Xavier Filoitumua Su'a-Filo (born January 1, 1991) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

who is a free agent. He was drafted by the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their home games at NRG ...

in the second round of the

2014 NFL Draft The 2014 NFL draft was the 79th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players to the league. The draft, officially the "Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in New Y ...

. He played college football at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

Early years

A native of

Pleasant Grove, Utah Pleasant Grove, originally named Battle Creek, is a city in Utah County, Utah, United States known as "Utah's City of Trees". It is part of the Provo– Orem Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 37,726 at the 2020 Census. Histo ...

, Su'a-Filo attended Timpview High School in

Provo, Utah Provo ( ) is the fourth-largest city in Utah, United States. It is south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front. Provo is the largest city and county seat of Utah County and is home to Brigham Young University (BYU). Provo lies between th ...

, where he was a three-year starter and a Parade Magazine All-American

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, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numb ...

. He contributed to his school winning state championships in 2006, 2007 and 2008, while setting a state record for most consecutive wins (36). He was teammates with future

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the majo ...

players

Stephen Paea Stephen Paea ( ; born May 11, 1988) is a New Zealand–born former American football defensive tackle. He played college football for Oregon State University, and was recognized as a consensus All-American. He was drafted by the Chicago Bear ...

and Bronson Kaufusi. As a senior, he was named the state of Utah 4A Offensive Player of the Year. He was regarded as a four-star recruit and was ranked as the number seven

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

in his class by ''

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

''.

College career

Su'a-Filo accepted a football scholarship from

. As a freshman, he started all 13 games at

left tackle Tackle is a playing position in gridiron football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a tackle played on both offense and defense. In the modern system of specialized units, o ...

. He became the first true freshman to start a season-opener on the offensive side of the ball for UCLA and also had the most starts by a true freshman at any non-kicking position in school history. In 2010, he left school to serve a two-year Mormon mission in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to th ...

and

South Alabama South Alabama is the various parts of southern Alabama. Although it is not a strictly defined geographic region, it generally includes all Alabama counties south of the Black Belt. In that view, ''South Alabama'' consists of just the two counties ...

. He rode a special ordered bike capable for his 300-pound frame during his mission work from January 2010 to December 2011. In 2012, he returned and started all 14 games at

left guard In gridiron football, a guard (G), otherwise known as an offensive guard (OG), is a player who lines up between the center and the tackles on the offensive line of a football team on the line of scrimmage used primarily for blocking. Right ...

, while also seeing some action at

. He helped

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Ther ...

Johnathan Franklin Johnathan A. Franklin (born October 23, 1989) is a former American football player who was a running back for one season with the Green Bay Packers in the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Packers in the fourth round of the ...

set a school record for most single-season rushing yards. As a junior, he started 7 games at

and 6 at left

. On January 5, 2014, he decided to forgo his senior year at UCLA and declared for the

. During his college career he started 19 games at

and 21 at

Professional career

Houston Texans

Su'a-Filo was selected by the

with the first pick in the second round (33rd overall) of the

, to become the highest selected UCLA Bruins offensive lineman since

Jonathan Ogden Jonathan Phillip Ogden (born July 31, 1974) is an American former professional football player who was an offensive tackle and spent his entire career with the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). He played college footbal ...

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

. As a rookie, he missed all of the organized team activities because of his school's quarter system and played different positions along the offensive line during the preseason. He appeared in 13 games as a backup at

after not been able to pass Ben Jones on the depth chart. He started at

right guard Right Guard is an American brand of deodorant and shower gel that is manufactured and sold by Thriving Brands LLC. It is the second largest brand in the male deodorant category in the United States. Right Guard was introduced in 1960 by The Gill ...

in place of an injured

Brandon Brooks Brandon Brooks (born August 19, 1989) is a former American football guard who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons with the Houston Texans and Philadelphia Eagles. He played college football at Miami (OH) and was draft ...

in the sixth game against 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 club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

. In 2015, with the retirement of

Chris Myers Chris Myers (born ) is an American sportscaster. He has covered the Super Bowl, the World Series, the NBA Finals, the NCAA Final Four, The Masters, the U.S. Open, the Triple Crown, the Olympics, and the Daytona 500. Early life and career ...

, Jones was moved to

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

and Su'a-Filo competed for the

position. He played in 11 games, starting the final 9 including the playoffs at

. He struggled in pass protection during the season. In 2016, he appeared in 16 games with 15 starts. In 2017, the Texans used seven different offensive line starting combinations throughout the season. Only Su'a-Filo and

right tackle Tackle is a playing position in gridiron football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a tackle played on both offense and defense. In the modern system of specialized units, o ...

Breno Giacomini started every game at their respective positions. He wasn't re-signed after the season.

Tennessee Titans

On March 27, 2018, Su'a-Filo signed with the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their ho ...

, reuniting with

Mike Vrabel Michael George Vrabel (; born August 14, 1975) is an American football coach and former linebacker who is the head coach of the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Ohio State, where he earned co ...

who was both the

linebackers coach In American football, a position coach is a team official in charge of coaching a specific position group. Position coaches have more specialized duties than the head coach, assistant coach, and the offensive and defensive coordinators. Common ...

and

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator is a coach responsible for a gridiron football (American football) team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, the offensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's coa ...

with the Texans. He was brought in to compete with starter Quinton Spain at

. He was released on September 1, 2018.

Dallas Cowboys

On September 11, 2018, Su'a-Filo was signed by the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divis ...

to replace backup guard Kadeem Edwards and provide depth in place of an injured Parker Ehinger. He replaced injured rookie Connor Williams, as the starter at

in the ninth game against the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The t ...

. His performance helped to stabilize the offensive line. In 2019, he was a backup until Williams tore his right knee ACL in the Week 13 game against the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. T ...

. He started four games at left guard before suffering a high ankle sprain and a fractured fibula in the Week 16 game against the

. He was placed on injured reserve on December 24.

Cincinnati Bengals

On March 19, 2020, Su'a-Filo signed a three-year, $10 million contract with the Cincinnati Bengals. He was placed on the active/

physically unable to perform list Physically unable to perform (PUP) is a roster designation used in the National Football League (NFL) for players who suffered injuries during football-related activities prior to the start of training camp. Players on the PUP list may participate ...

at the start of training camp on August 3, 2020, and activated from the list five days later. He was named the starting right guard in Week 1, but suffered an ankle injury and was placed on injured reserve on September 15, 2020. He was activated on December 2, 2020. He appeared in six games with five starts at left guard. Su'a-Filo entered the 2021 season as the Bengals starting right guard. He suffered a knee injury in Week 2 and was placed on injured reserve on October 9, 2021. He was activated on January 17, 2022, then released the next day and re-signed to the practice squad. His contract expired when the teams season ended on February 13, 2022.

Personal life

Su'a-Filo is fluent in Spanish, learning the language on his two-year church mission trips to Alabama and Florida. Su'a-Filo has three siblings: Hayley, Natasha, and Wilson. He majored in history with a minor in Spanish at UCLA.

References

External links

UCLA Bruins bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Su'a-filo, Xavier 1991 births Living people People from Pleasant Grove, Utah Sportspeople from Provo, Utah Players of American football from Utah American sportspeople of Samoan descent American football offensive guards American football offensive tackles UCLA Bruins football players Houston Texans players Tennessee Titans players Dallas Cowboys players 21st-century Mormon missionaries Cincinnati Bengals players