Talanoa Hufanga (born February 1, 2000) is 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 wit ...

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are two slightly di ...

for the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

of 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 ma ...

(NFL). He played college football at USC.

Early years

Hufanga attended Crescent Valley High School in

Corvallis, Oregon Corvallis ( ) is a city and the county seat of Benton County in central western Oregon, United States. It is the principal city of the Corvallis, Oregon Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Benton County. As of the 2020 Unite ...

. He played safety, wide receiver, and

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

. As a senior in 2017, he was the Polynesian High School National Player of the Year. He played in the 2018 U.S. Army All-American Game. Hufanga committed to the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8. ...

(USC) to play college football.

College career

As a true freshman at USC in 2018, Hufanga played in eight games with five starts before suffering a season-ending broken collarbone. He finished the season with 51 tackles. As a sophomore in 2019, he started all 10 games he played in and recorded 90 tackles and 3.5 sacks. Hufanga returned to USC as a starter his junior year in 2020. He and BYU quarterback

Zach Wilson Zachary Kapono Wilson (born August 3, 1999) is an American football quarterback for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at BYU, where he was a two-time bowl game MVP, and was selected second ov ...

were selected as co-recipients of the 2020 Polynesian College Football Player of the Year Award. For the 2020 season, Hufanga was a Consensus All-American. In addition, he won Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year.

Collegiate statistics

Professional career

Hufanga was drafted by the

in the fifth round, 180th overall, of the

2021 NFL Draft The 2021 NFL Draft was the 86th National Football League Draft, the annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2021 NFL season. The draft was held in Cleveland from April 29 to May 1, 2021 ...

. He signed his four-year rookie contract on May 13, 2021. During his rookie campaign, Hufanga appeared in 15 games and made three starts. In the Divisional Round of the playoffs against the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. It is the th ...

, he recovered and returned a blocked punt for a critical touchdown which eventually set up a 13–10 victory for the 49ers. In Week 4 of the 2022 season, against the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC Wes ...

, he had 52-yard pick six in the 24–9 victory. He started in all 17 regular season games and all three playoff games for the 49ers in the 2022 season. He had 97 total tackles, four interceptions, nine passes defended, and two forced fumbles. He earned a Pro Bowl nomination and first team All-Pro honors.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Personal life

Hufanga is of Tongan descent. He is the son of Tevita and Tanya Hufanga and has a brother named T. J.

References

External links

San Francisco 49ers bioUSC Trojans bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hufanga, Talanoa 2000 births Living people Sportspeople from Corvallis, Oregon Players of American football from Oregon American football safeties USC Trojans football players All-American college football players San Francisco 49ers players