Tenny Tatoi Palepoi (born December 19, 1990) 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 ...

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...

. He first enrolled at

Snow College Snow College is a public community college in Ephraim, Utah. It offers certificates and associate degrees in a number of areas, along with bachelor's degrees in music and software engineering and a four-year nursing program. Snow College is part ...

before transferring to the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

. Palepoi attended Skyline High School in

Holladay, Utah Holladay is a city in central Salt Lake County, Utah, United States. It is part of the Salt Lake City, Utah Metropolitan Statistical Area and abuts the Wasatch National Forest. The population was 31,965 at the 2020 census, a significant increas ...

. His brother,

Anton Palepoi Anton Charles Palepoi (born January 19, 1978) is a former American football defensive end. He played five seasons in the National Football League (NFL), most notably with the Seattle Seahawks from 2002 to 2004. Early years Palepoi attended high ...

, also played in the NFL.

Early years

Palepoi was born on December 19, 1990 in

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

. He played

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

for the Skyline High School Eagles. He first-team all-state in 2008 as a senior and honorable mention all-state in 2007. He was also team captain and an all-region selection his junior and senior years.

College career

Palepoi played for the

Badgers from 2010 to 2011. He was a

NJCAA The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), founded in 1938, is the governing association of community college, state college and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 separate regions ...

All-American, first-team All- WSFL selection, and team captain his sophomore year in 2011. Palepoi transferred and played football for the

Utah Utes The Utah Utes are the intercollegiate athletics teams that represent the University of Utah, located in Salt Lake City. The athletic department is named after the Ute tribe of Native Americans. The men's basketball team is known as the Runnin' ...

of the

from 2012 to 2013. He was a second-team All-

Pac-12 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

selection and team captain his senior year. He recorded 74 tackles, 12.5 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks at the University of Utah.

Professional career

San Diego / Los Angeles Chargers

Palepoi was signed by the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

on May 13, 2014 after going undrafted in the

2014 NFL Draft The 2014 NFL draft was the 79th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players to the league. The draft, officially the "Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in New Y ...

. He made his NFL debut on September 8, 2014 against the

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 ...

, recording one tackle. He was ruled out for the 2015 season with a fractured foot on August 3, 2015. Palepoi was suspended four games on December 12, 2016 for violating the NFL policy on performance-enhancing substances. On March 20, 2017, Palepoi re-signed with the Chargers.

Buffalo Bills

On April 16, 2018, Palepoi signed a one-year contract with the

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

. He was released on July 25, 2018. He was re-signed on August 19, 2018, only to be released four days later.

Salt Lake Stallions

On December 22, 2018, Palepoi signed with the

Salt Lake Stallions The Salt Lake Stallions were a professional American football franchise based in Salt Lake City, and one of the eight members of the Alliance of American Football (AAF), which began play in February 2019. The Stallions were the northernmost team in ...

of the

Alliance of American Football The Alliance of American Football (AAF) was a professional American football minor league. The AAF consisted of eight centrally owned and operated teams in the southern and western United States, seven of which were located in metropolitan are ...

. The league ceased operations in April 2019. In the

2020 XFL Draft The 2020 XFL Draft was the inaugural player selection process to fill the rosters of the eight teams of the 2020 reboot of the XFL. The draft was held on October 15–16, 2019, via conference call, with results released through the XFL's social m ...

, Palepoi was selected by the

Seattle Dragons The Seattle Sea Dragons (formerly known as the Seattle Dragons) are a professional American football team based in Seattle, Washington. The team is a franchise of the new XFL and plays its home games at Lumen Field in Seattle. Originally founded ...

References

External links

NFL Draft Scout
{{DEFAULTSORT:Palepoi. Tenny Living people 1990 births Players of American football from Salt Lake City American football defensive tackles American football defensive ends American sportspeople of Samoan descent Snow Badgers football players Utah Utes football players San Diego Chargers players Los Angeles Chargers players Buffalo Bills players Salt Lake Stallions players