Tommy Togiai wasn’t even supposed to be on the field.

Ka’imi Fairbairn had just drilled a 43-yard field goal with 12 seconds left to give the Houston Texans a 32-30 lead over Indianapolis in their Week 18 finale. After the ensuing kickoff, the Colts got the ball back with five seconds remaining and the Texans needed a linebacker to defend against desperate laterals.

They didn’t have one available.

“Tommy, go out there,” someone yelled.

As the Colts frantically pitched the ball backward in a last-ditch effort, it bounced free and landed right in Togiai’s hands at the 17-yard line.

“There’s no time left,” Togiai recalled to the Journal. “I’m just gonna go try to score. I was like, ‘Might as well. This is the only opportunity I’m ever going to have to do this — once-in-a-lifetime opportunity right there.”

The former Highland High School star showed surprising speed for a 305-pound defensive tackle. He then stayed on his feet just long enough to cross the goal line after absorbing a hit from Michael Pittman for his first career NFL touchdown.

Togiai was so excited that he tripped and fell while celebrating with his teammates in the end zone.

It was hard to blame him.

It was a moment years in the making.

Highland head football coach Nick Sorrell knew he had something special the summer before Togiai’s freshman year in 2014.

“The amount of strength that he had as an incoming freshman was just something you don’t normally see from a kid his age,” said Sorrell, who was the Rams’ defensive coordinator at the time. “I’m sure you saw his interview when he was on NFL Network talking about what he asked for for Christmas when he was 12. It was a membership to the gym. Not many 12-year-olds are going to ask for that for Christmas.”

So it came as no surprise that by the time he left Highland, Togiai had turned into a three-time all-state selection, a state champion and the Gatorade Idaho Player of the Year. He was a consensus four-star recruit rated as the No. 3 defensive tackle in the country and the first player from Idaho to sign with Ohio State, where he became an All-Big Ten player.

He declared early for the 2021 NFL Draft where he was selected by the Cleveland Browns in the fourth round at pick 132.

But the NFL proved unforgiving.

Togiai played in just six games and recorded 13 tackles his rookie year. The following season was a little better with 16 tackles in 12 games. But it wasn’t enough for the Browns to keep him around. They cut him right before the start of the 2023 season.

“It was a tough situation,” Togiai said. “I leaned on my faith in God and my support system — my wife and my parents, my brothers, my sisters, my family, everyone. Really just keeping their support with me and keeping my head down and keep working. That’s the one thing that always stayed true, was the work.”

Togiai spent the rest of that season bouncing around the practice squads of Jacksonville, Cleveland and Atlanta.

Sorrell spoke with Togiai during that time, often running into him at his niece’s basketball games back home.

“There were some times where he didn’t know if he was going to make the practice squad or make the team cut-wise,” Sorrell said. “That takes a toll on anybody when you don’t know when it’s going to be your last snap or where you’re going to be next week. But kudos to him because he stuck with it, kept working and put his head down.”

It all gave him a second chance with the Houston Texans.

They signed him to the practice squad on Sept. 17, 2024, before promoting him to the active roster two months later. Togiai made the most of it by playing in eight games, including one start, and totaling 28 tackles. It landed him a one-year, $3.3 million contract extension.

“Tommy, he’s never had to elevate his play, for me,” Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans told the media. “Tommy has always been consistent and that’s the thing I always said about Tommy and that’s what makes him a true pro. He’s just consistent.”

Togiai proved that again this past season.

The start of his breakout season came on the biggest stage. In a primetime Sunday Night Football matchup on Dec. 7 against the Kansas City Chiefs — who had won three Super Bowls and been to five since 2020 — Togiai made his first start of the season. He recorded a career-high 10 tackles, one tackle for loss and a sack on three-time Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes.

“I knew I had to step up and be a starter and make the plays I need to make,” Togiai said. “It goes back to my teammates believing in me and trusting in me to go out and get the job done.”

For the season, Togiai played in 16 games and made six starts. He finished with 59 tackles — more than his first four seasons combined — along with six tackles for loss, four passes defended and 1.5 sacks.

Among all defensive linemen with at least 200 run snaps, Togiai’s 18.4% run-stop rate ranked first in the NFL. When Togiai was on the field, the Texans allowed 3.4 yards per run play. When he wasn’t, that figure jumped to 4.6 yards.

It all helped Houston field the NFL’s top-ranked defense, allowing just 277.2 yards per game and ranking second in points allowed at 17.4 per game. The Texans rode that defense to a nine-game winning streak to end the regular season, finishing 12-5 and earning their third consecutive playoff berth.

“Man, it’s just amazing,” Togiai said of being part of the Texans’ defensive front that also featured All-Pros Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter. “Day in and day out, coming into work is exciting. Getting to work with the guys on defense and especially in the D-line room — we honestly have so much fun. I think that’s why you see the trust and the connections we have on the field when we play games.”

Future NFL Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers and the Pittsburgh Steelers found that out firsthand in the Wild Card round on Jan. 12. Togiai had five tackles in the Texans’ 30-6 rout. Six days layer, he recorded eight tackles and his first NFL career forced fumble — a peanut punch on Patriots quarterback Drake Maye in the second quarter that led to a 10-yard touchdown pass from C.J. Stroud to Christian Kirk. But Houston fell 28-16 in the Divisional Round to end the year 13-6 overall.

“He just shows up, does his job and works on every single play,” Texans general manager Nick Caserio told the media. “To see a player get rewarded with something like that — it was about Tommy and what he’s about.”

If Caserio’s assessment is any indication, Houston will likely want Togiai back next season. The feeling is mutual.

“I love it here,” Togiai said. “I’m playing the best of my career so far. We’ll see what happens.”

But no matter what, Togiai has proven he belongs in the NFL.

His touchdown is proof of that.

“My parents were telling me when I scored the touchdown, their phones were going crazy,” Togiai said. “Even my wife too, because she’s from Pocatello as well. All the texts were blowing up their phones and stuff like that. I’m just grateful to see the support and everything.”

It’s a touchdown Togiai was supposed to have much earlier in the game. The Texans had the ball 1st-and-goal at the 2 midway through the second quarter when he subbed into the game at running back. Togiai was meant to get the ball, but Stroud called an audible instead and scored on a 2-yard run.

He and Stroud joked about it afterward.

“It was all good,” Togiai said. “I got my touchdown.”

For Sorrell, the moment brought back memories of another touchdown that got away. In a game against Century at the ICCU Dome, Togiai made a strip sack, picked up the fumble and was running when he encountered a defender lying on the ground.

“He jumped over the guy and scored,” Sorrell said. “The official threw a flag for hurdling. To this day, I still give that official a little bit of grief about that.

“Tommy doesn’t show a whole lot of emotion,” he added. “He just got that little smile on his face. But I’m sure deep down he wanted that touchdown to say, ‘Hey, look what I can do with the ball in my hands.’”

Years later in Houston, he finally got that chance.

And this time, no one could take it away.