David John Uiagalelei ( ; born April 17, 2001) 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 ...

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for the

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of the

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(NFL). He played

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for the

Clemson Tigers The Clemson Tigers are the sport, athletic teams that represent Clemson University, located in Clemson, South Carolina. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I level (NCAA Divis ...

Oregon State Beavers The Oregon State Beavers are the sport, athletic teams that represent Oregon State University, located in Corvallis, Oregon. The Beavers compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I (NCAA Division I ...

, and

Florida State Seminoles The Florida State Seminoles are the athletic teams representing Florida State University (FSU) located in Tallahassee, Florida. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I, prima ...

. He signed with the Chargers as an undrafted free agent in 2025.

Early life

Uiagalelei, who is of Samoan descent, attended

St. John Bosco High School St. John Bosco High School (SJBHS) is a Salesians of Don Bosco, Salesian all-boys college preparatory high school located in Bellflower, California, and is operated by the San Francisco Province of the order. The school is named after the ord ...

Bellflower, California Bellflower is a city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. It was founded in 1906 and municipal corporation, incorporated on September 3, 1957. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, th ...

. As a junior in 2018, he was the ''

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'' High School Offensive Player of the Year after throwing for 3,366 yards and 48 touchdowns. As a senior, he passed for 4,225 yards and 48 touchdowns. Uiagalelei also played baseball in high school. A five-star recruit, Uiagalelei committed to

Clemson University Clemson University () is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university near Clemson, South Carolina, United States. - The blue-shaded pattern denotes university property. This shows Clemson University is ''out ...

to play college football on May 5, 2019. He signed with them on December 18, 2019, and enrolled at Clemson on January 8, 2020.

College career

Clemson

Uiagalelei started his first game for Clemson on October 31, 2020, against

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

. He replaced

Trevor Lawrence William Trevor Lawrence (born October 6, 1999) is an American professional American football, football quarterback for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL). Considered among the highest-touted college football prospect ...

, who was ruled out after testing positive for

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. Uiagalelei completed 31 passes on 40 attempts for 342 yards and 2 touchdowns in leading Clemson to a comeback victory after being down by 18 points in the first half. He started a second game in place of Lawrence the following week on November 7, 2020, against undefeated Notre Dame; Clemson lost to the Irish in an overtime thriller, 47-40, despite another impressive performance by Uiagalelei, who completed 29 of 44 passes for 439 yards and 2 touchdowns. In 2021, after

left for the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a 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 Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

, Uiagalelei became Clemson's starting quarterback. He came into the season with much hype. The Tigers were ranked #3 in the nation in the preseason poll. He signed a deal with

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and Bojangles to appear in their commercials throughout the season. Clemson's first challenge of the season would come against the then #5

Georgia Bulldogs The Georgia Bulldogs are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Georgia. The Bulldogs compete in NCAA Division I and are members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The offic ...

. Uiagalelei played poorly, going 19-for-37 on pass attempts, threw for 178 yards, no touchdowns, and an interception. The game's only touchdown came from a pick six thrown by Uiagalelei. Clemson ultimately lost the opener, 10–3. After being benched in favor of five star freshman Cade Klubnik during the 2022 ACC Championship Game, Uiagalelei announced his decision to enter the transfer portal on December 4, 2022.

Oregon State

On December 24, 2022, Uiagalelei announced that he would be transferring to

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate degree programs and a variety of graduate and doctor ...

of the

Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I level for all sports, and its Co ...

. On July 11, 2023, Uiagalelei was drafted by the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

in the 20th round, with the 610th overall selection, of the

2023 Major League Baseball draft The 2023 Major League Baseball draft took place on July 9–11, 2023, in Seattle. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. For the first time, a draft lottery was used to set a portion of the draft order. The first six selections ...

, but did not sign. On August 22, 2023, Oregon State named Uiagalelei the starting quarterback over Ben Gulbranson and Aidan Chiles. After the

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regular season, it was announced on November 30 that Uiagalelei would again enter the transfer portal, following head coach Jonathan Smith's decision to leave OSU for

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the ...

Florida State

On January 1, 2024, Uiagalelei announced that he would be transferring to

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

for his final year of eligibility. In a game against SMU, Uiagalelei injured his hand and was ruled out for an extended period of time. In 5 starts for the team, he totaled 1,065 yards, 4 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions with 84 completions on 156 attempts. On December 16, 2024, Uiagalelei declared for the

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College statistics

Collegiate Awards and honors

* 2x ACC Champion (2020, 2022) * Cheeze-It Bowl Champion (2021) * Pac-12 Week 6 Offensive Player of the Week (2023) * ACC Week 4 Quarterback of the Week (2022) * 2x ACC Rookie of the Week (2020 Week 8 and Week 9)

Professional career

After going unselected in the

, Uiagalelei signed with the

as an undrafted free agent on April 26, 2025.

Personal life

Uiagalelei is a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

. He attended regular Bible study while at Clemson and wears wristbands with Bible verses on them including Jeremiah 33:3, Philippians 4:13, Ephesians 6:10, and Romans 12:2. Uiagalelei has a younger brother, Matayo, who plays

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

for the

Oregon Ducks The Oregon Ducks are the College sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Oregon, located in Eugene, Oregon, Eugene. The Ducks compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCA ...

. Uiagalelei was drafted by the

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in the 20th round of the 2023 MLB Draft, but did not sign.

References

External links

Clemson Tigers bio

Oregon State Beavers bio

Florida State Seminoles bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Uiagalelei, DJ 2001 births Living people American football quarterbacks American sportspeople of Samoan descent Clemson Tigers football players Florida State Seminoles football players Los Angeles Chargers players Oregon State Beavers football players Pacific Islander American players of American football Players of American football from Riverside, California St. John Bosco High School alumni