Who was Junior Siavii? Ex-NFL defensive lineman dies in prison while awaiting trial

Junior Siavii unfortunately passed away on Thursday, January 14th at the age of 43 years old. He is a former NFL defensive tackle, but was arrested in 2019 on suspicion of illegal firearms possession. He was in prison awaiting trial but unfortunately, Siavii was found unresponsive in his cell Thursday. He was unable to be revived and was pronounced dead at a hospital shortly after.

What happened to Junior Siavii?

Seattle Seahawks defensive tackle Junior Siavii

Saousaolii Poe Siavii, Jr. was born in Pago Pago, American Samoa in 1978. He attended Tafuna High School in American Samoa, where he played football. After graduating high school, he moved to the continental United States to continue playing football at the collegiate level.

Siavii first attended Dixie State Junior College in the state of Utah, where he would stay for one year. He then transferred to Butte Community College in California, where he was a successful defensive tackle. He played for two seasons, and was named to the All-Conference team in his second year.

After taking a year off, he transferred to the University of Oregon in an attempt to take his collegiate football career to the next level. He played for two years with the Ducks before being selected in the second round of the 2004 NFL Draft by the Kansas City Chiefs, where played for two seasons.

In his third year with the team, he was unable to overcome a knee injury and was released before appearing in a game. The injury somewhat derailed his NFL career at the time and required major surgery. He spent two years away from football before being signed by the Dallas Cowboys in free agency.

Junior Siavii would spend just one year with the Cowboys and one year with the Seattle Seahawks after that. He suffered an unfortunate spinal cord injury with the Seahawks, which essentially ended his football career. He logged four seasons in the NFL and had not played since 2011.

Eight years later, in 2019, Siavii was arrested for carrying illegal firearms in Kansas City. Later in 2019 he was also charged with drug trafficking and in 2020 he was arrested for burglary. He was moved to Leavenworth Penitantiary in Kansason on December 17th of last year where he was awaiting trial on cumulative charges.

However, while still in pre-trial status, Junior Siavii was found unresponsive in his jail cell on Thursday, January 13th of this year. He was unable to be revived at the scene before being rushed to a local hospital. Shortly after, he was pronounced dead at 43 years old.