Alameda Eperu Ta'amu (born August 23, 1990) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

nose tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that typically lines up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the Guard (American football), offensive guards; however, he may also line up opposite one of the offensive Tackle (gridir ...

. He played college football at

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

. He was selected by the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

in the fourth round of the

2012 NFL draft The 2012 NFL draft was the 77th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players for their rosters. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held ...

Early life

Born in

Alameda, California Alameda ( ; ; Spanish for "Avenue (landscape), tree-lined path") is a city in Alameda County, California, United States, located in the East Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), East Bay region of the Bay Area. The city is built on an informal archipe ...

and raised in

Kent, Washington Kent is a city in King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington, United States. It is part of the Seattle metropolitan area, Seattle–Tacoma–Bellevue metropolitan area and had a population of 136,588 as of the 2020 Unit ...

, Ta'amu attended

Rainier Beach High School Rainier Beach High School is a public secondary school (grades 9-12) in the Seattle Public Schools system. It is located in the Rainier Beach area, in the southeastern part of the city of Seattle, Washington, United States. The school historica ...

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

, where he was a two-way lineman and ranked as a four-star recruit by '' Rivals.com''. He also had success as a shot putter.

College career

Ta'amu played in all 12 games as a true freshman with five starts in 2008. One of 12 true freshman to see playing time, Ta'amu made a season high six tackles versus

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

. He finished the season with 21 tackles. As a sophomore in 2009, Ta'amu again played in all 12 games, and he had 11 starts. He had a season high five tackles at

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is one of the largest ...

. He finished the season with 19 tackles, 4.5 for loss, and 2.5 sacks. In 2010, Ta'amu started all 13 games at defensive tackle in what would be his breakout season. He was a key factor in getting the Huskies back to a bowl game, with a season high seven tackles at

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

and matched that total versus

. During the 2010 Holiday Bowl, he had a 10-yard sack and 14-yard fumble return. Ta'amu finished the season with 39 tackles, 5 for loss, and 1.5 sacks and earned honorable mention All-Pac-10 honors. As a senior in 2011, Ta'amu started all 13 games at defensive tackle and was named a team captain prior to the start of the season. In the

Apple Cup The Apple Cup is an American college football rivalry game between the University of Washington Huskies and Washington State University Cougars, the two largest universities in the state of Washington. Both were members of the Pac-12 Conferen ...

rivalry game against

Washington State Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...

, Ta'amu had four tackles, with 2.5 for loss that included two sacks. Ta'amu ended his senior season as an all-Pac-12 honorable mention selection. For the season, Ta'amu had 30 tackles, including 3.5 sacks out of 7.0 total tackles for loss.

Professional career

2012 NFL draft

Regarded as one of the few two-gap

s, Ta'amu was projected as a third-to-fourth round draft pick in the

. Dane Brugler of '' CBSSports.com'', however, described Ta'amu as "a pass rushing three-technique stuck in a zero-technique's body," who "struggles to hold his ground at the point of attack". The

nevertheless traded its number 6 pick to move up 10 spots in the fourth round to select Ta'amu with the 109th pick of the

Pittsburgh Steelers

On November 12, 2012, Ta'amu was waived by the Steelers. He was re-signed on November 15, 2012. During the season, he was inactive for seven games and spent six games on the practice squad.

Arizona Cardinals

After Ta'amu failed to make the Steelers' 53-man roster, the Arizona Cardinals claimed him off waivers on August 31, 2013. In the 2013 season, Ta'amu played in 14 games and had six tackles. In

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, Ta'amu played in seven games and recorded no statistics. On September 5, 2015, he was released by the Cardinals.

Kansas City Chiefs

On January 5, 2016, Ta'Amu signed a

futures contract In finance, a futures contract (sometimes called futures) is a standardized legal contract to buy or sell something at a predetermined price for delivery at a specified time in the future, between parties not yet known to each other. The item tr ...

with the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

. He was cut on August 5, 2016.

Buffalo Bills

Ta'Amu was signed by the Bills. On August 30, 2016, he was released by the Bills. He participated in

The Spring League The Spring League (TSL) was an American football Minor league football (gridiron), developmental league and scouting event (pro showcase) that played from 2017 to 2021 and was founded by Brian Woods. Aimed at professional football (gridiron), p ...

in 2017.

Personal life

Criminal proceedings

In October 2011 Ta'amu was charged with driving under the influence for an incident that occurred December 12, 2009, while he was playing for the University of Washington. The police report stated that Ta'amu was stopped for driving 73 mph in a 60 mph zone at 3:40 a.m. and that he "smelled fan odor of alcohol" and had "blood-shot watery eyes". Police said Ta'amu, who was 19 at the time, registered 0.097 and 0.098 on breath tests. Ta'amu pleaded guilty to negligent driving, for which he was sentenced to one day in a community-work program and ordered to pay a $350 fine. On October 14, 2012, Ta'amu was arrested after he allegedly evaded police while driving intoxicated and struck several parked cars, injuring one person in Pittsburgh's South Side neighborhood. During the chase, before he was apprehended, Ta'amu allegedly shed his shirt in an attempt to evade arrest, claiming he was not the driver of the erratic SUV. As a result of the incident the team suspended Ta'amu for two weeks without pay (from October 16–29, 2012). On April 4, 2013, Ta'amu pleaded guilty to three counts of recklessly endangering another person, resisting arrest and driving under the influence. Charges of aggravated assault were withdrawn by prosecutors. The trial judge found him not guilty of fleeing and eluding arrest because the officer chasing him along East Carson Street was in an unmarked car. Ta'amu was sentenced to serve 18 months probation, four days in a DUI housing program and 150 hours of community service.

References

External links

*
Arizona Cardinals bio (p. 202)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ta'amu, Alameda 1990 births Living people American sportspeople of Samoan descent Washington Huskies football players Pittsburgh Steelers players Arizona Cardinals players American football defensive tackles Sportspeople from Kent, Washington Players of American football from King County, Washington Kansas City Chiefs players Buffalo Bills players The Spring League players Players of American football from Alameda, California Rainier Beach High School alumni