SPORTS
Page 8 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
January 1, 2018
Asians in American sports w Asian Americans in world sports
Polynesian awards highlight some of
the best Asian college football players
By Mike Street
Special to The Asian Reporter
AP Photo/Elaine Thompson
At the opposite end of the Pac-12 rankings, the
Washington Huskies had another strong season, finishing
10-2, which placed them second in the Pac-12 and 15th in
the nation. They owe much of their success to their
fifth-ranked defense, anchored by Tongan defensive
tackle Vita Vea.
Vea stands 6’5” and weighs 340 pounds, and his
strength, size, and speed make him a disruptive force. He
hurries quarterbacks, redirects running backs, and
pushes plays in another direction. Hindered by
near-constant double or triple teams, Vea didn’t put up
amazing stats — 37 tackles and 3.5 sacks.
Though statistics don’t tell Vea’s tale, awards do. This
season, Vea was named to the All-Pac-12 first team and
the All-American second team. He also won the Pat
Tillman Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year award and
the Morris Trophy, given to the Pac-12’s best offensive and
defensive linemen.
Vea has been good, but Samoan defensive lineman
Hercules Mata’afa has been great. Playing for Vea’s
cross-state rival, Washington State University (WSU),
Mata’afa has put up gaudy numbers and received more
than his share of national awards.
Even more than Vea, Mata’afa combines power, speed,
and quickness with devastating results, plowing over or
around blockers to stop running backs cold or take
quarterbacks down. The Cougars leveraged his versatility
by deploying him at tackle or end, further confounding
opposing offensive lines.
Mata’afa led WSU with 9.5 sacks, which ranked 10th in
the NCAA FBS. His 43 tackles don’t seem terribly
impressive, until you note that 30 of them were
AP Photo/Timothy J. Gonzalez
AP Photo/Young Kwak
A
t the college and professional level, most Asian
football players are Polynesian, hailing from
Hawai‘i, Samoa, Tonga, and New Zealand. Two
top-flight pro players, Samoans Jesse Sapolu and Ma’a
Tanuvasa, founded the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame
in 2013 to honor Asian athletes. A nonprofit located at the
Polynesian Cultural Center in Honolulu, Hawai‘i, the
Hall of Fame inducts Polynesian football standouts and
gives out awards to the top college and professional
Polynesian players each year.
In this month’s sports column, we look at the nominees
for 2017 Polynesian College Football Player of the Year,
along with the eventual winner. Four of the five nominees
attend college in the west, and all of them have made
major contributions to their National Collegiate Athletic
Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision
(FBS) teams, mostly at the versatile position of
linebacker.
The only nominee to head to the east coast, Andrew
Motuapuaka, had a great senior year at Virginia Tech.
The Tongan linebacker was second on the Hokies with 85
tackles, adding an interception, a fumble recovery, and
3.5 sacks to his stat line. Motuapuaka was named ACC
Defensive Player of the Week after notching 12 tackles
and a sack against West Virginia.
After his sophomore year, Motuapuaka recommitted
himself to hard work and becoming an example for
younger players. Now he is a team leader respected by
teammates and opponents alike. Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi
said of Motuapuaka, “The success they have had, it all
starts with that linebacker, not only with his intelligence,
but the way he plays. He’s a heck of a football player and
he’s a leader.”
The only nominee from the Mountain West Conference,
Samoan linebacker Jahlani Tavai, finished another
dominant season at the University of Hawai‘i. A junior,
Tavai had his second-straight year with over 100 tackles,
amassing 124, almost 40 more than his nearest teammate
and 11th in the NCAA.
Tavai also had 5.5 sacks, an interception, and a fumble
recovery, earning him second-team Mountain West
All-Conference honors after making the first team in
2016. Hawai‘i’s Rainbow Warriors had a similarly
disappointing 2017, finishing with a 3-9 record that kept
them out of a bowl game.
Hawai’i had a tough season, but Oregon State was even
worse, winning just one game. Despite this, senior
linebacker and team captain, Tongan Manase Hungalu,
has been a standout. He amassed 97 tackles (57
unassisted), 2.5 sacks, and two interceptions. Those
tackle stats were the best for the Beavers, while his sack
total ranked second. In his best game of the season against
Cal, he made a whopping 20 tackles, earning him Pac-12
Defensive Player of the Week honors.
Hungalu draws inspiration from his Hawai‘ian family,
saying, “I’m always thinking about my parents, and even
when they are tired, they don’t have any other options,
they have to work hard. So I never underestimate what it
means to work hard.” He will look to bring this work ethic
to the National Football League (NFL) next season.
PROFICIENT POLY PLAYERS. Nominees for the 2017 Polyne-
sian College Football Player of the Year award included Hercules Mata’afa
(top left photo), Manase Hungalu (top right photo), Vita Vea (bottom left
photo), Andrew Motuapuaka, and Jahlani Tavai. Four of the five nominees
attend college in the west, and all of them have made major contributions
to their National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I teams, mostly at
the versatile position of linebacker.
unassisted, which registered sixth best in the NCAA. And
he led the Pac-12 in both sacks and tackles for a loss.
Hercules earned Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week
honors against Utah, to which he added semifinalist
finishes in both the Bednarik and Walter Camp Awards,
and spots on every major All-American list. The
Associated Press named him the Pac-12 Defensive Player
of the Year at both defensive end and defensive tackle,
recognizing his versatility. And he did all this after
missing two games and part of a third.
The Polynesian Football Hall of Fame added to
Mata’afa’s list of awards by naming him their College
Football Player of the Year. The list of finalists shows the
depth of Asian football talent in the college ranks, which
could extend to the NFL.
Tavai, Vea, and Mata’afa are juniors, so they could stay
in college and dominate another season, or leave for the
NFL and become a top pick. Hungalu and Motuapuaka
are both seniors and will draw some attention during the
draft, though not as much as the other three. Regardless,
all five show the strength of collegiate Polynesian football
players.
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Instructions: Fill in the grid so that the digits 1
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