Pulu Talo Poumele (January 31, 1972 – June 4, 2016) was an

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 wi ...

coach and offensive tackle who played in both 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) and the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

(CFL).

Early and personal life

Born in Oceanside, California, Poumele attended

Oceanside High School Oceanside High School (California) is an American public secondary school located in Oceanside, California. It is part of the Oceanside Unified School District. History and Campus Oceanside High School is one of two high schools in the Oceanside ...

Playing career

Poumele played college football at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

, before playing in the NFL 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 (A ...

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays it ...

and San Diego Chargers, and in the CFL with the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...

Coaching career

Poumele was the head coach at San Marcos in 2009, the head coach at El Camino for four seasons, and he later worked at Oceanside High School as a special education teacher and the defensive coordinator for the football team.

Personal life

Poumele was married with five children. His cousin was

Junior Seau Tiaina Baul "Junior" Seau Jr. (; ; January 19, 1969May 2, 2012) was an American professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL), mostly with the San Diego Chargers. Known for his passionate play, he was a ...

. On June 4, 2016, after playing basketball, Poumele went into cardiac arrest and died at a 24 Hour Fitness in Oceanside.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Poumele, Pulu 1972 births 2016 deaths American football offensive linemen American players of Canadian football Canadian football offensive linemen Arizona Wildcats football players Baltimore Ravens players San Diego Chargers players Cleveland Browns players Toronto Argonauts players High school football coaches in California sportspeople from Oceanside, California Players of American football from California American sportspeople of Samoan descent Sports deaths in California