Naufahu Anitoni Tahi (born October 30, 1981) 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 ...

fullback. He was signed by 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 ...

as an

undrafted free agent 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 ...

in 2006. 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 ...

BYU 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 S ...

. Tahi has also been a member of the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

and 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 ...

Early years

At Granger High School in

West Valley City, Utah West Valley City is a city in Salt Lake County and a suburb of Salt Lake City in the U.S. state of Utah. The population was 140,230 at the 2020 census, making it the second-largest city in Utah. The city incorporated in 1980 from a large, quic ...

, Tahi was named the ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

'' Player of the Year for Utah as a senior. Tahi rushed for a total of 5,700 yards and set a state record as the all-time leader in rushing yards and for rushing

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

College career

Tahi attended

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 ...

as a freshman in 1999 and led the team that year in rushing with 445 yards before taking a three-year leave for a

mission Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion *Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

as he is a member of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

. Tahi returned to Brigham Young in 2003 and had a career-best 872 yards rushing from scrimmage as a senior and scored 8 touchdowns (6 rushing and 2 receiving).

Professional career

Cincinnati Bengals

Tahi was an

out of college and signed with the

in 2006, but was released on final roster cuts and became a member of the team's

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

Minnesota Vikings

Tahi signed with the

on November 22, 2006 to their active roster from Cincinnati's practice squad. Tahi saw his first significant playing time in 2008. During that year, he was listed number one on the Vikings depth chart and played several games at fullback blocking for

Adrian Peterson Adrian Lewis Peterson (born March 21, 1985) is an American football running back who is a free agent. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest running backs in football history. He played college football at Oklahoma, where he set the ...

as well as playing on special teams. He also had 16 receptions for 37 yards, most of which came on one-yard dumpoffs in the flat, a favorite play of

Brad Childress Bradley Childress (born June 27, 1956) is a former American football coach. He worked for over 40 years as a coach for various college programs and National Football League (NFL) franchises. He was the offensive coordinator for Wisconsin from 19 ...

and the

West Coast Offense In American football, the West Coast offense is an offense that places a greater emphasis on passing than on running. There are two similar but distinct offensive strategic systems that are commonly referred to as "West Coast offenses". Original ...

playbook. Tahi signed a $1.4 million offer sheet March 19 with the

, but the Vikings matched the offer and re-signed him on March 27. Tahi caught his first touchdown pass of his career on January 3, 2010 in a win against the

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

. He was re-signed to a one-year contract on April 13.

Jacksonville Jaguars

On May 6, 2012, Tahi signed with the

. On July 27, Tahi left Jaguars training camp for personal reasons and was released later that day.

Coaching career

Tahi has served as an offensive graduate assistant and offensive administrative assistant at

Utah State University Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public land-grant research university in Logan, Utah. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. With nearly 20,000 students living on or near campus, USU is Utah's ...

Personal life

Tahi was raised in a family that are natives of

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

, but he was born in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

before moving to

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 ...

as a child. Tahi is cousins with former BYU and former NFL fullback

Fui Vakapuna Fui Vakapuna (pronounced foo-ē vac-uh-poo-nǎ; born March 9, 1984) is a former American football fullback. He was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the seventh round of the 2009 NFL Draft. He played college football at BYU. Professional c ...

. After retiring from football in 2012 Tahi became the running backs coach for Granger High School in

. Tahi graduated from

in 2016. He is now serving as a Graduate Assistant for the Utah State Aggies.

References

External links

Jaguars BioBYU Bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tahi, Naufahu 1981 births Living people Players of American football from Fontana, California People from West Valley City, Utah Sportspeople from Salt Lake County, Utah American people of Tongan descent American Latter Day Saints American football fullbacks BYU Cougars football players Cincinnati Bengals players Minnesota Vikings players Players of American football from Utah American Mormon missionaries in the United States 21st-century Mormon missionaries Jacksonville Jaguars players