Thomas Teah Tapeh (pronounced ''TUH-PEH'') (born March 28, 1980 in

Monrovia Monrovia () is the capital city of the West African country of Liberia. Founded in 1822, it is located on Cape Mesurado on the Atlantic coast and as of the 2008 census had 1,010,970 residents, home to 29% of Liberia’s total population. As the ...

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

) 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

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

in the fifth round in the

2004 NFL Draft The 2004 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 24–25, 2004 at the Theater at ...

. 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 ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

. Tapeh has also played 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 expansion ...

Early years and personal life

Tapeh grew up playing

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

before his family moved to the

Twin Cities Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in statu ...

when he was nine years old. He attended Saint Paul Johnson High School. He is the only player to score a touchdown in the Metrodome as a high schooler (in a Johnson-Harding High School game), as a collegiate athlete (for the Gophers), and as a professional athlete in the NFL (as an Eagle). Tapeh is a devout

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

, with his faith stemming from a Christian woman who stopped his mother from having an abortion. Tapeh is active in his church as a mentor and volunteer, and has spoken publicly about his faith. He is married and has two children.

Professional career

Philadelphia Eagles

Tapeh was drafted by the Eagles in the fifth round of the

. With

Jon Ritchie Jon David Ritchie (born September 4, 1974) is an American sports radio host and former professional American football fullback in the National Football League. He started for seven seasons in the NFL, playing for the Oakland Raiders and the Ph ...

already the starting full back, Tapeh saw playing time as the third string running back. In week 14, Tapeh suffered a hip injury which caused him to miss the rest of 2004 and all of 2005. Tapeh returned from injury in 2006, and won the starting full back job from Josh Parry in training camp. He played in all 16 regular season games for the Eagles, as well as their two playoff games that season. In 2007, Tapeh again played full back in all 16 games for the Eagles, despite battling a knee injury. Statistically,

Brian Westbrook Brian Collins Westbrook (born September 2, 1979) is a former American football running back who played for nine seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the third round of the 2002 NFL Draft af ...

's best two seasons in rushing yards, receiving yards, yards-per-carry, yards-per-reception and total touchdowns were both seasons Tapeh started at full back.

Minnesota Vikings

On February 29, 2008 (the first day of free agency), Tapeh signed a five-year contract with the Minnesota Vikings. Vikings head coach

Brad Childress Bradley Childress (born June 27, 1956) is a former American football coach. He worked for over 40 years as a coach for various college programs and National Football League (NFL) franchises. He was the offensive coordinator for Wisconsin from 19 ...

, who worked with Tapeh as the offensive coordinator in Philadelphia, envisioned a long-term pairing between Tapeh and

NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Various entities present a National Football League Rookie of the Year Award each season to the top rookie(s) in the National Football League (NFL). The NFL considers the (rookie) of the year awards by the Associated Press (AP) to be its official ...

Adrian Peterson Adrian Lewis Peterson (born March 21, 1985) is an American football running back who is a free agent. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest running backs in football history. He played college football at Oklahoma, where he set the ...

. However, Tapeh's knee injury from the prior season resurfaced, and he was placed on injured reserve after two games. Though he could have fought to be paid his $1.855 million signing bonus in full, Tapeh agreed to an injury settlement and was released on October 16, 2008 effectively ending his NFL career.

Coaching career

Woodrow Wilson High School

Tapeh took over as head coach of the Woodrow Wilson High School football team in 2012. Woodrow Wilson High School, whose mascot is the Tiger, is located in

Camden, New Jersey Camden is a city in and the county seat of Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Camden is part of the Delaware Valley metropolitan area and is located directly across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the 2020 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tapeh, Thomas 1980 births Living people Sportspeople from Monrovia Liberian emigrants to the United States Liberian players of American football American football fullbacks Minnesota Golden Gophers football players New Orleans Saints players Minnesota Vikings players Players of American football from Saint Paul, Minnesota Philadelphia Eagles players