Jaylen Guy Twyman (born July 19, 1999) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

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

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

and was drafted by the Vikings in the sixth round, 199th overall pick, of the

2021 NFL Draft The 2021 NFL Draft was the 86th National Football League Draft, the annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2021 NFL season. The draft was held in Cleveland from April 29 to May 1, 2021 ...

Early years

Twyman attended H. D. Woodson High School in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

As a senior, he had 91 tackles and nine sacks. He committed to the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

to play college football.

College career

Twyman redshirted his first year at Pittsburgh in 2017. As a redshirt freshman in 2018, he played in 13 games with one start and had 16 tackles and a half sack. Prior to his sophomore season in 2019, Twyman changed his number from 55 to 97 in honor of former Pitt defensive tackle

Aaron Donald Aaron Charles Donald (born May 23, 1991) is an American football defensive tackle for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Pittsburgh, where he received unanimous All-American honors, and w ...

. That season he started all 13 games, recording 41 tackles and 10.5 sacks.

Professional career

Minnesota Vikings

Twyman was drafted by the

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

in the 6th round, 199th overall, of the

. He signed his four-year rookie contract on May 13, 2021. Twyman was waived by Minnesota with a non-football injury designation on July 26. The next day, he was reverted to the injured reserve. On August 30, 2022, Twyman was waived by the Vikings. He was signed to the practice squad one day later. He was released on October 4.

Miami Dolphins

On October 10, 2022, Twyman signed with the practice squad of the

. He signed a reserve/future contract on January 16, 2023.

Personal life

On June 21, 2021, Twyman suffered four gunshot wounds when bullets hit the car he was riding in while he was visiting family in

Washington D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

References

External links

Minnesota Vikings bioPittsburgh Panthers bio
1999 births Living people Miami Dolphins players Minnesota Vikings players Players of American football from Washington, D.C. American football defensive tackles Pittsburgh Panthers football players H. D. Woodson High School alumni {{Defensive-lineman-1990s-stub