Freddy Keiaho, born Naivote Taulawakeiaho, (born) December 18, 1982) is a

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

an former professional

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 ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for the

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

Aztecs The Aztecs () were a Mesoamerican culture that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different Indigenous peoples of Mexico, ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those g ...

, and was drafted by the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

in the third round of the

2006 NFL Draft The 2006 National Football League Draft, the 71st in league history, took place in New York City, New York, at Radio City Music Hall on April 29 and April 30, 2006. For the 27th consecutive year, the draft was telecast on ESPN and ESPN2, with ad ...

. He was a part of the Colts'

Super Bowl XLI Super Bowl XLI was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Indianapolis Colts and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Chicago Bears to decide the National Football League (NFL) champio ...

victory against the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

. He joined the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...

in the 2010 season.

Early life

Keiaho was born Naivote Taulawakeiaho in

Suva Suva () is the capital and largest city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rewa Province, Central Divi ...

. He grew up in

Ventura, California Ventura, officially named San Buenaventura (Spanish for "Saint Bonaventure"), is a city on the Southern Coast of California and the county seat of Ventura County. The population was 110,763 at the 2020 census. Ventura is a popular tourist des ...

and played

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

for Buena High School, where he was a star athlete. Freddy's older brother, George, was a star running back at Buena High School, rushing for 6,615 yards from 1990 to 1993 before accepting a scholarship to Washington and later attending

California Lutheran University California Lutheran University (CLU, Cal Lutheran, or Cal Lu) is a private university in Thousand Oaks, California. It was founded in 1959 and is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, but is nonsectarian. It opened in 1960 ...

. His other older brother, Roger Keiaho, is the lead singer of the rock band Rey Fresco.

Football career

Keiaho attended

, where he played for the

San Diego State Aztecs football : ''For information on all San Diego State University sports, see San Diego State Aztecs'' The San Diego State Aztecs football team represents San Diego State University in the sport of American football. The Aztecs compete in the NCAA Division ...

team. He was drafted into 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 ...

in 2006, being picked up by the

in the third round of the

. As such he became the first Fijian ever drafted into the NFL. He played with the Colts for four seasons, 2006–2009. In 2010, he was signed by the

. After spending most of the 2010 season on injured reserve, he was released with an injury settlement in December 2010.Jaguars release linebacker
/ref>

References

External links

Indianapolis Colts bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keiaho, Freddy 1982 births Living people I-Taukei Fijian people American people of I-Taukei Fijian descent Players of American football from Ventura, California Fijian players of American football American football linebackers San Diego State Aztecs football players Indianapolis Colts players Jacksonville Jaguars players Fijian emigrants to the United States Fijian American