Lofa Tatupu wasn't always a household name. The Seattle Seahawks linebacker grew up playing Pop Warner football when he was just a youngster living in New England, just as many others did when they were little. But even though he was the son of former NFL great Mosi Tatupu - the first player of Samoan descent to be named to a Pro Bowl in 1987 - Lofa had to remain focused in order to make his dream of being a professional football player become a reality.
Lofa's father wasn't the only other athlete in the family, however. His mother, Linnea Garcia-Tatupu, was a star track and field athlete in high school and is a personal trainer who even works boxers into shape. Thanks to her father, football is one of her favorite sports as well, so she has enjoyed being able to take part in Lofa's career from the time he put on a Mighty Mites jersey.
Doubters said that Lofa was too small and he wouldn't cut it at the linebacker position, so the University of Maine was the only school to offer him a scholarship out of high school. After a successful freshman year on the gridiron, he transferred to the University of Southern California, where he later became a national champion. Lofa entered the 2005 NFL Draft and saw his hard work amount to a second round selection by the Seahawks - and now he's got three Pro Bowl selections (2006-2008) to add to his growing list of accomplishments.
Lofa always stayed determined to reach his ultimate goal, and he has two wonderful parents and the game of football to thank for shaping who he is today. USA Football recently spoke with Linnea to learn more about what football has taught her son.
When did Lofa start playing football?
He began playing football on a Mighty Mites instructional team in the Pop Warner league when he was 6 years old. He got his start basically because he was emulating his father at that point, but he quickly decided he didn't want to be dad, he wanted to be Lofa. As far as knowing when he wanted to play football, from the time he was 2 years old, he was sleeping with a football and using anything that he could as a helmet. He would put his sister's purses on his head or the dog's water dish. He tried on an Army helmet when he was 3 years old, so we always said he tried on every helmet he could possibly find until he found the one that fit.
Being an athlete yourself, why was it important to you for Lofa to be involved in youth sports?
It wasn't important to me that he become involved in sports at a young age, it was important that at some point he was given an opportunity if it was something he wanted to pursue. I raised two nephews of mine as his brothers. They were all on the same instructional team that first year. The other two did not continue to pursue it to the degree that Lofa did.
Depending on the child, there are leadership aspects to be developed - even learning how to lead yourself in a situation. You have to learn how to deal with authority because sometimes coaches will tell you things that you don't want to hear. A lot of times parents don't understand that there is pressure on the field for a child. They're sitting in the stands and they're not down there in the trenches so to speak, so you can't feel the energy as it's being experienced down there. I didn't watch games from the stands until Lofa went to USC - I was always on the sidelines.
I told Lofa, 'Go as hard as you can for every second, but you do not look back.' He was taught that when someone makes a mistake, he should not put them down. You may have to remind them about something, but you do not make them feel worse. Negativity will not produce the results you want. Motivate and they will remember that.
What has football taught your son throughout the years?
It was important to me that he learned the benefits of camaraderie, loyalty, team effort and what your individual effort and the amount of time and work you put into being part of a team can contribute to the whole.
Being blessed to play this game for a living - and that's what it is, a blessing - to be fortunate enough to be where he's at with an organization that is so confident in his abilities, he realized what it takes to be successful because there were times where people felt he was too small, he was too slow. I think what this has taught him is that versatility is extremely important because you have to adapt to life on the field and life off the field. It has also taught him to be able to motivate people in areas other than football. Friendships are very precious. When opening game comes, boys that played with him on his Pop Warner team come and watch him play. He is the godfather to a child of one of the kids that he grew up with, and these same kids from his youth team will be in his wedding. He has developed lifelong friendships.
In what ways were you involved in his youth football experience?
From the time he learned to catch, I threw him a football. My father taught me - he was an intramural coach in the Marine Corps. He played one game in college and then broke his leg on a kickoff return and decided to join the Marines.
When Lofa was 11, I wanted to take him into the weight room, and I could not take a child in without a certified trainer. And of course, nobody wanted to take him because they didn't want the responsibility and said he was too young to be lifting weights. Upon being told "No, no, no," I got certified as a personal trainer. I trained two other children too, and one went on to play college basketball and Lofa lived for it, so I knew he had the drive for it.
Based on what I knew he was capable of, I knew he would be a good quarterback because he had the arm, the intelligence and the ability to lead so it was going to be a good fit. He was a linebacker before that, and he started off as a running back because that's what his dad was. I think he's such a good linebacker because he played quarterback and knows both sides of the ball.
What is one of your favorite memories from your son's career?
The one that stands out to me is a personal one. His dad had told him he wanted him to wait to play football. As a compromise, I said 'OK, we'll let you train and play your first game, then we'll take it from there.' I think my favorite memory is when he came off the field, he walked over to me, he took his helmet off and he held it on his hip, he took a step back and put his other hand on his hip, looked up and he said, 'So ... can I play or what?' He was 6 years old at the time, and he had just run for two touchdowns.
Fast forward to seeing his face the moment they announced his name on Draft day in 2005 and knowing that his dreams had come true because he put his mind, heart and soul into it.
How does it make you feel to see the success your son is having, both on and off the field?
When you talk about joy, when I have the ability to see him living his dream, it's not something I can put into words because it sounds so cliché and there are only so many words in the English language that can describe that emotion. When I gave birth to him and the doctor said, 'It's a boy,' Mosi literally just threw his hands up like a touchdown, so if that's not prophetic ... What makes me happiest now is to see that as great a football player as my son has been able to become in his football career, he's 10 times greater as a human being. And that's the thing that I love the most about him. He's been able to and does take care of others around him - he has a huge heart. It gives me great, great joy to see that he's become the man that he is and that football has played a huge part in his success as a man.
