Gerardus Mauritius "Natu" Tuatagaloa (born May 25, 1966) 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 ...

in the NFL. He played for the 1995

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston from its founding in 1960 to 1996 before relocating to Memphis, and later Nashville, Tennessee becoming the Tennessee Titans. The Oilers began play in 1960 as ...

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 ...

in 1992 and 1993, and for the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

from 1989 to 1991 . His parents, Gage and Ria Tuatagaloa, are both first-generation immigrants from

Western Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); a ...

and

The Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. He credits his parents with instilling strong family values and setting a great example of work ethic, determination, perseverance and community involvement.

Early life

Both Tuatagaloa graduated from

San Rafael High School San Rafael High School is a public high school located at 150 Third St. in San Rafael, California, United States. The school is part of the San Rafael City Schools school district. Its official nickname is the Bulldog; however, its athletic team ...

in 1984 as a four-sport

letterman Letterman may refer to: * Letterman (sports), a classification of high school or college athlete in the United States People * David Letterman (born 1947), American television talk show host ** ''Late Night with David Letterman'', talk show that ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

and

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

. Although he was recruited by many schools, he quickly decided to accept a full-ride football scholarship to the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

. He was a four-year letterman and three-year starter on the Golden Bears football team with head coaches

Joe Kapp Joseph Robert Kapp (born March 19, 1938) is an American former football player, coach, and executive. He played college football as a quarterback at the University of California, Berkeley. Kapp played professionally in the Canadian Football Lea ...

(1984–1986) and

Bruce Snyder Bruce Fletcher Snyder (March 14, 1940 – April 13, 2009) was an American football player and coach. After playing college football at the University of Oregon in the early 1960s as a fullback, Snyder embarked on a coaching career. He was the ...

(1987–1988). Tuatagaloa was voted captain his senior year by his teammates. To his benefit, his five-year position coach

Rod Marinelli Rodney Marinelli (born July 13, 1949) is an American football coach. He has been a defensive coach for several college and professional teams, serving primarily as a defensive line coach when he has not been a coordinator. From 2006 until 2008, ...

, (2006

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

head coach), characterizes the level of talent at a B− while grading the work ethic at an A+. Tuatagaloa earned All

Pac-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

honors and held the Golden Bear sack record until 1996. He also was awarded the Brick Muller Award, awarded to the most valuable lineman. Tuatagaloa graduated with a BA in History.

Professional life

Tuatagaloa spent six years playing professional football in the NFL. As a

defensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

, Tuatagaloa was drafted 138th overall in the fifth round of the 1989 NFL Draft. He played for the 1989, 1990, and 1991

under head coach

Sam Wyche Samuel David Wyche (; January 5, 1945 – January 2, 2020) was an American football quarterback and coach. He was a quarterback and head coach for the Cincinnati Bengals and a quarterbacks coach for the San Francisco 49ers. As head coach, he ...

. Tuatagaloa played for the 1992 and 1993

with coach

Tom Flores Thomas Raymond Flores (born March 21, 1937) is a former American football coach and quarterback. After his retirement as a coach, he was a radio announcer for more than twenty years. Flores won a total of four Super Bowls in his playing and c ...

. Tuatagaloa, in his fifth season, made seven tackles, two sacks and intercepted a pass in exhibition games. Tuatagaloa played for both 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 ...

and

in 1995 under head coaches Jim Mora and

Jeff Fisher Jeffrey Michael Fisher (born February 25, 1958) is an American football coach who is the head coach and general manager for the Michigan Panthers of the United States Football League (USFL). He is a former cornerback and return specialist. He ...

. He was a plaintiff in a lawsuit filed against the NFL in regarded to the NFL's

Plan B free agency In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

rules. Upon returning to San Rafael in 1996, Tuatagaloa joined

IDEX Global Services IDEX can refer to several things, including: *International Defence Exhibition, a biannual arms and defense technology sales exhibition *IDEX Corporation, a publicly listed company that makes fluidics systems and specialty engineered products *Idea ...

, Inc. to develop the California Telecommunications Services Division. During his eight-year career at IDEX, Tuatagaloa was involved with all facets of the business and quickly rose through the ranks to ultimately become the President of the Western Region in 2004. Currently, Tuatagaloa is a Principal at a "Facilities and Technology Infrastructure" company. Tuatagaloa was elected to the San Rafael City School Board in November 2001 with 31.39% and is currently serving a fourth term as trustee. He has also been the Board President and Vice-President during his terms as Trustee. Member of the San Rafael

Rotary Club Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. Its stated mission is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through hefellowship of business, profe ...

#409 in District 5150. He was inducted into the

Marin County Athletic Hall of Fame Marin (French) or Marín (Spanish "sailor") may refer to: People * Marin (name), including a list of persons with the given name or surname * MaRin, in-game name of professional South Korean ''League of Legends'' player Jang Gyeong-hwan (born 19 ...

in November 2004. He is also a member of the Board of Directors for the

Marin Athletic Foundation Marin (French) or Marín (Spanish "sailor") may refer to: People * Marin (name), including a list of persons with the given name or surname * MaRin, in-game name of professional South Korean ''League of Legends'' player Jang Gyeong-hwan (born 19 ...

.Marin Athletic Foundation, Board of Directors
/ref>

Personal life

Tuatagaloa and his wife Judy reside in San Rafael with three daughters: Tianna, Malia, and McKenna.

References

External links

League of Women Voters of California information regarding his run for school board
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tuatagaloa, Natu 1966 births Living people American people of Dutch descent American sportspeople of Samoan descent Sportspeople from San Rafael, California Players of American football from Marin County, California American football defensive ends California Golden Bears football players Cincinnati Bengals players Seattle Seahawks players Houston Oilers players Players of American football from San Francisco