Fenuki Aisea Tupou (born May 2, 1985) 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

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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

Oregon Ducks The Oregon Ducks are the College sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Oregon, located in Eugene, Oregon, Eugene. The Ducks compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCA ...

and was selected by 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

in the fifth round of the 2009 NFL draft.

Early life

Tupou was raised in Antelope, California, where he attended Center High School as a two-way lineman. He went on to attend Sierra College for two years, earning a Junior College All-American honorable mention in 2005. Tupou was recruited by Oregon, where he eventually committed. He

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

in 2006, before starting 23 games at offensive tackle for the Ducks over the course of his junior and senior year, earning All- Pacific-10 honors both seasons.

Professional career

Philadelphia Eagles

Tupou was selected by the

in the fifth round of the 2009 NFL draft. He signed a 4-year contract with the team on June 6, 2009. He was placed on the

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 ...

list on September 5, 2009. He was waived on September 4, 2010, and re-signed to the team's

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 ...

on September 13. His practice squad contract expired at the conclusion of the season, so he was re-signed to a future contract on January 13, 2011. Tupou was waived on September 3, 2011, during final roster cuts.

New Orleans Saints

Tupou was signed to the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

on October 3, 2011. He was re-signed on January 18, 2012. He was waived/injured on August 19, 2012, and subsequently reverted to injured reserve on August 22.

Personal life

His brother, Christian Tupou was a defensive lineman for the

USC Trojans The USC Trojans (also Southern California Trojans) are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ...

. He went undrafted in 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 ...

, and was signed for training camp by the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

. Their cousin, Viliami Moala, currently plays for the

California Golden Bears The California Golden Bears are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Berkeley. Referred to in athletic competition as ''California'' or ''Cal'', the university fields 30 varsity athletic programs and various club te ...

References

External links

Oregon Ducks bioNFLDraftScout.com bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tupou, Fenuki 1985 births Living people American football offensive tackles Oregon Ducks football players American people of Tongan descent Players of American football from Sacramento, California Sierra Wolverines football players Arizona Rattlers players Philadelphia Eagles players New Orleans Saints players