Albert Lolotai (June 22, 1920 – September 30, 1990) was a Samoa-born

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

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 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 ...

at Weber Junior College. Lolotai was the first Samoan American and Polynesian to play professional

. After his football career was over, Lolotai worked as a professional wrestler throughout

Australasia Australasia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising Australia, New Zealand (overlapping with Polynesia), and sometimes including New Guinea and surrounding islands (overlapping with Melanesia). The term is used in a number of different context ...

, at one time holding a belt as Hawaiian heavyweight wrestling champion.

Biography

Early life

Al Lolotai was born in the

Western Samoa Trust Territory The Territory of Western Samoa was the civil administration of Western Samoa by New Zealand between 1920 and Samoan independence in 1962. In 1914, German Samoa was captured by the Samoa Expeditionary Force shortly after the outbreak of World ...

and came to

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

with his family at the age of 9, knowing just three words of English.Ferd Lewis
"Lolotai Opened the Way in NFL,"
''Honolulu Advertiser,'' Oct. 5, 1950, p. C1. He grew up in the town of Laie. He attended

Kahuku High School Kahuku High & Intermediate School, located in Kahuku CDP, City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii, United States, on the island of Oahu, serves approximately 1,850 students in grades seven through twelve and is part of the Windward District on the i ...

and graduated from 'Iolani School in Honolulu, Hawai'i. He then attended Weber Junior College (now

Weber State University Weber State University (pronounced ) is a public university in Ogden, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1889 as Weber Stake Academy and earned its current name in 1991. As of fall 2023, the student population reached 30,536 students, cons ...

) in

Ogden, Utah Ogden ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Weber County, Utah, Weber County, Utah, United States, approximately east of the Great Salt Lake and north of Salt Lake City. The population was 87,321 in 2020, according to the United States Census ...

, playing on the Weber Wildcats football team from 1941 to 1942, and served in the

Hawaii Territorial Guard The Hawaii Territorial Guard () was the state defense force of Hawaii during World War II. As a result of the National Guard of Hawaii being federalized for the duration of the war, the Hawaii Territorial Guard was created to serve as the statesid ...

during World War 2.

Pro football career

From 1945 to 1949, Lolotai played professional football, first 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 ...

for the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II, the fall of Nazi Germany, and the Empire of Japan. It is also the year concentration camps were liberated and the only year in which atomic weapons have been used in combat. Events World War II will be ...

before jumping to the

Los Angeles Dons The Los Angeles Dons were an American football team in the newly formed football league the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) from 1946 Los Angeles Dons season, 1946 to 1949 Los Angeles Dons season, 1949, and played their home games in the L ...

of the rival

All-America Football Conference The All-America Football Conference (AAFC) was a major professional American football league that challenged the established National Football League (NFL) from 1946 to 1949. One of the NFL's most formidable challengers, the AAFC attracted many ...

in 1946. As a member of the Redskis, Lolotai started at guard as a rookie and helped take his team to the 1945 Championship Playoff, a defeat at the hands of the

Cleveland Rams The Cleveland Rams were a professional American football team that played in Cleveland from 1936 to 1945. The Rams competed in the second American Football League (AFL) for the 1936 season and the National Football League (NFL) from 1937 to ...

. Lolotai remained with the Dons until the end of the league in 1949. He played in a total of 59 games with 32 starts across the two professional leagues, additionally recording one interception with Washington in 1945. Dons-vs-Fortyniners-program-471102

Wrestling career

After his time in pro football, Lolotai worked as a

professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

in Australia, New Zealand,

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

, and Samoa.Murry Engle
"Al Lolotai Commanded Respect On and Off the Field,"
''Honolulu Star-Bulletin,'' Oct. 6, 1990, p. 5. He at one time held the title of Hawaiian heavyweight wrestling champion.

Athletic director

Lolotai would return to school and graduate with a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

physical education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

from Colorado A&M, working his way through school as a line coach for the Rams football team. With the founding of Church College of Hawaii in 1955, serve as its first Athletic Director. He mentored many of the young Samoan football players coming up in the Laie community to keep up with their studies, get into good schools, and helped set them up for their future. A British citizen from birth, Lolotai renounced his British citizenship in 1961 to become a naturalized American citizen. He was the founder of the American Samoan Community Association and served a term as president of Big Brothers of Hawaii. In his later years, he returned to Samoa at the request of its government, helping the establish its high school football program, for which he continued to coach until his death.

Death and legacy

Al Lolotai died September 30, 1990, in

Pago Pago Pago Pago ( or ; Samoan language, Samoan: )Harris, Ann G. and Esther Tuttle (2004). ''Geology of National Parks''. Kendall Hunt. Page 604. . is the capital of American Samoa. It is in Maoputasi County, American Samoa, Maoputasi County on Tutuila ...

American Samoa American Samoa is an Territories of the United States, unincorporated and unorganized territory of the United States located in the Polynesia region of the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific Ocean. Centered on , it is southeast of the island count ...

. He was 70 years old at the time of his death. He was survived by his wife, Matilda Lolotai, five sons, and a daughter. One of his sons, Tiloi, also attended 'Iolani School and then went to play football for

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

as a defensive tackle, lettering from 1974 to 1976.

References

External links

Samoan Bios: Al Lolotai
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lolotai, Al 1920 births 1990 deaths Samoan emigrants to the United States Players of American football from Hawaii American sportspeople of Samoan descent Samoan players of American football American football offensive guards Junior college football players in the United States Weber State Wildcats football players Washington Redskins players Los Angeles Dons players American professional wrestlers of Samoan descent American male professional wrestlers Professional wrestlers from Hawaii Pacific Islander American players of American football 20th-century male professional wrestlers