Tinoisamoa attended Vista High School in Vista, California. In football, he was a three-time All-Palomar League, a three-time All-CIF pick, an All-American pick as a senior, and a three-time All-State selection and an All-American running back. His 1996, '97, and '98 Panther football teams won the Palomar League and CIF titles. As a senior, Tinoisamoa recorded 75 tackles, six sacks, and three fumble recoveries and offensively, rushed for 1,600 yards and 23 touchdowns and he became the first-ever player ever in San Diego County history to make First-team All-CIF on both offense and defense.
College career
At the University of Hawaii, Tinoisamoa recorded 289 tackles with 15.5 sacks, 11 QB pressures, six forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, nine passes defensed, two interceptions, and one blocked field goal while starting 27 of 35 games for Rainbow Warriors. He was a First-team All-Western Athletic Conference pick and was the recipient of the Alec Waterhouse Award, given to team’s Most Valuable Player as he led team with career-high 129 tackles, with 6.5 sacks, 18 tackles for loss, eight QB pressures, two interceptions, five passes defensed, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, and blocked kick. He was named Second-team All-WAC as junior when he tallied 86 tackles with five sacks, 11 tackles for loss, four QB pressures, three passes defensed, and three forced fumbles. As sophomore, he recorded 74 tackles, four sacks, 10 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, five passes defensed, and four QB pressures. He did not play as freshman.
Professional career
Pre-draft
St. Louis Rams
Tinoisamoa was drafted out of the University of Hawaii by the St. Louis Rams in the second round of the 2003 NFL Draft. On July 24, 2003, Tinoisamoa signed a four-year $2.90 million contract with the Rams. In his rookie season he played in all 16 games and finished the season with 76 tackles, two sacks and three interceptions. He was the first Rams rookie to lead the team in tackles. The following season, he recorded a career-high 95 tackles and 1.5 sacks. In 2005, he led the team tackles for the third straight season, recording 94. He also recorded 1.5 sacks and two interceptions. On October 11, 2006, he signed a five-year $24.7 million contract extension with the Rams. The 2006 season saw him play in 11 games after breaking his hand versus the Chicago Bears on December 11. He finished the campaign with 36 tackles and two sacks. In 2007, he recorded 40 tackles and two interceptions in 9 games. Hand, knee, shoulder, elbow, and ankle injuries struck in ‘06 and ‘07, forcing Tinoisamoa to miss 12 of 32 games. But he stayed healthy the following season, playing all 16 games and led the team in tackles. On May 8, 2009, Tinoisamoa was released by the Rams. Tinoisamoa was scheduled to make a base salary of $3.25 million and count $4.25 million against the cap. Releasing him freed up $2.25 million in cap space.
Chicago Bears
Tinoisamoa agreed to a one-year contract with the Chicago Bears on May 29, 2009. Pisa was named starting strong-side linebacker in August 2009. He follows Adam Archuleta as another player brought over to the Chicago Bears who was coached under Lovie Smith in St. Louis during Smith's time as defensive coordinator. Tinoisamoa was placed on Injured Reserve due to a knee injury on December 2, 2009. After the Bears signed linebackerCato June, Tinoisamoa's jersey number was changed to 49, giving June number 59. On April 12, the Bears re-signed Tinoisamoa. He was later cut and replaced with David Herron.
