Steve Fifita (born May 16, 1982) 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 wi ...

defensive tackle. He was originally signed 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 p ...

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 at

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 ...

Early years

Fifita was twice an all-conference selection as well as an all-county selection at

Fountain Valley High School Fountain Valley High School (FVHS) is a public high school in Fountain Valley, California, USA. It was established in 1966 and is a part of the Huntington Beach Union High School District. It is notable for its rivalry with Edison High School, ...

Fountain Valley, California Fountain Valley is a suburban city in Orange County, California. The population was 57,047 at the 2020 census. History The area encompassing Fountain Valley was originally inhabited by the Tongva people. European settlement of the area b ...

. He was the team captain and defensive player of the year for the football team. In 1999, he made 62 unassisted tackles, 17 tackles for a loss and recovered four fumbles including one returned for a

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 Amer ...

. On offense, he scored on runs of 55 and 65 yards.

College career

After being redshirted his freshman year at the University of Utah in 2001, Fifita played in 11 games including one start as a redshirt freshman in 2002. On the year, he had 16 total tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, one interception for 14 yards, two fumble recoveries and one pass breakup. Fifita started all 12 games at nose guard during the 2003 season, earning an honorable mention All-

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is one of the collegiate athletic conferences affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) (formerly I-A). The MW officially began operations ...

selection. On the year he had 31 tackles, 8 tackles for a loss and three sacks. He posted a career-high six tackles against

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

. As a junior in 2004, Fifita experienced a breakout season. He once again started all 12 games at nose guard, and earned a first-team All-Mountain West selection with 45 tackles, nine tackles for a loss and 4.5 sacks. His 23 solo tackles were the most by a Utes lineman during the year while his sack total tied him for the team lead. During a 35-7 rout of

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

in the

Fiesta Bowl The Fiesta Bowl is an American college football bowl game played annually in the Phoenix metropolitan area. From its beginning in 1971 until 2006, the game was hosted at the Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. Since 2007, the game has been pla ...

, Fifita had five tackles, two tackles for a loss and a 12-yard sack in a performance that earned him defensive MVP honors. Fifita earned his second consecutive All-Mountain West selection as a senior in 2005 with 44 tackles, 14 tackles for a loss and six sacks.

Professional career

Pre-draft

Prior to the

NFL Draft The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...

, Fifita was clocked at 5.16 seconds in the 40-yard dash.

Miami Dolphins

He went undrafted and signed a

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 ...

contract with the Miami Dolphins on May 1. On August 29, Fifita was waived from the team. He worked out for 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 expansi ...

the following October but was not signed. Despite a new head coach in Miami, Fifita was signed to a future contract by the Dolphins on during the 2007 offseason. He played for the Frankfurt Galaxy of NFL Europa in the spring, and made the team's 53-man roster out of training camp. Fifita was released by the Dolphins on April 29, 2008.

New England Patriots

On May 5, 2008, Fifita was signed by the New England Patriots. Fifita was among the last cuts by the New England Patriots on August 29, 2008 before the final 53 man regular season roster.

Coaching

Fifita began coaching the defensive line at

Idaho State University , mottoeng = "The truth will set you free" , established = , former_names = Academy of Idaho(1901–1915)Idaho Technical Institute(1915–1927) University of Idaho—Southern Branch(1927–1947)Idaho Stat ...

in 2012.

Personal

*Majored in

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation an ...

at Utah. *Married to high school sweetheart, Heidi Glatt Fifita. They have 3 daughters: Makayla Melenaite, Nia Christine and Malia Melevesi. *Is a distant cousin of former WWE wrestler

Tonga Fifita Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesia, Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has List of islands and towns in Tonga, 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its tota ...

(Haku).
Utah Utes bio

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fifita, Steve 1982 births Living people American people of Tongan descent American football defensive tackles Miami Dolphins players New England Patriots players Frankfurt Galaxy players Utah Utes football players Sportspeople from Huntington Beach, California Players of American football from California Alabama Vipers players