{"id":2183473,"date":"2025-12-01T23:51:33","date_gmt":"2025-12-01T23:51:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2183473"},"modified":"2025-12-01T23:51:33","modified_gmt":"2025-12-01T23:51:33","slug":"superstar-rapper-makes-shock-decision-to-swap-music-for-new-college-football-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/superstar-rapper-makes-shock-decision-to-swap-music-for-new-college-football-career\/","title":{"rendered":"Superstar rapper makes shock decision to swap music for new college football career"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"js-article-text\" wp_automatic_readability=\"96.879417163837\">\n<p class=\"author-section byline-plain\">By <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/profile-207\/jake-fenner.html\" class=\"author\">JAKE FENNER, US SPORTS WRITER<\/a> <\/p>\n<p class=\"byline-section\"><span class=\"article-timestamp article-timestamp-published\"> <span class=\"article-timestamp-label\">Published:<\/span> <time datetime=\"2025-12-01T21:53:37+0000\"> 21:53 GMT, 1 December 2025 <\/time> <\/span> | <span class=\"article-timestamp article-timestamp-updated\"> <span class=\"article-timestamp-label\">Updated:<\/span> <time datetime=\"2025-12-01T21:56:38+0000\"> 21:56 GMT, 1 December 2025 <\/time> <\/span> <\/p>\n<p> <!-- ad: https:\/\/mads.dailymail.co.uk\/v8\/de\/sport\/collegefoobtall\/article\/other\/para_top.html --> <!-- CWV --><!--[if !IE]><!--> <link href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/static\/mol-fe\/static\/mol-fe-async-bundle\/11.41.2\/articleDefer.css\" media=\"all\" rel=\"stylesheet\" type=\"text\/css\" \/> <!--<![endif]--> <!--[if IE]>\n<link href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/static\/gunther\/1.17.0\/registration--.css\" media=\"screen\" rel=\"stylesheet\" type=\"text\/css\" \/>\n<![endif]--> <!--[if !IE]><!--> <link href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/static\/gunther\/18.3.3\/registration--.css\" media=\"all\" rel=\"stylesheet\" type=\"text\/css\" \/> <!--<![endif]--><!--[if IE]>\n<link href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/static\/gunther\/1.17.0\/all-ie8-9--.css\" media=\"all\" rel=\"stylesheet\" type=\"text\/css\" \/>\n<link href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/static\/gunther\/1.17.0\/all1-ie8-9--.css\" media=\"all\" rel=\"stylesheet\" type=\"text\/css\" \/>\n<![endif]--> <!--[if !IE]><!--> <link href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/static\/mol-fe\/static\/mol-fe-sync-bundle\/15.36.0\/desktop.css\" media=\"all\" rel=\"stylesheet\" type=\"text\/css\" \/> <link href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/static\/gunther\/18.4.0\/all--.css\" media=\"all\" rel=\"stylesheet\" type=\"text\/css\" \/><link href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/static\/gunther\/18.4.0\/all1--.css\" media=\"all\" rel=\"stylesheet\" type=\"text\/css\" \/> <!--<![endif]--> <!--[if IE 8]>\n\n<![endif]--> <!--[if IE 9]>\n\n<![endif]--> <!--[if IE]>\n\n<![endif]--> <!--[if !IE]> -->  <!--<![endif]--><!-- SiteCatalyst code version: H.20.3.\n    Copyright 1997-2009 Omniture, Inc. More info available at\n    http:\/\/www.omniture.com -->  <\/p>\n<p>         <!-- End SiteCatalyst code version: H.20.3. -->  <!--[if IE]>\n\n<![endif]--> <!--[if !IE]> -->   <!--<![endif]--><!--[if IE]>\n  \n  <noscript><link rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/static\/gunther\/gunther-2159\/video_bundle--.css\"><\/noscript>\n  \n<![endif]--> <!--[if !IE]> --> <link rel=\"preload\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/static\/videoplayer\/7.14.0\/styles\/mol-fe-videoplayer.min.css\" as=\"style\" onload=\"this.rel=\" stylesheet=\"\" \/> <noscript><link rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/static\/videoplayer\/7.14.0\/styles\/mol-fe-videoplayer.min.css\" \/><\/noscript>  <!-- <![endif]-->   <!-- CWV --><\/p>\n<div itemprop=\"articleBody\" wp_automatic_readability=\"86.888925839707\">\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">A multi-platinum rapper who averages 3.8million monthly listeners on <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"font-weight: bold;\" target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sciencetech\/spotify\/index.html\" id=\"mol-6ded0e80-ceff-11f0-9e80-0d125fe2a1d9\">Spotify<\/a>\u00a0and boasts over 4.8million followers on Instagram is putting down the mic and putting on shoulder pads.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Nau&#8217;Jour Grainger, who goes by the stage name Toosii, announced his commitment to play football at Syracuse University this fall.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Grainger, who is 25-years-old, previously announced he would be taking a break from his music career to try and play Division-I football.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Grainger was born in Syracuse &#8211; a city of just below 150,000 in upstate New York &#8211; but moved to <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"font-weight: bold;\" target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/north-carolina\/index.html\" id=\"mol-6df069e0-ceff-11f0-9e80-0d125fe2a1d9\">North Carolina<\/a> at the age of 12. There, he played high school football before starting his music career.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">In recent months, he had been working out at the facilities of North Carolina State University to try and get in playing shape.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;I&#8217;m chasing history,&#8217; Grainger said in a post to X on August 18. &#8216;First multi-platinum recording artist to go back to school and play DIVISION I football.<\/p>\n<div class=\"artSplitter mol-img-group\" style=\"style\" wp_automatic_readability=\"9\">\n<div class=\"mol-img\">\n<div class=\"image-wrap\">  <\/div><\/div>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">Multi-platinum rapper Toosii, age 25, has committed to playing football at Syracuse next fall<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"artSplitter mol-img-group\" style=\"style\" wp_automatic_readability=\"9\">\n<div class=\"mol-img\">\n<div class=\"image-wrap\"> <img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-5891d147bb927c6e\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2025\/12\/01\/21\/104350627-15343173-image-m-4_1764625511533.jpg\" height=\"741\" width=\"634\" alt=\"The rapper, born\u00a0Nau'Jour Grainger, has paused his music career to play college football\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" style=\"max-width:100%\" loading=\"lazy\" \/> <\/div><\/div>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">The rapper, born\u00a0Nau&#8217;Jour Grainger, has paused his music career to play college football<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;Next year I&#8217;m gonna be on somebody&#8217;s team mark my words!&#8217;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Last Monday, Grainger posted to his X account again, saying, &#8216;I&#8217;ll never forget where I came [from]&#8217;, adding &#8216;315&#8217; (the area code for Syracuse) and an orange emoji, referencing the school&#8217;s mascot.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">When his commitment was announced on Monday afternoon, Grainger celebrated: &#8216;For every kid who ever had a dream, make it reality.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">&#8216;God\u2019s will is the way and no one can stop it not even the devil. I wanna thank my lord and savior Jesus Christ for even giving me the strength to chase what I believed when so many people told me I couldn\u2019t.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">&#8216;Thank you to the people who supported me as well, it never go unnoticed. To be born in Syracuse and move to North Carolina at age 12 and haven\u2019t been back since.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">&#8216;When Coach Fran called, I knew it was a sign from God. So with that being said, Cuse I\u2019m coming home.&#8217;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Grainger is not ranked in either Rivals or 247Sports&#8217; database for the Class of 2026. On Rivals, he is listed as a wide receiver. He took visits to Duke, Maryland and Sacramento State &#8211; with the latter school offering him a scholarship.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Syracuse University told Daily Mail Sport that NCAA rules prevent them from answering questions about recruits.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"artSplitter mol-img-group\" style=\"style\" wp_automatic_readability=\"8\">\n<div class=\"mol-img\">\n<div class=\"image-wrap\"> <img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-d8230247e4e3c9ef\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2025\/12\/01\/21\/104350879-15343173-image-a-3_1764625506587.jpg\" height=\"795\" width=\"634\" alt=\"Grainger was born in Central New York, but moved down to North Carolina at age 12\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" style=\"max-width:100%\" loading=\"lazy\" \/> <\/div><\/div>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">Grainger was born in Central New York, but moved down to North Carolina at age 12<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Grainger first tasted mainstream fame with his hit &#8216;Favorite Song&#8217; &#8211; which went viral on TikTok and has surpassed 262million streams on Spotify at the time of publishing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">His 2020 single &#8216;Love Cycle&#8217; has also achieved platinum status.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">This past season was a disaster for Syracuse. After starting the season 3-1 with a win over Clemson, the Orange did not win another game down the rest of the stretch after losing first-string quarterback Steve Angeli for the season due to injury.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">The Orange finished dead last in the Atlantic Coast Conference with a 3-9 record after going 10-3 the season prior.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>            <!-- ad: https:\/\/mads.dailymail.co.uk\/v8\/de\/sport\/collegefoobtall\/article\/other\/inread_player.html --><\/p>\n<div class=\"column-content cleared\">\n<div class=\"shareArticles\">\n<h3 class=\"social-links-title\">Share or comment on this article:<br \/>\n                        Superstar rapper makes shock decision to swap music for new college football career<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n<p>            <ad-slot position=\"smart_feed\"><\/ad-slot><\/p>\n<p>            <ad-slot position=\"after_article\"><\/ad-slot><\/p><\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.celebrity.land.co.uk \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By JAKE FENNER, US SPORTS WRITER Published: 21:53 GMT, 1 December 2025 | Updated: 21:56 GMT, 1 December 2025 A multi-platinum rapper who averages 3.8million monthly listeners on Spotify\u00a0and boasts over 4.8million followers on Instagram is putting down the mic and putting on shoulder pads. Nau&#8217;Jour Grainger, who goes by the stage name Toosii, announced [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2183474,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25179],"tags":[420883,25884,22491,23089,309691,22505,22821],"class_list":["post-2183473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","tag-collegefoobtall","tag-dailymail","tag-instagram","tag-new-york","tag-north-carolina","tag-sport","tag-spotify"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Superstar-rapper-makes-shock-decision-to-swap-music-for-new.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2183473","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2183473"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2183473\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2183475,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2183473\/revisions\/2183475"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2183474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2183473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2183473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2183473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}