Rusty Williams likes to ask fellow defensive lineman David
Tautofi about his Samoan culture and his family in Hawaii.
“It seems like they are related to everybody,”
Williams said.
That is not ignorance, but experience speaking.
“Samoan families are all related,” junior defensive
lineman Asi Faoa said. He discovered that he and Tautofi, also a
junior, are distant cousins after visiting Tautofi’s church
and discovering that Faoa’s aunt is married to
Tautofi’s uncle.
“Seriously, we’ll find one way or another if you
trace back the family line. Because our parents’ generation
came from Samoa.”
According to ESPN.com, there are over 200 Samoan players in
Division I football. There are 28 Samoans on NFL rosters this
season, 21 of whom play on the offensive or defensive line. Of
course, the most famous of these players is Junior Seau, the San
Diego Chargers’ All-Pro linebacker.
He is Tautofi’s first-cousin.
If it seems that he has family everywhere, he realized when he
arrived at the University of Missouri out of Kamaiki High School in
Hawaii, this was not the case in Missouri.
“I stressed out,” Tautofi said. “It was just
too far for me. Being away from my family was totally
different.”
The effects of being separated from family comes as no surprise,
as David is one of eight children of Faufau and Siamalu Tautofi.
Although Tautofi didn’t grow up on the tiny island of
American Samoa with a population of roughly 65,000 people, he is
part of the diaspora of approximately 500,000 Samoans in the world.
He spent 11 years in Colorado while his father was in the military
but had never been far from his culture because of his family.
There was no fire dancing in Missouri. Tautofi learned to fire
dance from his uncle who now performs with Cirque du Soleil in Las
Vegas.
“I like it because it is my culture. It keeps me close to
my roots,” Tautofi said. “And I like it because it is
fun.”
After a miserable year in the Midwest, he transferred to Fresno
Community College.
Despite having relatives on the West Coast, the transition to
UCLA had the potential to be difficult. Tautofi starred at Fresno
Community College as a defensive end, earning Prep Star Junior
College All-America honors, tallying 53 tackles, eight sacks and 17
tackles for loss. He forced seven fumbles and broke up four passes,
as well.
Since arriving at UCLA, however, he has hardly seen playing
time. He redshirted in 2001 and, this year, has made just two
tackles.
“Some games I’ve played a lot, some I hardly get
in,” Tautofi said. “If it makes the team happy, then
I’m happy. But I’m striving to get better. Every
practice, I take very seriously.”
Defensive line coach Don Johnson has capitalized on that
commitment by pushing Tautofi to play both outside at end and
inside at tackle.
What made the transition work was family, again.
“Football is more like a family away from my
family,” Tautofi said. “At first it was never like
that. I was more anti-social.”
It was not until after last season when Tautofi worked out with
his fellow defensive linemen and started playing basketball with
Williams that he bonded with them.
“(Dave and Mat) Balls have taken him under their
wing,” Johnson said. “I don’t know if that is a
bad thing or a good thing.”
They even lost a bet to Tautofi and Williams for 100 push-ups on
the Raider-Charger game.
“We’re both San Diego Charger fans. Me and him are
always shooting it about the Chargers and ganging up on the Ball
brothers because they are Raider fans,” Williams said.
“It’s weird because we all came here, we feel like
there is a small community, and we all get along. We call each
other “˜brother,'” Faoa said.
Tautofi has four new siblings now: Faoa, true freshman defensive
lineman C.J. Niusulu, junior middle linebacker Dennis Link and true
freshman offensive lineman Alex Potasi.
“(Tautofi) plays guitar really well, so we’ll go to
his apartment or mine and sing some of the old Samoan songs and
reminisce on the culture,” Faoa said.
After a brief exile, Tautofi is home again.