Sateki Reno Mahe Jr. (born June 3, 1980) 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 ...

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 American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

who played five seasons for 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 ...

of 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). Mahe 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

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

(BYU), and was signed by the Eagles 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 ...

in 2003.

Early life

Mahe was born June 3, 1980, in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

to Sateki Reno Mahe Sr. and his wife, Eva, who are both from the island nation of

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

.Taualii, Chris
''Down To Earth With Reno Mahe''.
Undated 2009 article via Voice of Tonga, Inc. online. One of eight children, Mahe moved with his family numerous times before settling in at Brighton High School in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

. Mahe played football at Brighton, where he was named All-State twice. As a senior, he led his team to a 10–1 record and was chosen as the

Gatorade Gatorade is an American brand of sports-themed beverage and food products, built around its signature line of sports drinks. The drink is owned and manufactured by PepsiCo and is distributed in over 80 countries. The beverage was develope ...

Utah Player of the Year. He also earned team MVP, All-Region, and region MVP honors in his final high school season. He lettered in football three times, and in

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

two times. A member of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

, Mahe put service as a

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

on hold after high school in order to concentrate on football. In 2009, he told an interviewer, "I really got caught up in the football world, and decided to play football. To this day, I still regret not going on my mission." The

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

offered him a chance to play defense; BYU offered him a chance to play offense. Although he was a fan of the

Utes Utes may refer to: *Ute people, indigenous people of North America *Students of the University of Utah *Utah Utes The Utah Utes are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletics teams that represent the University of Uta ...

(because his elder brother had gone to Utah), he chose BYU for the opportunity to play offense. During his freshman season at BYU, fans knew him as Junior Mahe.

College career

Mahe's college football career at BYU started in 1998. As a true freshman that year, he had a significant role on the team. He served as backup to star running back Ronney Jenkins. Mahe rushed for 481 yards and scored 7 touchdowns during the season. He scored a touchdown in his first-ever college football game, a 38–31 BYU loss against

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

Tuscaloosa Tuscaloosa ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, Tuscaloosa County in west-central Alabama, United States, on the Black Warrior River where the Gulf Coastal Plain, Gulf Coastal and Piedmont (United States), Piedm ...

. After a promising freshman season, Mahe was suspended from BYU for one year because of Honor Code violations. The BYU honor code stipulates that students must "be honest, live a chaste and virtuous life…use clean language" and abstain from alcohol, tobacco, tea, coffee and drugs. Mahe transferred to Dixie State College in

St. George, Utah St. George or Saint George is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Utah, United States. Located in southwestern Utah on the Arizona border, it is the principal city of the St. George metropolitan statistical area (MSA). The cit ...

. In his only season at Dixie he switched from running back to

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

and led the nation in receiving with 57 receptions for 1,387 yards (an average of 24.3 yards per reception) and 19 touchdowns. He was named a Junior College Gridwire Second-team

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

. He led the Western States Football League (WSFL) in receiving and scoring (122 total points) and was named to the All-WSFL First-team. Mahe returned to BYU for his junior season in 2001. Under first-year coach Gary Crowton, BYU had the highest scoring offense in the nation that year, and Mahe was a big part of the team's success. He started all 14 games at wide receiver, and led the

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States, participating in NCAA Division I. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The MW officially began operations on Ja ...

(MWC) in receiving with 91 receptions for 1,211 yards and 9 touchdowns. He was named to the All-MWC First-team. Mahe became a favorite of BYU fans for his heroic efforts in a game against rival Utah. The Monday before the game he had an emergency

appendectomy An appendectomy (American English) or appendicectomy (British English) is a Surgery, surgical operation in which the vermiform appendix (a portion of the intestine) is removed. Appendectomy is normally performed as an urgent or emergency procedur ...

procedure where his appendix was removed with a laser. He still managed to play in the following game with blood running down his shirt. The appendectomy did not affect his playing ability: he caught 5 passes for 94 yards and a touchdown in BYU's 24–21 victory. Later in the season, when BYU's star running back,

Luke Staley Lucas Staley (born September 16, 1980) is an American former college football player who was a running back for the BYU Cougars. Staley was a consensus All-American and received the Doak Walker Award as the best college running back in the nat ...

, suffered a season-ending injury against

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, United States. It is classified among "R ...

, Mahe stepped up with a season-high 189 receiving yards (and 2 touchdowns) and the Cougars escaped with a 41–38 victory. In the following game against, the

University of Hawaii A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

, Mahe set another season high with 14 receptions for 181 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also filled in at running back, carrying the ball 8 times for 69 yards in Staley's absence. Despite Mahe's efforts, the Cougars lost, 72–45. The defeat shattered BYU's perfect season (they had a 12–0 record before the game against Hawaii). Mahe's senior season at BYU wasn't as successful. The Cougars finished the season with a losing record, and Mahe's statistics declined. He totaled 59 receptions for 771 yards and 2 touchdowns. He was still good enough to earn All-MWC First-team honors again, and he finished his college career as one of the best receivers in BYU history.

Professional career

Although he was not drafted into the NFL, Mahe joined the Philadelphia Eagles as a

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience, a rookie is typically considered needing more tra ...

free agent and made the team's 2003 opening day roster. He switched from wide receiver to his original position, running back. In five seasons with the Eagles, he saw limited action. He played in 38 games, rushing 43 times for 178 yards and catching 27 passes for 196 yards. His major contributions for the Eagles came on special teams. In 2005, he led the NFL in punt returning with 21 returns for 269 yards, an average of 12.8 yards per return. All Pro this year. Mahe became a free agent following the 2006 season, but was re-signed to a one-year contract after the Eagles' lackluster special teams play led to a loss to the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

in week one of the 2007 season. He elected to retire after this season.

Coaching career

Mahe was hired by

Kalani Sitake Kelaokalani Fifita "Kalani" Sitake (born October 10, 1975) is a Tongan–American American football, football coach and former player. He has been the head football coach at Brigham Young University (BYU) since 2015, and is the first Demographic ...

as BYU's running backs coach in 2016 and coached for two seasons.

Personal life

Mahe's married his college girlfriend, Sunny, who was an All-American

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

player at BYU. They are the parents of 10 children, five daughters and five sons. One daughter was mortally injured in a household accident in November 2016 at age 3. Mahe is related to ex-Eagle Vai Sikahema. During his offseason workouts in Philadelphia during the summer, Mahe took on a part-time job a
Chickie's and Pete's
restaurant.
April 22, 2004, Deseret News.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mahe, Reno 1980 births Living people American football return specialists American football running backs American football wide receivers BYU Cougars football coaches BYU Cougars football players Dixie State Rebels football players Philadelphia Eagles players Players of American football from Los Angeles Coaches of American football from California American people of Tongan descent Pacific Islander American players of American football American Latter Day Saints