Manu Tuiasosopo, Class of 1975
In the same draft that saw first round picks Phil Simms (7th) go to the New York Giants and Kellen Winslow (13th) go to the San Diego Chargers, Manu Tuiasosopo went to the Seattle Seahawks in the first round as the 18th overall pick in 1979 out of UCLA and St. Anthony of course!
Manu Tuiasosopo was a big Samoan teenager born and raised in Long Beach. His mother and father are both full Somoan. His father, Asovalu, left American Samoa in 1950 to join the Navy and settled in Long Beach. He returned to Samoa in 1990 to claim the family name and title - High Talking Chief -- one of only six alive on the planet -- in the remote village of Vatia on the northern edge of the 26 square mile shimmering volcanic island that is American Samoa.
Manu's parents divorced when he was 6. While Samoan families are extremely patriarchal, the values Manu, the oldest of three sons and one daughter (Manu, Saga, Manusina, and Sorepa "Lepa"), learned and passed down to his children evolved primarily from his mother, Sorepa Tagaloa -- "Grandma T" –
Grandma T was the one who gave Manu the go-ahead to play football when the St. Anthony coaches pleaded with her to allow the 200-pound eighth-grader to give the sport a try. Grandma T also provided Manu plenty of the hard-driving Samoan competitiveness.
"It could be playing cards -- there's always fierce competition with Samoans -- and it's passed down through the generations," said Manu, before laughing."Mama T always wins ... but she cheats."
Manu was a 3 year lettermen in football and track. Earning All-CIF, All-City honors in football & track.
After his outstanding career at St. Anthony, Manu received a football scholarship to UCLA and was a 4 year starter at defensive tackle from 1975-1979. In his freshman season he started on the 1976 Rose Bowl Championship team. He earned All-American, All-Pac 8/10 honors in football in his junior and senior seasons.
One of his most memorable experiences, besides the Rose Bowl experience was being selected one of 7 players from Division 1 colleges to join with the ABC-TV College football TV commentator, Keith Jackson, touring national TV markets promoting the upcoming college football ABC-TV season, during his sophomore season. Another memorable experience was when the American Samoa Department of Education flew Manu and 4 other Pacific Islander college football players for a week long football clinic on American Samoa islands for the youths.
Manu was a First Round Draft pick of the Seattle Seahawks in 1979 (18th overall) and earned NFL All-Rookie Team honors in 1979. He was a 5 year starter at Defensive Tackle for the Seahawks. One of his memorable experiences while with the Seattle Seahawks was serving as their United Way Spokesperson and working in the community to raise awareness and funds for United Way agencies. He also, organized football camps for lineman, along with Jacob Green.
Tuiasosopo was traded to the San Francisco 49er's in 1984. where he was a 3 year starter at Defensive Tackle and was part of the 1985 Super Bowl Championship team. Playing in and winning the Super Bowl was his most memorable experience as a football player. He retired from the National Football League in 1988.
Manu met his wife Tina Young (also Class of 75) at St. Anthony and they married while attending UCLA. In 2007 they celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary. He and Tina have three sons and two daughters:Leslie, Marques, Zach, Matthew, and Ashley.
Leslie played volleyball at the University of Washington where she is now an assistant coach. Marques and Zach played football at the University of Washington - Marques was drafted by the Oakland Raiders and played quarterback for them for six years before moving to the New York Jets. Zach is a fullback with the Philadelphia Eagles. Matt is with
the Seattle Mariners baseball organization, currently playing for the Double
A West Tennessee
Diamond Jaxx. Ashley is graduating from
Woodinville High School (2007) and will be attending the
University of Washington in the fall. Continuing the tradition, she has been invited to walk on
to the UW Husky fast pitch squad
next season.
Manu stresses that the life lessons he and Tina imparted to their children aren't any secret Samoan formula, but are universal.
"We don't overplay the Samoan card," Manu said. "Our values are Biblical values. My wife isn't Samoan, and she shares those values."
The Tuiasosopo Family Tree
Manu is part of a long line of related athletes. Take a look at the Tuiasosopo family tree
· Manu Tuiasosopo, football, St. Anthony HS/UCLA/NFL
· Leslie Tuiasosopo, daughter, volleyball, Woodinville HS/University of Washington
· Marques Tuiasosopo, son, football, Woodinville HS/University of Washington/NFL
· Zach Tuiasosopo, son, football, Woodinville HS/University of Washington /NFL
· Bob Apisa, cousin, football, Michigan State
· Terry Tautolo, cousin, football, UCLA/NFL
· John Tautolo, cousin, football, UCLA/NFL
· Ray Tautolo, cousin, football, UCLA
· Roger Levasa, cousin, football, Oregon State
· Jesse Sapolu, cousin, football, Hawaii/NFL
· Navy Tuiasosopo, cousin, football, Utah State
· Fa'asamala Tagaloa, cousin, football, Cal
· Titus Tuiasosopo, cousin, football, USC
· Toalei Mulitauaopele, cousin, football, Washington
· Naomi Mulitauaopele, cousin, basketball, Stanford/WNBA
· Emma Tautolo, cousin (once removed), basketball, UCLA
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Season |
Team |
Games |
Defense |
||||
Sacks |
INT |
Yds |
Avg |
TD |
|||
1979 |
SEA |
16 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
0.0 |
0 |
1980 |
SEA |
16 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
0.0 |
0 |
1981 |
SEA |
16 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
0.0 |
0 |
1982 |
SEA |
9 |
2.0 |
0 |
0 |
0.0 |
0 |
1983 |
SEA |
16 |
0.5 |
0 |
0 |
0.0 |
0 |
1984 |
SF |
16 |
4.0 |
0 |
0 |
0.0 |
0 |
1985 |
SF |
15 |
3.0 |
0 |
0 |
0.0 |
0 |
1986 |
SF |
15 |
0.0 |
1 |
22 |
22.0 |
0 |
Career |
119 |
9.5 |
1 |
22 |
22.0 |
0 |
|
