Martin Tauamanu Tevaseu ( ; born October 7, 1987) 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 ...

nose tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...

. He signed with the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

in 2010 as an undrafted free agent. 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 ...

University of Nevada, Las Vegas The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. It includes the S ...

. Martin now works as
defensive line coach
for Santa Rosa Junior College

Early years

Born in

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...

, Tevaseu was raised in

Boonville, California Boonville (formerly The Corners and Kendall's City) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Mendocino County, California, United States. It is located southwest of Ukiah, at an elevation of 381 feet (116 m). The population was 1,018 at the 2020 cen ...

, where he attended Anderson Valley High School. His parents are of Samoan descent. He signed a letter of intent to play

for the

Arizona State Sun Devils The Arizona State Sun Devils are the athletic teams that represent Arizona State University. ASU has nine men's and eleven women's varsity teams competing at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member o ...

, but suffered a severe knee injury during practice. He played at

Santa Rosa Junior College Santa Rosa Junior College (SRJC) is a public community college in Santa Rosa, California with an additional campus in Petaluma and centers in surrounding Sonoma County. Santa Rosa Junior College was modeled as a feeder school for the University ...

before transferring to

Professional career

Cleveland Browns

Tevaseu was not selected in the

2010 NFL Draft The 2010 NFL Draft was the 75th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The 2010 draft took place over three days, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, with the firs ...

. Even after running a 4.96 40 at his pro day. After attending a three-day tryout with the

in early May, the team signed Tevaseu to a contract. The Browns waived Tevaseu a month later.

New York Jets

Tevaseu signed with the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

on July 20, 2010. Tevaseu broke his hand early in training camp. In spite of this, Tevaseu practiced every day with a club on the broken hand. Head coach

Rex Ryan Rex Ashley Ryan (born December 13, 1962) is an American former football coach and analyst. Ryan was formerly the head coach of the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL), and also held various coaching position ...

praised his tenacity. Tevaseu was released from the active roster during the Jets' final round of cuts prior to the start of the season. He was promptly re-signed to the team's practice squad. Tevaseu was promoted to the active roster on January 22, 2011. He was waived on September 4, 2011. He was signed to the practice squad on September 5. He was promoted to the active roster on October 12. He was waived on October 18. He was re-signed to the team's practice squad two days later. He was promoted back to the active roster on October 22. On August 31, 2012, he was waived.

Indianapolis Colts

Tevaseu was claimed off waivers 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 ...

on September 1, 2012. He wa
released
on August 31, 2013 as the Indianapolis Colts got down to the league-mandated 53-player roster to start the season.

Personal life

Tevaseu was born to Debby Fanene. Tevaseu has several other siblings, two brothers and five sisters. Tevaseu is the cousin of former UNLV Rebel and

fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to: Sports * A position in various kinds of football, including: ** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position ** Fullback (gridiron football), in Americ ...

Frank Summers.

References

External links

UNLV biographyNew York Jets bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tevaseu, Martin 1987 births Living people People from Boonville, California Players of American football from Mendocino County, California American sportspeople of Samoan descent American football defensive tackles UNLV Rebels football players Players of American football from Oakland, California Cleveland Browns players New York Jets players Indianapolis Colts players