Terrell H. "Tonka" Hemingway (born October 31, 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 ...

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

Las Vegas Raiders The Las Vegas Raiders are a professional American football team based in the Las Vegas Valley, Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Raiders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West ...

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

South Carolina Gamecocks The South Carolina Gamecocks represent the University of South Carolina in the NCAA Division I. The University of South Carolina uses "Gamecocks" as its official nickname and mascot. While the men's teams were traditionally known as the Fight ...

and was selected by the Raiders in the fourth 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

Hemingway was born on October 31, 2001 in

Conway, South Carolina Conway is a city in and the county seat of Horry County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 24,849 at the 2020 census, up from 17,103 in the 2010 census, making it the 18th-most populous city in the state. The city is part of ...

. He attended Conway High School, where he lettered in football, basketball and baseball. As a senior, he notched 92 tackles with 24 being for a loss. Coming out of high school, Hemingway committed to play

for the

College career

During the 2020 season, Hemingway tallied 16 tackles with one being for a loss, two pass deflections, and a forced fumble. In the 2021 season, he played in six games and had six tackles. In 2022, Hemingway tallied 33 tackles with eight being for a loss, four sacks, a pass deflection, and two fumble recoveries. In week 12 of the 2023 season, he had the game-winning fumble recovery against

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

. Hemingway finished the season making 32 tackles with four and a half being for a loss, a sack and a half, seven pass deflections, and two fumble recoveries.

Professional career

Hemingway was selected by the

in the fourth round (135th overall) at the

Personal life

Hemingway is the younger brother of former

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 ...

wide receiver, Junior Hemingway.

References

External links

Las Vegas Raiders bioSouth Carolina Gamecocks bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hemingway, Tonka 2001 births Living people People from Conway, South Carolina Players of American football from Horry County, South Carolina American football defensive tackles South Carolina Gamecocks football players 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen Las Vegas Raiders players