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St. Louis Battlehawks’ QB Jordan Ta’amu signs with Chiefs

From JUCO to Ole Miss to NFL to XFL back to NFL.

By Grayson Weir
St Louis Battlehawks v DC Defenders Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images

Former Ole Miss quarterback Jordan Ta’amu has agreed to terms with the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, per his agent Kenny Zuckerman.

Ta’amu, who took over for Shea Patterson in 2017 after transferring from the New Mexico Military Institute, threw for 5,600 yards and 30 touchdowns in 19 games and completed 64.5 percent of his passes as a Rebel. The Throwin’ Samoan turned heads with his deep ball and consistently hit his NFL breakout wide receivers D.K. Metcalf and A.J. Brown in stride.

When he’s not throwing down the sidelines, Ta’amu switches up his arm angle like his new teammate Patrick Mahomes and zips a completion through the gap.

Alongside his natural arm strength, he posses a sneaky ability to extend plays with his legs, move outside of the pocket, and find an open man.

In his senior season at Ole Miss he also showed impressive speed for his frame, running a 4.78 second 40-yard dash at 5’11, 220-pounds. Scrambling to the edges is one thing, but he can also score on a designed option out of the gun or tuck and run past defenders in the open field.

He may not have reached a bowl game while in Oxford, and went undrafted post-graduation, but his prolific offensive performance garnered him the opportunity to play in the XFL as one of the inaugural season’s franchise quarterbacks. While with the Saint Louis Battlehawks, Ta’amu completed 72 percent of his passes for 1,267 yards and added five touchdowns in six weeks. His dual-threat capabilities took the league by storm and led his team to a 4-1 record. Right out of the gates, it was clear that he deserved a shot on the highest level.

He continued to impress as the season went on, and was named XFL Star of the Week after the BattleHawks’ 23-16 victory over the Seattle Dragons.

The terms of Ta’amu’s contract have not been released, but he will join a quarterback room with 2018 NFL MVP Mahomes, Chad Henne and Kyle Shurmer. It has been an unconventional road for the Hawaiian native, but those who have watched him over the past three years know that he isn’t done yet.