stallions’ Kyahva Tezino has been fueled be doubters en route to becoming a ufl star

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MAY 3, 2024 - BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA

By Steve Irvine

Kyahva Tezino heard the doubters.

He’s not a three-down linebacker, he was told. This after he played every defensive snap during the 2018 season – 884 to be exact – as a junior at San Diego State. The streak of not coming out during a game stretched to 18 consecutive games the next season before he went to the bench with the Aztecs holding a big enough lead that the starters could rest. Turns out that rest lasted only a few plays, though, as he was sent back out on the field after the opponent scored a touchdown.

At 6-foot, he’s not tall enough to fit into the box that college or professional football scouts often desire in a linebacker. He suggested that they take account into his heart and check out the production he’s provided at every level of football.

By now, though, anyone doubting Tezino, who is currently the leader in tackles for the Birmingham Stallions, needs to rethink that stance.  

Pure numbers tell part of the story, for sure. The Los Angeles native had 343 tackles and nine interceptions, to go along with 1,704 yards rushing and 13 touchdowns, in three varsity seasons at Salesian High. His San Diego State career numbers included 290 tackles, 15.5 sacks and 32.5 tackles for loss. In 2018, as a junior, he had 127 tackles, 8.5 sacks and 14.5 tackles for loss. He was the Pittsburgh Maulers’ leading tackler in two USFL seasons, making 86 tackles in 2022 and 94 tackles a year ago. He also had 22 postseason tackles in 2023, making him the leading tackler in the USFL. This season, leads the unbeaten Stallions after five games with 35 tackles.  

“I feel like, for me, at this point of my life, at this point of my career, if they’re looking at that, they can’t see the heart and probably don’t know football that well,” Tezino said. “I’ve definitely heard it before. I’m not even looking into that, it rolls right off my shoulder.”

Birmingham Stallions head coach Skip Holtz wanted him, as did Stallions general manager Zach Potter. When the USFL and XFL merged, becoming the UFL, Tezino didn’t have a home. Tezino became a priority for the Stallions.

“We played against him, he’s a great player, he’s a competitor, he’s a leader,” Holtz said of the 235-pound Tezino. “He’s physical, he’s tough, he can run, he’s got a great nose for the ball. I can’t say enough positive things about him. The old adage that you don’t want to play against him, so you got to try to find a way to play with him.”

Tezino began playing football at the age of five. What started as something that his father chose for him turned into a passion.  

“If you ask anybody that knows me, knows me, they’ll tell you I love football,” Tezino said. “It’s something that I feel God put me on Earth to do. It’s like my fun, it’s my thing I cope with for everything.”

It also provided a way for Tezino to maneuver his way off the often unforgiving streets of South Central Los Angeles. Turning the wrong way would have been easy, Tezino said, without the guidance of his mother, Kelly, and other family members.

“I feel like it’s shaped me a lot,” Tezino said of his hometown. “It created some type of hunger, that I’m pretty sure a lot of guys are familiar with coming from urban areas all across the world. It’s created something in me, like a drive to want to get out of that place, for not just myself but my family. That’s my biggest motivation, to help put them in a better situation. And just be able to make sure that my niece and nephews and my kids one day are set up so they don’t have to experience that type of life. That’s my motivation right there.”

That motivation is part of what keeps Tezino on the field, even when he’s tired and hurting. However it runs deeper than that.

“I’m going to be honest with you, I’m tired but the mentality that I have is just like, you never know when it’s going to be my turn again,” said Tezino. “In college, I had to fight to get the starting job, I had to fight to earn my name. Every time I’m on the field I think of that. I can’t come out because I worked so hard. I know I’m tired, I know certain things, but I can’t not be out there. When I have that starting role, it’s like, ‘Alright, you’re going to be able to count on me and I’m going to be available.’ That’s just the mindset I have and it’s been sticking with me my whole career.”  

It’s hard to doubt that approach.