Anton Charles Palepoi (born January 19, 1978) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

. He played five seasons in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL), most notably with the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

from 2002 to 2004.

Early years

Palepoi attended high school at Hunter High School in West Valley City, Utah where he played basketball and football for the Wolverines. Taking the junior college route, he went on to attend Dixie College, where he was named Western States Football League Most Valuable Player in 1999 after leading the Red Storm to an appearance in the junior college national championship game. Recruited by

Ken Niumatalolo Kenneth Va'a Niumatalolo (born May 8, 1965) is an American football coach and former player. He is the former head coach of the Naval Academy from 2007 to 2022, accumulating the most wins in program history. Niumatalolo played college football at ...

, he chose Nevada–Las Vegas over

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

. Palepoi was an All-

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is one of the collegiate athletic conferences affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) (formerly I-A). The MW officially began operations o ...

selection in both of his years at UNLV, despite having his senior season cut short to only six games.

Professional career

Despite being projected as an undrafted free agent, Palepoi was selected in the second round, 60th overall, by the

. He was the highest selected player from UNLV since

Ickey Woods Elbert L. "Ickey" Woods (born February 28, 1966) is a former American football running back who played for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League from 1988 through 1991. He played college football at the University of Nevada, Las ...

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

. He played for the Seattle Seahawks,

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

, and

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) West division, and play t ...

, before signing with the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

in May 2007.

Personal

Palepoi was born to Tony and Tutaga Palepoi, both

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

graduates. His father played for the

Samoa national rugby union team The Samoa national rugby union team (also known as Manu Samoa) represents Samoa in men's international rugby union and it is governed by the Samoa Rugby Union. They are also known as Manu Samoa, which is thought to derive from the name of a Samo ...

. His younger brother Tenny Palepoi was a defensive lineman for the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

. Also had a small appearance in the movie ''

Wish Upon a Star ''Wish Upon a Star'' is a 1996 television film directed by Blair Treu, written by Jessica Barondes, and starring Katherine Heigl and Danielle Harris. The film focuses on two teenage sisters who magically swap bodies after wishing on a shooting ...

'' starring

Katherine Heigl Katherine Marie Heigl ( ; born November 24, 1978) is an American actress and former fashion model. She played Dr. Izzie Stevens on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC television medical drama ''Grey's Anatomy'' from 2005 to 2010, a role tha ...

which was filmed at

Hunter High School Hunter High School is a public high school located at 4200 South 5600 West, West Valley City, Utah, United States. It was opened in 1990 with its first graduating class graduating in 1991. During the first school year (1990–1991), the enrollme ...

References

External links

UNLV Rebels bio
1978 births Living people American football defensive ends UNLV Rebels football players Seattle Seahawks players Denver Broncos players Arizona Cardinals players New Orleans Saints players People from West Valley City, Utah Sportspeople from Salt Lake County, Utah Players of American football from American Samoa American sportspeople of Samoan descent {{Defensive-lineman-1970s-stub