Tuioti Reagan Maui'a (born July 6, 1984) 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 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 ...

. He was drafted by the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

in the sixth round of the 2007 NFL Draft. 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 ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

. Maui'a has also played 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 ...

and

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

Early years

Maui'a was born in American Samoa. He attended Tokay High School in Lodi, California, and was a four-year letterman in football and track and field athletics. In football, he was an All-League and an All-Area selection. In track and field athletics, he broke the school record in the

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

with a throw of . Maui'a graduated from Tokay High School in 2002. At the University of Hawaii, Maui'a was originally a 351-pound defensive lineman. He was switched to fullback after Senior Adam Olis tore his ACL and played that position at 295 pounds. He subsequently dropped to 270 pounds before the NFL Draft.

Professional career

Miami Dolphins

Maui'a was drafted by the Miami Dolphins in 2007. He took over the starting job in training camp when he beat out

Cory Schlesinger Cory Michael Schlesinger (born June 23, 1972) is a former American football fullback of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the sixth round of the 1995 NFL Draft. He played college football at Nebraska. Early y ...

for the starting job. In 2008, Maui'a lost a preseason competition with

Boomer Grigsby James Harvey "Boomer" Grigsby (born November 15, 1981) is a former American football fullback. He played college football at Illinois State, and was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the fifth round of the 2005 NFL Draft. Grigsby was also a me ...

for the team's starting fullback job and was released on August 30 during final cuts.

Cincinnati Bengals

On September 3, 2008, Maui'a was signed by the

after the team's starting fullback,

Jeremi Johnson Jeremi Ray Johnson (born September 4, 1980) is a former American football fullback. He was drafted by the Bengals in the fourth round of the 2003 NFL Draft. He played college football at Indiana University and Western Kentucky. Early years Joh ...

, was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

. Maui'a played in two games for the Bengals before being waived on October 11 when the team signed

placekicker Placekicker, or simply kicker (PK or K), is the player in gridiron football who is responsible for the kicking duties of field goals and extra points. In many cases, the placekicker also serves as the team's kickoff specialist or punter. Spe ...

Dave Rayner David Michael Rayner (born October 26, 1982) is a former American football placekicker in the National Football League. He was selected by the Indianapolis Colts in the sixth round of the 2005 NFL Draft. He played college football at Michigan ...

. Maui'a was re-signed on October 22 when Rayner was released. However, he was placed on season-ending

just two days later.

Arizona Cardinals

Maui'a was signed by the

on August 5, 2009, after fullback Justin Green was placed on

. He was waived on September 4. Maui'a was re-signed to a future contract on January 21, 2010, after spending the 2009 season out of football. He was released September 2, 2011, and then re-signed on November 2. He was waived again on November 29. He was re-signed again on August 11, 2012, and waived again on August 25. He re-signed with the team on September 28.

Personal life

He is the distant cousin of

Samson Satele Samson H. Satele (born November 29, 1984) is a former American football center. He played college football at Hawaii and was drafted in the second round of the 2007 NFL Draft by the Miami Dolphins. Satele also played for the Oakland Raiders an ...

, who was also drafted by the Dolphins in the 2007 NFL Draft. He lived in Stockton. In 2010 he was awarded the ''matai'' title of Tuioti by his mother's village of

Falelima Falelima is a village on the southwest corner of Savai'i island in Samoa. The village is part of the electoral constituency (''Faipule District'') Alataua West which forms part of the larger political district of Vaisigano. The village's populati ...

, Savai'i, in

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 Island, Manono an ...

References

External links

Arizona Cardinals bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mauia, Reagan 1984 births Living people American sportspeople of Samoan descent People from Lodi, California Players of American football from California American football defensive tackles American football fullbacks Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football players Miami Dolphins players Cincinnati Bengals players Arizona Cardinals players San Jose SaberCats players Players of American football from American Samoa