Vita Vea


Tevita Tuliʻakiʻono Tuipulotu Mosese Vaʻhae Fehoko Faletau Vea, commonly known as Vita Vea, is an American football defensive tackle for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League. He played college football at Washington.

College career

As a junior in 2017, Vea was the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year and won the Morris Trophy. On January 2, 2018, Vita declared his intentions to enter the 2018 NFL Draft.

Professional career

Vea participated in the 2018 NFL Combine, but did not complete all drills due to a hamstring injury.
Vea was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft.

2018 season

Vea sprained his calf during training camp, forcing him to miss the entire preseason as well as the first three games of the regular season. Vea records his first career sack in Week 10, during a 16-3 loss to the Washington Redskins.
He finished his rookie year with 28 tackles and three sacks.

2019 season

In Week 12, during a 35-22 win against the Atlanta Falcons, Vea recorded a sack, a career-best two pass deflections, and caught a one-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jameis Winston. As a result, Vea became the first defensive player since J.J. Watt in 2014 to record a sack and catch a touchdown in the same game, the ninth player in NFL history to accomplish both in the same game, and the heaviest player in NFL history to catch a touchdown at 347 pounds. Overall, he started all 16 games and recorded 35 total tackles, 12 quarterback hits, and three passes defensed.

NFL career statistics

Personal life

Vea is the son of Sione and Fipe Vea, immigrants from Tonga.