Jay Toia (born July 16, 2003) 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 ...

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that typically lines up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the Guard (American football), offensive guards; however, he may also line up opposite one of the offensive Tackle (gridir ...

for the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

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

USC Trojans The USC Trojans (also Southern California Trojans) are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ...

and

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 ...

. Toia was selected by the Cowboys in the seventh round of the

2025 NFL draft The 2025 NFL draft was the 90th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players. The draft was held at Lambeau Field and its adjacent Titletown District in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on April 24–26, 2025 ...

Early life and high school

Toia attended

Grace Brethren High School Grace Jr./Sr. High School (Grace) is a co-educational, college-preparatory Christian school in Simi Valley, California serving grades 7–12. The school is one of three campuses in Simi Valley comprising Grace School, the others being an elementa ...

Simi Valley, California Simi Valley (; Chumashan languages, Chumash: ''Shimiyi'') is a city in Simi Valley (valley), the valley of the same name in southeastern Ventura County, California, United States. It is from Downtown Los Angeles, making it part of the Greater ...

. He was rated as a four-star recruit and committed to play

for the

College career

USC

Toia spent spring practices with the Trojans as an early enrolled player in 2021. After spending just a few months with the Trojans, he entered his name into the

NCAA transfer portal The NCAA transfer portal is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) application, database, and compliance tool created to manage and facilitate the process for student athletes seeking to transfer between member institutions. It is i ...

UCLA

Toia joined the

before the start of the 2021 season, after spending the summer as a Trojan. In the

2022 Sun Bowl The 2022 Sun Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 30, 2022, at the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas. The 89th edition (88th playing) of the Sun Bowl, the game featured Pittsburgh from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and UCLA from ...

, he notched a career-high ten tackles with two being for a loss against

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

. In his first two collegiate seasons in 2021 and 2022, Toia notched 38 tackle with three being for a loss, a sack, and a forced fumble. In 2023, he appeared in all 13 games for the Bruins while making 12 starts, where he notched 28 tackles with four being for a loss, and a sack. After the season, Toia entered his name into the NCAA transfer portal. However, shortly after, he decided to return to play for the Bruins. In 2024, Toia totaled 25 tackles with two being for a loss, and a sack.

Professional career

Toia accepted an invite to play in the 2025 East-West Shrine Bowl. Toai was selected by the

with the 217th overall pick in the seventh round of the

Personal life

Toia's brother

Siaki Ika Siaki Ika (born November 7, 2000) is an American professional football defensive tackle. He played college football for the LSU Tigers, where he was a member of the team that won the 2020 College Football Playoff National Championship, before tr ...

was a defensive tackle at

LSU Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

and is currently a defensive tackle for the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

. His brother Soane Toia is a defensive lineman at

San Jose State San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the List of oldest schools in California, oldest public university on the West Coast of ...

, his cousin Stanley Ta'ufo'ou was a defensive lineman at USC and Toia's brother Abitoni is a rugby player in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

References

External links

Dallas Cowboys bioUCLA Bruins bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Toia, Jay 2003 births Living people Players of American football from California People from Inglewood, California American football defensive tackles UCLA Bruins football players USC Trojans football players American people of Tongan descent Pacific Islander American players of American football Dallas Cowboys players