Ed Ta'amu (born November 8, 1979) 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 ...

offensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line ( ...

. He was selected by the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

in the fourth round of the

2002 NFL draft The 2002 NFL draft was the 67th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible professional football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

. Ta'amu was also a member of the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

Spokane Shock The Spokane Shock were a professional indoor American football team based in Spokane, Washington, that played their home games at the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena. The team was initially a member of arenafootball2 (af2), the Shock won divis ...

, Kansas City Brigade,

Utah Blaze The Utah Blaze was a professional arena football team based in Salt Lake City, Utah and competed in the West Division of the Arena Football League. Home games were played at the EnergySolutions Arena. In 2013, the team did not submit proper ...

Los Angeles KISS The Los Angeles Kiss (stylized as LA KISS) were a professional arena football team based in Anaheim, California, and members of the Arena Football League (AFL). The Kiss joined the AFL as an expansion team after Los Angeles' previous franchise ( ...

and

Portland Thunder The Portland Steel were a professional arena football team based in Portland, Oregon and members of the Arena Football League (AFL). The team started as the Portland Thunder, joining the AFL in 2014 as an expansion team along with the Los Ange ...

. As a rookie in the National Football League in 2002, he was one of 28

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

n players in the league. As well, as of October 4, 2008, he was one of 16

Polynesia Polynesia ( , ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of more than 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are called Polynesians. They have many things in ...

n players in the Arena Football League.

Early life

Ta'amu attended

Iolani School Iolani is a masculine Hawaiian name meaning "royal ''hawk''." It comes from the Hawaiian words ''ʻio'', meaning "Hawaiian hawk," and ''lani'', meaning "royal." It may refer to: ;Places *ʻIolani School, a private school located in Hawaii *ʻIolan ...

where he was an All-America Honorable Menchin as a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

in 1997.

College career

Ta'amu attended the University of Utah, where he was a two-year starter. Ta'amu was an academic non-qualifier in 1997, meaning he did not have the grades to play football. He joined the team in 1998, as a backup

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

, as well as backup

long snapper In gridiron football, the long snapper (or deep snapper) is a Center (gridiron football), center on American football positions#Special teams, special teams whose duty is to Snap (gridiron football), snap the football over a longer distance, ty ...

. On the season, he recorded three tackles. In 1999, he was a backup

defensive 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 ...

, a position where he did not receive much playing time, so in turn, he was switched to

offensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line ( ...

. In 2000, he started all but one game.

Career summary

Ta'amu was a two-time All-

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States, participating in NCAA Division I. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The MW officially began operations on Ja ...

selection. He recorded 123 knockdowns blocks, including a school record 25 against

Brigham Young Brigham Young ( ; June 1, 1801August 29, 1877) was an American religious leader and politician. He was the second President of the Church (LDS Church), president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1847 until h ...

during his senior season. Ta'amu was graded at 86.8% for blocking consistency and played in 20 of 26 games during his final two seasons. He also set new school weight room records with a 625-

pound Pound or Pounds may refer to: Units * Pound (currency), various units of currency * Pound sterling, the official currency of the United Kingdom * Pound (mass), a unit of mass * Pound (force), a unit of force * Rail pound, in rail profile * A bas ...

squat and 412-pound hang clean. As a senior, he also bench pressed 455 pounds. He was also selected to the All-Mountain West Conference Second-team, as well as a First-team selection by the ''

Las Vegas Review-Journal The ''Las Vegas Review-Journal'' is a daily subscription newspaper published in Las Vegas, Nevada, since 1909. It is the largest circulating daily newspaper in Nevada and one of two daily newspapers in the Las Vegas area. The ''Review-Journal' ...

'' and ''Collegefootballnews.com''.

Professional career

Pre-draft

Ta'amu received an invitation to the 2002

NFL Scouting Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Foot ...

. He was rated as the sixth best guard out of 43. He was projected to be drafted in the third to fourth round of the draft.

Minnesota Vikings

Ta'amu was selected in the fourth round (132nd overall) of the

by the

on April 21, and was signed on July 17. However, he suffered a

knee In humans and other primates, the knee joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two joints: one between the femur and tibia (tibiofemoral joint), and one between the femur and patella (patellofemoral joint). It is the largest joint in the hu ...

injury and was waived by the team on September 2, 2002. The next day, he was signed to the Vikings

practice squad In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

. Then on October 16, he was placed on the practice squad's

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...

, ending his season.

Houston Texans

He was then signed by the

on January 8. He was later placed on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list on July 25. He was then waived by the Texans on September 2, 2003.

Utah Blaze (first stint)

Ta'amu spent the next two years rehabbing his knee before being able to compete. He was signed to the practice squad of the

of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

(AFL) on May 3, 2006. He was released on May 22, 2006.

Spokane Shock (first stint)

On May 25, 2006, it was reported that Ta'amu had been assigned to the

of the

af2 The AF2 (often styled as af2, and short for arenafootball2) was the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like its parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football r ...

. He played alongside future Kansas City Brigade teammates Charles Frederick, Jerome Stevens, Chris Cook, and Neil Purvis. That season, the Shock won ArenaCup III.

Kansas City Brigade

On January 5, 2007, Ta'amu signed with the Kansas City Brigade of the AFL. As a

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience, a rookie is typically considered needing more tra ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, he began the season on injured reserve. He then started the final four games of the season, including the first ever playoff game in franchise history. In

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, he recorded three tackles. After the season, he was released by the Brigade.

Spokane Shock (second stint)

After a year of waiting, the AFL was reformed and when the Shock became part of the revamped AFL. Ta'amu was assigned to the Shock during the off season on March 12, 2010.

Utah Blaze (second stint)

Ta'amu was assigned to the Blaze on April 21, 2011. He played for the Blaze from 2011 to 2012.

Los Angeles Kiss

Ta'amu was assigned to the

Los Angeles Kiss The Los Angeles Kiss (stylized as LA KISS) were a professional arena football team based in Anaheim, California, and members of the Arena Football League (AFL). The Kiss joined the AFL as an expansion team after Los Angeles' previous franchise ( ...

on June 5, 2015. He was placed on recallable reassignment on June 10, 2015.

Portland Thunder

Ta'amu was assigned to the

on August 12, 2015. He was placed on the suspended list on August 17, 2015.

Personal life

In 2002, Ta'amu was one of 28

n players in the National Football League, the most notable being Tiaina "Junior" Seau. As of October 4, 2008, Ta'amu was one of 16

n players in the Arena Football League. Ta’amu's son, Alofa Tunoa (Noa) is an ice hockey player who was selected third overall by the

Edmonton Oil Kings The Edmonton Oil Kings are a Canadian junior ice hockey team based in Edmonton, Alberta, that play in the Western Hockey League (WHL). The team, founded in 2006, shares an ownership group with the National Hockey League's Edmonton Oilers. The te ...

in the 2023 WHL U.S. Priority Draft.

Notes

External links

Kansas City Brigade bio

Bio
at ArenaFootball.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Ta'amu, Ed 1979 births Living people American sportspeople of Samoan descent American football defensive linemen American football offensive linemen Utah Utes football players Minnesota Vikings players Houston Texans players 21st-century American sportsmen Kansas City Brigade players Spokane Shock players Players of American football from Honolulu Portland Thunder players Utah Blaze players Los Angeles Kiss players Pacific Islander American players of American football