Sione Fua ( ; born June 15, 1988) 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

nose tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that typically lines up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the Guard (American football), offensive guards; however, he may also line up opposite one of the offensive Tackle (gridir ...

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 was selected in the third round of the

2011 NFL draft The 2011 NFL draft was the 76th installment of the annual National Football League draft, NFL draft, where the franchises of the National Football League select newly eligible football players. Like the 2010 draft, the 2011 draft was held at Rad ...

by the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

after playing three seasons of

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

Stanford Cardinal The Stanford Cardinal are the college athletics in the United States, athletic teams that represent Stanford University. Stanford's program has won 138 National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA team championships, the List of NCAA schools ...

. Fua is of Tongan descent.

Early life

Fua was born in

Lodi, California Lodi ( ) is a city in San Joaquin County, California, United States, in the center portion of California's Central Valley (California), Central Valley. The population was 66,348 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History When a gro ...

. A native of the

San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, Los Angeles County, California. Situated to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it comprises a large portion of Los Angeles, the Municipal corpo ...

, Fua attended

Crespi Carmelite High School Crespi Carmelite High School, shortly known as Crespi, is a private Catholic all-boys four-year college preparatory high school located in Encino District, Los Angeles, California. It is part of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. The school was na ...

Encino, California Encino is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. History Etymology The name Encino is the misspelling in masculine of Encina, the Spanish language, Spanish word for "holm oak” (Quercus ilex). The Spanis ...

. He did not play football until high school, but quickly became the varsity's best two-way lineman. As junior in 2004, Fua did not give up a

quarterback sack In gridiron football, a sack occurs when the quarterback (or another offensive player acting as a passer) is tackle (football move), tackled behind the line of scrimmage before throwing a forward pass, when the quarterback is tackled behind the l ...

and helped Crespi win the

CIF Southern Section The California Interscholastic Federation-Southern Section (CIF-SS) is the governing body for high school athletics in most of Southern California and is the largest of the ten sections that comprise the California Interscholastic Federation (CI ...

Division X championship. As a senior, Fua had over 60 tackles and eight sacks, while Crespi repeated as division champs, defeating

Lompoc Lompoc ( ; Chumashan ) is a city in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Located on the Central Coast, its population was 43,834 as of July 2021. Lompoc has been inhabited for thousands of years by the Chumash people, who called t ...

24–14. Regarded as a three-star recruit by '' Rivals.com'', he was listed as the No. 47 defensive tackle prospect in the class of 2006. He chose Stanford over offers from

Brigham Young Brigham Young ( ; June 1, 1801August 29, 1877) was an American religious leader and politician. He was the second President of the Church (LDS Church), president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1847 until h ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, and

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

. Besides football, Fua was also an accomplished wrestler. Competing in the heavyweight division, where he constantly had to keep his weight below the maximum, Fua won a CIF State Wrestling Championship as a senior in 2006. He beat fellow Polynesian Romney Fuga of Huntington Beach Edison High School, who himself became a nose tackle at

. Fua became the only wrestler from the San Fernando Valley to win a state title.

College career

Fua enrolled in

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

in 2006. In his

true freshman The following terms are used in American football, both conventional and indoor. Some of these terms are also in use in Canadian football; for a list of terms unique to that code, see '' Glossary of Canadian football''. 0–9 ...

year, Fua played in all 12 games and finished with 16 tackles, including seven solo stops. He then missed the 2007 season while on a

LDS Church The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian restorationist Christian denomination and the largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement. Founded during ...

mission Mission (from Latin 'the act of sending out'), Missions or The Mission may refer to: Geography Australia *Mission River (Queensland) Canada *Mission, British Columbia, a district municipality * Mission, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * ...

, but retained a year of eligibility. Fua returned for the 2008 season and played in all 12 games with seven starts. He recorded 17 total tackles, including 11 solo. As a junior, Fua started the last 11 games of the season at defensive tackle and finished with 24 tackles, including 3.0 for loss, and 1.5

s. He earned an honorable mention All-Pac-10 selection.

Professional career

Pre-draft

Projected to be a fourth-round selection, Fua was listed as the No. 15 defensive tackle in the

by ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

''. The scouting report acknowledged he "displayed consistent progress" in college and "possesses the skill and potential to break into a starting lineup," but raised concerns about his marginal productivity in college.

Carolina Panthers

Fua was selected with the 97th pick in the

by the

. After starting in eleven games for the Panthers in 2011, 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 December 6. Fua was cut on August 31, 2013. He re-signed on September 11, 2013. In the week of November 8, the Panthers announced that they would be switching Fua to the

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 ...

position. On November 12, Fua was waived by the Panthers.

Denver Broncos

Fua was signed by the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

on November 27, 2013 following an injury that led to starting defensive tackle, Kevin Vickerson, to be placed on injured reserve.

Cleveland Browns

Fua was signed by the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

on October 14, 2014, following a season-ending ACL injury to defensive end Armonty Bryant.

Personal life

Sione Fua is of Tongan descent, the oldest son of George and Helen Fua.Alt URL
/ref> His younger brother, Alani Fua, played as a

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 line ...

on the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...

. His father, George Fua, of San Mateo, played tight end for

Ricks College Ricks may refer to: People * Andre Ricks (born 1996), American basketball player * Bob Ricks (21st century), American police chief * Christopher Ricks (born 1933), British literary critic and scholar * Desmond Ricks, American football player * ...

San Joaquin Delta College San Joaquin Delta College (Delta College) is a public community college in Stockton, California. It was founded in 1935 as Stockton Junior College. The college serves a district area that includes all of San Joaquin County and parts of Alameda, ...

, and Cal State Northridge in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He went undrafted in the

1991 NFL draft The 1991 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 April 21–22, 1991, at the Marriott Ma ...

and briefly played professional football in the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

, with the Sacramento Attack and

Miami Hooters Miami is a coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a population of 6.14 million, is the second-largest metropolitan ...

. He now operates a construction company in

Northridge, California Northridge is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of the Los Angeles, City of Los Angeles. The community is home to California State University, Northridge, and the Northridge Fashion Center. Originally named List of minor biblica ...

. Since August 2012, Sione Fua is married to Ivy (née Avanessian) of North Hills, who currently is a graduate of University of California, San Francisco School of Dentistry and a practicing pediatric dentist. They have one son.

References

External links

ESPN profileCarolina Panthers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fua, Sione 1988 births Living people 21st-century Mormon missionaries American football defensive tackles American Mormon missionaries American people of Tongan descent Carolina Panthers players Cleveland Browns players Denver Broncos players Latter Day Saints from California People from Encino, Los Angeles Players of American football from Los Angeles Stanford Cardinal football players