Martin Tauamanu Tevaseu ( ; born October 7, 1987) 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 ...

player who was a

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 ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). 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 ...

for the

UNLV Rebels The UNLV Rebels are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletics teams that represent the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). The Rebels compete in the NCAA Division I (NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, Footb ...

. He signed with the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

in 2010 as an undrafted free agent.

Early life

Born in

Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...

, Tevaseu was raised in

Boonville, California Boonville (formerly The Corners and Kendall's City) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Mendocino County, California, United States. It is located southwest of Ukiah, at an elevation of 381 feet (116 m). The population was 1,018 at the 2020 c ...

, where he attended Anderson Valley High School. His parents are of Samoan descent. He signed a letter of intent to play

for the

Arizona State Sun Devils The Arizona State Sun Devils are the sport, athletic teams that represent Arizona State University. ASU has nine men's and eleven women's Varsity team, varsity teams competing at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Divisi ...

, but suffered a severe knee injury during practice. He played at

Santa Rosa Junior College Santa Rosa Junior College (SRJC) is a public community college in Santa Rosa, California with an additional campus in Petaluma and centers in surrounding Sonoma County. SRJC is governed by the Sonoma County Junior College District. History F ...

before transferring to

University of Nevada, Las Vegas The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the ...

Professional career

Cleveland Browns

Tevaseu was not selected in the

2010 NFL draft The 2010 NFL draft was the 75th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The 2010 NFL draft, draft took place over three days, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, with the first ...

. Even after running a 4.96 40 at his pro day. After attending a three-day tryout with the

in early May, the team signed Tevaseu to a contract. The Browns waived Tevaseu a month later.

New York Jets

Tevaseu signed with the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

on July 20, 2010. Tevaseu broke his hand early in training camp. In spite of this, Tevaseu practiced every day with a club on the broken hand. Head coach

Rex Ryan Rex Ashley Ryan (born December 13, 1962) is an American former football coach and analyst. Ryan was formerly the head coach of the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL), and also held various coaching positions w ...

praised his tenacity. Tevaseu was released from the active roster during the Jets' final round of cuts prior to the start of the season. He was promptly re-signed to the team's practice squad. Tevaseu was promoted to the active roster on January 22, 2011. He was waived on September 4, 2011. He was signed to the practice squad on September 5. He was promoted to the active roster on October 12. He was waived on October 18. He was re-signed to the team's practice squad two days later. He was promoted back to the active roster on October 22. On August 31, 2012, he was waived.

Indianapolis Colts

Tevaseu was claimed off waivers by the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

on September 1, 2012. He wa
released
on August 31, 2013 as the Indianapolis Colts got down to the league-mandated 53-player roster to start the season.

Coaching career

Martin now works as
defensive line coach
ref> for Santa Rosa Junior College.

Personal life

Tevaseu was born to Debby Fanene. Tevaseu has several other siblings, two brothers and five sisters. Tevaseu is the cousin of former UNLV Rebel and fullback Frank Summers.

References

External links

UNLV biographyNew York Jets bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tevaseu, Martin 1987 births Living people People from Boonville, California Players of American football from Mendocino County, California American sportspeople of Samoan descent American football defensive tackles UNLV Rebels football players Players of American football from Oakland, California Cleveland Browns players New York Jets players Indianapolis Colts players Santa Rosa Bear Cubs football coaches Coaches of American football from California