Toussaint L'Ouverture Tyler (first name pronounced "Too-San", born March 19, 1959) is a former running back in the National Football League (NFL). He played with New Orleans Saints in 1981 and 1982.
Born in Barstow, California, Tyler moved to Oceanside where he starred as halfback at El Camino High School. After receiving a number of awards following his senior season, he was recruited to the University of Washington, where he played mainly as a fullback. In his freshman season of 1977, the Huskies won the Rose Bowl, and he started for the first time in a game the following season, and took a larger role in his junior year in 1979 as the team went and won the Sun Bowl.
Early in Tyler's senior season in 1980, injuries to the Huskies' halfbacks prompted head coach Don James to move him there from fullback. Washington finished in the regular season and won the Pac-10 title, earning them a trip to the Rose Bowl against the Michigan Wolverines. With the score tied at zero in the first quarter, Tyler fumbled at the one-yard line; Michigan went on to win the game 23–6.
Tyler was selected 222nd overall (first in the ninth round) in the 1981 NFL Draft by the New Orleans Saints. He played two seasons with the Saints, appearing in all 23 games over those two seasons. Before the 1983 NFL season, the Saints cut him in order to meet the limit on how many players a team may have. He then went on to a short stint with the Oakland Invaders in the USFL, and then tried to make the Minnesota Vikings. He now lives in Kent, Washington, where he works as a juvenile detention officer.
Early life
Born on March 19, 1959, Tyler was named after the 18th-century Haitian leader Toussaint Louverture. His mother was a seamstress and his father, Walter, was a boxing trainer who handled, among others, heavyweight champion Mike Weaver. The running back later said "My father tried to interest me in boxing but I wasn't into getting smacked in the face." Tyler, along with two brothers and four sisters, lived in Barstow, California until he was in seventh grade. His parents then divorced and he went to live with his mother in Oceanside, California.
In Oceanside, he played at El Camino High School under coach Herb Meyer. Rushing for 1,732 yards with an eight yards-per-carry average in his senior season, the halfback drew comparisons to fellow El Camino back C. R. Roberts. The El Camino team won the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) district title in 1976. One of six Californians named to that year's All-American high school football team by Scholastic Coach, a magazine for athletic directors and coaches, he was San Diego County's player of the year and shared CIF (San Diego Section) player of the year honors with offensive tackle Curt Marsh. Both players were considered blue-chip recruits and went to the University of Washington.
College career
At Washington, Tyler was converted from halfback to fullback. Because of this, Tyler needed to learn how to block, a transition in which he said he "pinched a lot of nerves and got a lot of stiff necks". When asked during his senior year a Washington which position he prefers, Tyler responded "I love tailback, but I'll play any position to help our team." Tyler finished third in a pre-season poll of sportswriters predicting the conference's offensive rookie of the year. In Tyler's freshman year, the 1977 Washington Huskies finished with nine wins and two losses in the regular season. In his first collegiate contest, Tyler rushed for 70 yards on seven carries in a victory against San Jose State University. In a game against the California Golden Bears, then ranked 17th in the AP Poll, Tyler scored a touchdown to help the team win 50–31, giving them a record of 4–1, tying them with two other teams for the lead in the Pacific-10 Conference. They then won the 1978 Rose Bowl 27–20 over the Michigan Wolverines.
The following season, Tyler started at fullback for the first time in a game against Oregon State, winless at the time, and rushed for 151 yards, including a 55-yard fourth-quarter touchdown, to lead the Huskies to a 20–14 victory. In the team's next game, the back scored twice as Washington beat twelfth-ranked Arizona State. The Huskies finished with seven wins and four losses, missing a bowl game. Tyler averaged 5.5 yards a carry in the 1978 season.