RENTON — Taniela Tupou’s tenure with the Seattle Seahawks has been less than three months, yet already it’s been a wild ride.
Tupou has experienced the highs of earning a contract as an undrafted rookie free agent, and he’s suffered the lows of injury forcing him to try and make the team using only one hand. He’s gone through a position conversion, only to be switched back to his original spot, then switched back again. He’s seen his place in the pecking order swing more drastically than a 10-year-old on the playground attempting to go over the bar.
But Tupou doesn’t care how bumpy the ride may be, just as long as he has a seat on it.
The Marysville native and Archbishop Murphy High School graduate may not be the biggest name at Seahawks training camp, but he’s enjoying every moment and trying to make the most of his chance.
“I’m just happy and very grateful for the opportunity,” Tupou said following Thursday’s practice at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center. “These type of opportunities, they don’t come around too often. I just was very thankful that these guys here believed in me and wanted to keep me around. Right now it’s just up to me to live that opportunity and come out here and make sure I do everything right and take advantage of it.”
Tupou, who played defensive tackle at the University of Washington, was invited to Seattle’s rookie minicamp with the idea of being converted into a fullback. The Seahawks did not re-sign either of their fullbacks from last season (Derrick Coleman and Will Tukuafu) and Seattle was looking at a number of options for the position. Tupou showed enough that the Seahawks found room for him on the 90-man offseason roster.
“Yes and no,” Tupou responded when asked if he expected to get signed. “‘No,’ because in this business there’s never any guarantees. ‘Yes,’ because when you’re in this profession you have to have that kind of confidence in yourself where it’s like, ‘Yeah, I belong here.’ Whatever you do, whether it’s taking the field, learning your plays, stuff like that, you have to carry yourself with a certain type of confidence as to like, ‘I can do this, I’m the man.’ Not in like a cocky way, but more in a way affirming that you believe you belong here.”
At 6-foot-1 and 284 pounds, Tupou is enormous for a fullback, and the Seahawks have shown a willingness to deploy former defensive linemen at fullback — Tukuafu was a converted defensive lineman who lined up on both sides of the ball at times for Seattle last season. Tupou spent the offseason playing primarily as a fullback and trying to learn the subtleties of the position, such as running pass routes and picking up blitzes.
But there’s one aspect of fullback he feels he’s already mastered.
“Blasting people,” Tupou said with a laugh. “I like to step up in there, I love contact, I love stepping up in there and just hitting people. I think that’s a big thing I feel like I’ve mastered. Other than that I feel like I still have a lot of work to do in stuff like pass protection. Some of those things are foreign to me. But one thing I think is an advantage for me on the offensive side of the ball is I can anticipate what people will do on the other side. I know it, but it’s a matter of me trying to react to it. I can see that move is probably going to be coming, but I have to learn how to set myself up to pin it.”
However, it seemed the Tupou-at-fullback experiment was coming to an end at the start of training camp. Tupou spent the first three days of camp playing on defense, and on the second day the roster was changed to list Tupou as a defensive tackle instead of a fullback.
“He did a good job for us at fullback, showing us that he could make the transition,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said when asked about Tupou playing defense. “I want to make sure I know where he fits in the competition with the defensive line, and then he can easily flop back. I don’t see Tani as a guy who is going to be a full-time fullback. I think he’s going to be a utility guy, very much like Will was for us last year. That is why we made that switch right now. We will feel free to go back in time whenever we think we need to.”
To make matters worse, Tupou suffered a broken knuckle on his right hand during Tuesday’s practice, meaning he’s sporting a cast the envelops his whole hand. The inability to use his right hand complicates his ability to play a position like fullback, where he may be called upon to carry or catch the ball.
Meanwhile, trying to make the final 53-man roster as a defensive tackle is a considerably taller task than making it as a fullback. Seattle is well stocked in defensive tackles, and while Tupou may be big for a fullback, he’s dwarfed when he’s in a crowd with the Seahawks’ other DTs.
But then fate intervened. Tre Madden suffered a shoulder injury that’s kept him out the past three practices, then Brandon Cottom suffered a torn Achilles tendon Thursday which will rule him out for the season. That meant Tupou, who was hastily returned tot he offense, spent the past two practices as Seattle’s only option at fullback. He even received a mention from Carroll following Thursday’s practice.
“He caught a touchdown pass today with one hand,” Carroll said. “It was pretty nice.”
But whether it’s at fullback or defensive tackle, Tupou is determined to do whatever it takes to make the team.
“I just want to show my love for the game of football and that I’m willing to do anything to play,” Tupou said. “I’m excited to be home here in Seattle, where I grew up playing in front of friends and family in high school and college, and I just want to show them that I can ball and I belong here too.”
For more on the Seattle sports scene, check out Nick Patterson’s Seattle Sidelines blog at www.heraldnet.com/tag/seattle-sidelines, or follow him on Twitter at @NickHPatterson.
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