Steelers Now
Former Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Kyahva Tezino has singed with the Birmingham Stallions of the UFL for the 2025 season, according to the UFL transactions report for Tuesday.
Tezino signed with the Steelers last August late in training camp, after Tyler Matakevich (ankle) and Payton Wilson (concussion protocol) were both injured during the team’s second preseason game against the Buffalo Bills.
He played in one preseason game with the Steelers, making three tackles in the finale against the Detroit Lions, and was released on Aug. 26.
Tezino, a 6-foot, 235-pound San Diego State alum, played with Birmingham last spring, as well. He finished the spring season with 42 total tackles, eight quarterback pressures, one sack, and three pass breakups as the Stallions won the inaugural UFL title.
Before his time in Birmingham, Tezino played for the Pittsburgh Maulers of the USFL in 2023 and 2022, though the team never played in Pittsburgh, making its home in Canton, Ohio in 2023. The entire USFL played in Birmingham in 2022.
The 6-foot, 235-pound San Diego State alum was a stalwart playing next to Reuben Foster in the middle of the Maulers’ 2023 defense. Tezino ranked second in tackles and tackles for loss that included 13 tackles in the Maulers appearance in the 2023 USFL Championship Game.
He first found his way onto NFL radars with a strong junior season with the Aztecs in 2018, when he recorded an absurd 127 tackles and 8.5 sacks. He followed that up with 99 tackles, 3.5 sacks and two interceptions in 2019, getting him an NFL shot with the New England Patriots.
The Steelers brought Tezino for a tryout way back in 2020, after he had been with the New England Patriots and Carolina Panthers in his rookie season. Since then, he spent one season in The Spring League and two with the Maulers.
“Maybe my play in the USFL can be a stepping stone to get back to Pittsburgh,” Tezino said before his 2022 season with the Maulers. “They told me they knew who I was and I should go ‘be me.’ Hopefully this year I’ll put up some good film and get another opportunity to play in Pittsburgh.”
Tezino spent time with the San Francisco 49ers in training camp in 2023, but was waived prior to the start of the regular season.
