Seahawks re-sign FB Tukuafu, who played two seasons in Seattle

By Nick Patterson

Herald Writer

RENTON — The Seattle Seahawks say their experimentation at fullback isn’t over just yet, but Sunday’s developments suggest the team isn’t satisfied with what the results of those experiments have been so far.

The Seahawks re-signed fullback Will Tukuafu on Sunday, giving Seattle a veteran presence at a position the team spent the offseason trying to finesse.

“(The other potential fullbacks) better take it as a message, that we’re still looking,” Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll said about the signing of Tukuafu. “The competition is on.”

Tukuafu, 32, played the past two seasons with the Seahawks, starting three of the 23 games he appeared in. The 6-foot-2, 280-pounder was used almost exclusively as a blocker on offense — he rushed for just three yards on five carries the past two seasons. He was also a regular on special teams, and he even saw a handful of snaps on the defensive line.

“I was running around with my kids,” Tukuafu said about what he was doing when he got the call from the Seahawks. “I was back in Utah training, hanging out with the family, enjoying that time.

“In this business you just never know,” Tukuafu added. “Guys get called at any time of the week, any day. It’s up to that person to make sure he’s ready when they call to come in and perform.”

The Seahawks carried two fullbacks on their roster last season, Tukuafu and Derrick Coleman. Yet Seattle chose not to re-sign either Tukuafu or Coleman during the offseason after they became free agents. Instead, Seattle went into experimental mode, attempting to convert any number of players from different positions to fullback in order to find a younger and cheaper option. Among those who were given a chance was Archbishop Murphy High School graduate Taniela Tupou, an undrafted rookie who was a defensive tackle at the University of Washington.

However, injuries have played havoc with those plans. Former tight end Brandon Cottom and collegiate running back Tre Madden, who were among the early frontrunners, are now on injured reserve and done for the season. Tupou is back on defense after suffering a broken knuckle that has his right hand in a cast. Former UW Huskies fullback Jonathan Amosa was brought in, despite having not played in three years, and linebacker Kyle Coleman just recently began seeing some snaps at fullback.

Meanwhile, Tukuafu spent the offseason working through an ankle injury, and he said he had been in contract with a couple other teams. The Seahawks even worked Tukuafu out two weeks ago without signing him. But Seattle eventually decided to pull the trigger on bringing Tukuafu back, and he returned to the practice field at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center on Sunday.

“We brought him in a while back, worked him out with the thought we’d see how it goes with the other guys we have here,” Carroll said. “Will has really brought an attitude to the position and an intensity that we really liked. We thought nobody was matching up to him, so we brought him in to see how he looks and how he works.

“He’s a very versatile player, a very unique football player,” Carroll continued. “Our way of using him makes him somewhat valuable in that he can give you some snaps on defense when you need it, and he’s a real hammer when you’re blocking at the fullback position. We’re going to see how he does and if he can fit in and help the team.”

The Seahawks waived Amosa to make room for Tukuafu on the 90-man roster.

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.