (album), Face Value'', in January 1981. It was selected as the s ...

" by

Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and later became the lead singer of the rock band Genesis (band), Genesis and had a successful solo career, ac ...

References

External links

Jacksonville Jaguars bioWyoming Cowboys bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Muma, Chad 1999 births Living people American football linebackers Wyoming Cowboys football players Players of American football from Douglas County, Colorado People with type 1 diabetes Jacksonville Jaguars players