T.J. Tampa

Early life

Marques Tampa Jr. was born in Norristown, Pennsylvania and moved to Jonesboro, Georgia at age three. At 15, he moved to St. Petersburg, Florida and attended Lakewood High School. In his high school career he played on both offense and defense. On offense he caught 67 passes for 1,323 yards and 15 touchdowns. On defense he tallied 33 tackles with nine being for a loss, four sacks, two pass deflections, an interception, a fumble recovery, and two forced fumbles. Tampa would decide to commit to play college football at Iowa State over schools such as Georgia, Maryland, Rutgers, Toledo, UCF, and South Florida.

College career

In Tampa's first season in 2020, he recorded five tackles with one being for a loss. In Tampa's second year he took a step up racking up 18 tackles with 0.5 going for a loss, and three pass deflections. In week nine of the 2022 season, Tampa had a career day, tallying seven tackles with one going for a loss, and four pass deflections, but the Cyclones fell to Oklahoma. In week eleven, Tampa recorded his first career interception, picking off a pass by Gunnar Gundy, but Iowa State lost to Oklahoma State. Tampa finished his breakout 2022 season with 40 tackles including five going for a loss, nine pass defelections, an interception, and a forced fumble. For his performance on the season, Tampa was selected to the second-team all-Big-12. Tampa was named preseason first-team all-Big-12, for the 2023 season. Tampa was also named to the Jim Thorpe Award watch list, which is awarded to the best defensive back in the country, and to the Bronko Nagurski Trophy watch list, which is given to nation's best defensive player.