T. T. Toliver

Antoine "T. T." Toliver (born January 31, 1977) is an arena football wide receiver who is currently a free agent. Specializing in kick return, he has 5,377 yards and 326 touchdowns in his career. He has also been a member of the St. Louis Rams, San Francisco 49ers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Nashville Kats and Orlando Predators. Toliver is the AFL's all-time leader in all-purpose yards.^[1]

Early years

Toliver played football and basketball at Mainland High School.^[2][3] He completed 130 of 219 passes for 1,959 yards and sixteen touchdowns with ten interceptions while rushing for 1,098 yards and fifteen touchdowns in helping the Buccaneers advance to the Class 5A quarterfinals in 1995. He was named the 1995 Class 5A Player of the Year.^[2] Toliver was runner-up for Florida's Mr. Football Award. He also participated in the Florida-Georgia All-Star Game.^[4] In basketball, he helped Mainland win the Class 6A state championship in 1995. Toliver was the team's point guard and averaged 12.4 points per game that year. NBA player Vince Carter was also a member of that team.^[3][5] T. T. was also the leading scorer on the 1996 team that won the state championship.^[4]

College career

Toliver had initially committed to play college football for the Clemson Tigers in 1996 but did not meet the NCAA's academic admission standards.^[2] He instead decided to play football for the Hinds Eagles of Hinds Community College, where he was named the 1997-98 Junior College Player of the Year as a quarterback.^[2][6] He also earned First Team Junior College All-American honors in 1997.^[7][8] Toliver played two years of football at Hinds.^[9] He also played basketball for the Eagles .^[10] He then transferred to Bethune-Cookman University, where he played for the Wildcats basketball team during the 1999–00 season. Toliver averaged 6.8 point per game in 25 games for the Wildcats.^[11] He did not play football at Bethune-Cookman.^[9]

Professional career

St. Louis Rams

Toliver spent a week on the St. Louis Rams' practice squad in November 2000 before being was released by the Rams on November 22, 2000.^[12][13][14] He signed with the Rams on January 12, 2001. He was released by the team on August 27, 2001.^[14]

Tampa Bay Storm

Toliver signed with the Tampa Bay Storm on June 13, 2002.^[15] He recorded 39.5 tackles and two interceptions in five games for the Storm in 2002. He accumulated eight receptions for 126 yards and two touchdowns while also recording twelve tackles in 2003. Toliver became the first person to win an ArenaBowl and Super Bowl in the same year when the Storm won ArenaBowl XVII against the Arizona Rattlers on June 22, 2003.^[16][17] He caught 64 catches for 749 yards and 14 touchdowns while also totaling 54.5 tackles and three interceptions in 2004.^[18] He recorded 17 receptions for 169 yards and five interceptions with 4.5 tackles and one interception for the team in 2005 before being traded to Nashville.^[15][18]

San Francisco 49ers

Toliver was signed by the San Francisco 49ers on August 21, 2002.^[19][20] He was released by the team on September 1 and signed to the 49ers' practice squad on September 2, 2002.^[19] He was released by the 49ers on October 1, 2002.^[19][21]

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Toliver was signed to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers's practice squad on December 4, 2002.^[14] The Buccaneers won Super Bowl XXXVII against the Oakland Raiders on January 26, 2003.^[22] He signed a future contract with the Buccaneers on January 31, 2003. He was released by the Buccaneers on April 23, 2003.^[14] Toliver did not receive a Super Bowl ring during his time with the Buccaneers as the team said that players needed to have been with the team for a minimum of 10 games to receive a ring.^[16]

Nashville Kats

He was traded to the Nashville Kats in exchange for Fred Booker on March 30, 2005.^[15] He totaled 38 receptions for 599 yards and 12 touchdowns with ten tackles for the Kats during the 2005 season. He caught 78 passes for 1,273 yards and 28 touchdowns for the team in 2006.^[18]

Tampa Bay Storm

Toliver was traded to the Tampa Bay Storm in exchange for future considerations on November 29, 2006.^[15] He recorded 99 receptions for 1,193 yards and 17 touchdowns for the Storm in 2007.^[18] On May 30, 2007, he informed head coach Tim Marcum that he no longer wanted to play for the Storm.^[23][24] Toliver was subsequently placed on the "left squad" list, meaning he is suspended for the next two games he would have played as a Storm player.^[15] Toliver was released by the Storm on June 12, 2007.^[15][25]

Orlando Predators

Toliver signed with the Orlando Predators on June 13, 2007.^[26][27] He accumulated 20 receptions for 190 yards and 4 touchdowns for the Predators in 2007. He caught 117 passes for 1,647 yards and 31 touchdowns in 2008, earning First Team All-Arena honors. Toliver also returned 78 kicks for 1,398 yards and three touchdowns. He totaled 116 receptions for 1,423 yards and 29 touchdowns for the Predators during the 2010 season. He recorded 121 receptions for 1,525 yards and 32 touchdowns for the team in 2011. Toliver caught 103 passes for 1,290 yards and 23 touchdowns in 2012. He accumulated 127 passes for 1,659 yards and 29 touchdowns in 14 games for the Predators in 2013.^[18]

Tampa Bay Storm

Toliver was assigned to the Tampa Bay Storm on April 9, 2014.^[15] He recorded 69 receptions for 812 yards and 16 touchdowns in 12 games for the team during the 2014 season. He started eighteen games for the Storm in 2015, catching 112 passes for 1,536 yards and 35 touchdowns.^[18] He caught 114 passes for 1,578 yards and 25 touchdowns in 2016, earning Second Team All-Arena honors.^[28] During the 2016 season, he became the AFL's all-time leader in receptions, receiving yards and all-purpose yards.^[29][28]

Career statistics

References