Lousaka Romon Polite (born September 14, 1981) 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 ...

fullback 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) for 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

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

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

, and

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

. 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 the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

Early life

Polite attended

Woodland Hills High School Woodland Hills Senior High School is a large, suburban public high school providing grades 9–12 for the Woodland Hills School District located in Churchill, Pennsylvania, United States. It serves the communities of Braddock, Braddock Hills ...

, where he played at fullback and

inside linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the lin ...

. As a senior, he posted 116 carries for 1,022 yards (8.8-yard average), 20

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

s and 83 tackles, while earning All-conference honors. He also practiced track, where he was a two-time state finalist in the

javelin throw The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about in length, is thrown as far as possible. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area. Javelin throwing is an event of both the men's de ...

College career

Polite accepted a football scholarship from the

. As a

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Sports * Redshirt (college sports) 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 ...

freshman, he was named the starter at fullback, tallying 36 carries for 109 yards, 16 receptions for 118 yards and one

. As a sophomore, he collected 22 carries for 77 yards, 9 receptions for 69 yards and one

. As a junior, he registered 52 carries for 211 yards, 9 receptions for 76 yards and 2

s. As a senior, he rushed for 258 yards on 70 carries, caught 25 passed for 222 yards and scored 2

s. He became the first three-year captain in school history and was a four-year starter at fullback. He also saw action at running back, but had minimal success at that position.

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Polite was signed as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

by the

after the

2004 NFL draft The 2004 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held from April 24–25, 2004, at the Theate ...

. He was waived before the start of the season and signed to the

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 November 3. On December 28, he was promoted to the active roster after fullback Richie Anderson was placed on the

injured reserve list 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 t ...

with a neck injury. In

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, he took over the starting fullback position after Darian Barnes was waived injured with a sprained ankle. In

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

, he was released on October 20 and re-signed on November 2. He was cut on November 7 and re-signed on November 15. He spent three years with the team, contributing mostly with his blocking at fullback, while registering 28 rushing yards and 97 receiving yards on 12 receptions. He was waived before the start of the 2007 season, with the team deciding to keep rookie Deon Anderson and second-year player Oliver Hoyte.

Chicago Bears

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 ...

, Polite signed with the

. He played in 5 games and had 2 tackles on special teams, but did not see any action on the offense. He was cut on August 30,

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 ...

Miami Dolphins

On October 16,

, he signed as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

with the

. The move reunited him with various coaches and front office personnel from the Cowboys, including

Bill Parcells Duane Charles "Bill" Parcells ( ; born August 22, 1941) is an American former football coach who served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for 19 seasons. He came to prominence as the head coach of the New York Giants from 19 ...

who was the Cowboys' head coach in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

. He saw action on short yardage situations. In 2008, he had 83 yards rushing on 23 attempts, and 51 yards on 11 receptions. He also gained 11 first downs in 12 attempts on 3rd or 4th and one. In

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, he played in all 16 games for the first time in his career, while blocking for

Ricky Williams Errick Miron (born Errick Lynne Williams Jr.; May 21, 1977), known professionally as Ricky Williams, is an American former professional football running back who played for 11 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) and one season in the ...

. That year, he racked up 123 yards rushing, his career high, on 37 attempts. He also converted all 16 attempts on 3rd or 4th and one. In

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, he played in all 16 games for the second year in a row. He had 62 yards rushing on 26 attempts and also a rushing touchdown, what was the first of his career. He did not contribute much in the passing game having only 61 yards on 12 receptions, however 12 receptions was his career high. He was 14 of 15 in 3rd or 4th and one situations. He was released on September 3,

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

New England Patriots

On December 27,

, he was signed as

by the

to improve their roster depth. He appeared in the season finale, all three postseason games and in

Super Bowl XLVI Super Bowl XLVI was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion New York Giants and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...

. He was released on March 26,

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

Atlanta Falcons

On August 11,

, he signed with the

. He was released on November 7, after he was replaced with Mike Cox.

Career statistics

Rushing Stats Receiving

Personal life

In 2016, Polite earned a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ...

degree from the

University of Miami Business School Miami Herbert Business School (officially the University of Miami Patti and Allan Herbert Business School) is the business school of the University of Miami, a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. The school was founded in 1929 ...

References

External links

When Will Miami Dolphins Fullback Lousaka Polite Get the Praise He Deserves?
{{DEFAULTSORT:Polite, Lousaka 1981 births Living people People from North Braddock, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Allegheny County, Pennsylvania American football fullbacks Pittsburgh Panthers football players Dallas Cowboys players Chicago Bears players Miami Dolphins players New England Patriots players Atlanta Falcons players University of Miami Business School alumni