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For first step after NFL, ex-Boise State football standout finds fit in Air St. Luke’s

David Moa standing in front of an ambulance — David Moa joined the Air St. Luke’s team in January 2026 as an EMT. Helping transport patients between locations and working on a tight-knit team has been a perfect fit for the former Boise State football star.

By Dave SouthornLast Updated November 13, 2026

With his pads on, he earned a nickname conjuring a feared hunter.

In truth, it was at odds with someone who was driven by a passion for care.

As he starred on the defensive line at Boise State for 48 games, concluding with the 2019 season, David Moa was dubbed “The Moa Constrictor.”

He defied the odds and spent parts of the next four seasons on National Football League rosters as an undrafted free agent. But last year, after taking the previous year to focus on his family before finding a post-NFL career, he thought hard about what he wanted.

“It’s not easy, trying to find that identity after football when it’s your whole life,” Moa said. “I knew I thrived in a team setting, figuring things out together on the fly. Showing compassion and relating to people, I know I had those skills.”

Among the people Moa spoke to was Ethan Danielson, a firefighter with the Boise Fire Department, and the brother of the Broncos’ current head football coach. He spoke about his career, but also suggested looking into emergency medical services.

Moa thought it sounded like what he was looking for, and thanks to an NFL program that helped pay for tuition, he earned his EMT certification.

And since January, he has been an EMT with Air St. Luke’s, working on the ambulance transporting patients between facilities for those who need specialized or higher levels of care all around the health system.

Boise State Football player — As a defensive lineman at Boise State, David Moa played in 48 games, racking up 93 tackles, including 12.5 sacks and blocked a game-winning field goal attempt in a win over BYU on Oct. 20, 2016. He was a first-team All-Mountain West selection in 2016 and second-team selection in 2017 and 2019. Photo: Loren Orr/Associated Press

“My first thought was, ‘This is a cool place,’” Moa said. “The ICARE values (integrity, compassion, accountability, respect, excellence), that spoke to me. That was what it was all about for me as a student-athlete.

“Boise welcomed me with open arms 12 years ago … to somehow repay that support and help someone in one of our communities on their worst day, that’s special.”

That feeling is ingrained in Moa from his tight-knit family. Born in Tonga in the south Pacific, his family moved to California when he was 7. His parents found work as in-home caregivers, which he said “set the foundation for hard work and taking care of people.”

As an Air St. Luke’s EMT, both of those are paramount, from starting and ending a 12-hour shift by making sure everything in the ambulance is stocked properly to traveling with patients from Meridian to Wood River to Magic Valley to Fruitland and back in a night.

“Kind of like football, you really do have a gameplan in your head with each patient, what they need and how you can help,” Moa said. “No day is the same.

“I’m always happy to learn the operational side, the patient assessment side — my defensive line coach (Steve Caldwell) always said, ‘Good players want to be coached, great players want the truth.’”

News & Announcements

For first step after NFL, ex-Boise State football standout finds fit in Air St. Luke’s

By Dave SouthornLast Updated November 13, 2026

With his pads on, he earned a nickname conjuring a feared hunter.

In truth, it was at odds with someone who was driven by a passion for care.

As he starred on the defensive line at Boise State for 48 games, concluding with the 2019 season, David Moa was dubbed “The Moa Constrictor.”

Moa thought it sounded like what he was looking for, and thanks to an NFL program that helped pay for tuition, he earned his EMT certification.

“Boise welcomed me with open arms 12 years ago … to somehow repay that support and help someone in one of our communities on their worst day, that’s special.”

“Kind of like football, you really do have a gameplan in your head with each patient, what they need and how you can help,” Moa said. “No day is the same.

David Moa playing for the Giants — Undrafted in 2020, David Moa worked his way into playing in six regular season NFL games with the New York Giants (pictured) and the Los Angeles Chargers in 2021 and 2022. Photo: New York Giants

For Moa, he was ready to apply those lessons in a post-football world. Already cut twice in the 2020 season, he started having those thoughts before catching on with the New York Giants. He played four games in 2021, including one start.

After being waived just before the 2022 season, he signed with the Los Angeles Chargers’ practice squad that November. He appeared in their final two games and played in their playoff loss, a heartbreaking 31-30 defeat against Jacksonville after they led 27-0.

It was his final game as he was waived a week before the 2023 season. He joined the Tennessee Titans’ practice squad for the last two weeks of that campaign. The day he left to join the team (on Christmas), he and his wife Brittney, a former Boise State basketball player, learned she was pregnant with their second child.

“I couldn’t have asked for more. Most guys in my position never even get the chance to play,” said Moa, who is a soon-to-be father of three. “I can’t put into words what it meant to be in NFL games. But I was ready to move on, go out on my terms.”

And that led him to Air St. Luke’s and a career that can lead him to further opportunities to care for people. Plus, he still is part of a team every day.

“At St. Luke’s, its a super supportive system, the nurses and physicians, the pharmacists, everyone that I’ve interacted with is looking out for their patients,” Moa said. “And our team, it’s honestly like that locker room. You get close, you bond, you plan together, you debrief after … it’s the best thing.”