Arizona Cardinals' Deuce Lutui Sees His Stock Rising

Deuce Lutui has a reputation. He talks smack. He gets his hands dirty.

He'll hit you in the mouth, and then pat himself on the back.

"The physical part of the game is mine," he said.

After summering in Ken Whisenhunt's doghouse, Lutui has found his juju, and has quickly re-established his place in the room. He's the best offensive lineman on the Cardinals, and should be next on the list of contract extensions. Guys like Lutui - characters obsessed with their own character - are hard to find in the NFL.

"I know what I'm all about," Lutui said. "Deuce Lutui is about integrity. A competitor. A Tongan."

As you'll discover, his heritage is very important.

Technically, Lutui is homegrown, a huge kid known as "Titus" when he attended Mesa High School. He is also from Tonga, the only island nation in the South Pacific never brought under foreign rule, a place where the people come super-sized and men can carry their weight in stone.

At the mere mention of these proud people, Lutui becomes swollen with pride. And in a display of Tongan fury, he reaches to his right, picks up a neighboring stool and flings it across the locker room.

The chair tumbles to a harmless stop. A teammate begins howling with laughter.

"The history of Tongan people, we were warriors!" Lutui continues. "We were the Vikings of the South Pacific, the pearl of Polynesia. I come from the Kingdom of Tonga! That means, when I'm Tongan to the 'T,' I'm Tongan to the death! I'm a Lutui, and I come from a tiny nation, a dot in the middle of the map. Even if you look, you might miss it."

Lutui could be a professional wrestler, and in some ways, he already is. He is comical and self-inflated. He knows all the little tricks and will fight to the echo of the whistle, all day long. Mostly, he makes his teammates smile.

"Deuce, you're playing like this because you want a new contract right?" teases wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, who has wandered over for a visit. "Is that what this is all about?"

Fitzgerald bounces away laughing.

"Man, I want to kick his ass," Lutui said.Lutui has made big strides in recent months, after tipping the scales at 396 pounds. Back then, he was unhappy with his tendered offer from the Cardinals, a one-year contract worth $1.7 million. After the team signed two other guards - Rex Hadnot and Alan Faneca - Lutui wondered why he couldn't get a long-term deal. Friends also say he endured a rough offseason, reeling emotionally from the death of his father.

"It was definitely on my mind," Lutui said.

By the time he arrived in Flagstaff, Big Deuce was on tenuous ground. But he began to shed the weight. He did the job, and regained his job. Through five games, Lutui has played hard and well, avoiding all the unnecessary penalty flags he frequently earned for delivering the last shot. And if you listen carefully, no one is mentioning the weight thing anymore.

At least until Lutui stepped on poor Max Hall's foot during Sunday's win over the Saints, forcing the young quarterback to wince in pain. Up in the broadcast booth, Kurt Warner actually grimaced on the air, having experienced such trauma firsthand.

"Deucey, he's a big guy. I think he weighs 450 pounds," Hall cracked. "He got me pretty good, so that one hurt. I try not to show pain, but that one took me a second."

Hall shook it off. And as we've all discovered, you just can't stay mad at Lutui.

"I've handled the distractions, and my stock is escalating," Lutui said. "I've got a master Jedi in a coach, and I'm a young Luke Skywalker. Russ Grimm is Master Yoda, and I will be a Jedi. I will be a Jedi knight one day, and I will get light saber."

With a serious face, Lutui holds the imaginary weapon over his shoulder, as if he's ready to take on Darth Vader.

"And then I'm slicing," he said.

A Jedi Tongan with a mean streak? You better run, son.

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Deuce Lutui Ready to Become US Citizen ‎

Cardinals guard Taitusi "Deuce" Lutui was only a few months old when he, his parents and five siblings immigrated to the United States from Tonga. Lutui jokes that the move came because he weighed 13 pounds and "there was no room for me in Tonga."

The real reason is that Lutui's parents wanted a better life for the family. All jokes aside, Lutui will be thinking about his father, Inoke, on Friday when Lutui becomes the first member of his family to become a U.S. citizen.

"I feel a lot more whole and fulfilled," Lutui said. "It was my father's dream."

Lutui will be among 204 legal residents who take the Oath of Allegiance this morning at South Mountain Community College as part of the Fiesta of Independence celebration.

"This day is very important to me," Lutui said. "I feel like I'm graduating again. I should wear my cap and gown."

Lutui started the citizenship-application process in 2001, but the Sept. 11 attacks caused delays. Some of the final requirements were met last fall, when Lutui had to miss some practices and meetings for interviews.
As someone who had lived most of his life in Mesa, he said some of the questions were almost comical. "I don't think I studied for it," he said. "They were asking me things like what was the longest river in the U.S. They were common-sense questions."

Lutui called it "frustrating" to miss practice because of the citizenship process, but he had the full support of coach Ken Whisenhunt.

"It was a no-brainer," Lutui said. "He let me go."

The final interview came the week before Thanksgiving, as the Cardinals prepared to play in St. Louis. Inoke Lutui passed away that same week.

Lutui started that game, despite missing practice time.
"I wish he was alive for this," Lutui said of his father. "I'm accomplishing one of his goals."

This is a high point in a tumultuous off-season for Lutui, a second-round pick out of Southern California in 2006. A restricted free agent, Lutui missed all off-season workouts because he wanted a long-term deal from the Cardinals.

The team was offering a one-year, qualifying offer of $1.76 million, which Lutui ultimately signed. Lutui's absence frustrated coaches, who were concerned about the guard's conditioning.

A recent report said Lutui weighed 396 pounds.

Lutui declined to comment Thursday about his contract and his weight, preferring to concentrate on Friday's achievement.

The ongoing immigration debate provides an intriguing backdrop to the ceremony. As a longtime Arizona resident, Lutui is familiar with the controversy surrounding SB 1070 and has mixed feelings about it.

"I'm on both ends," he said. "Enforcing the laws of 1070, it's something to think about.

"I'm not a citizen and I'm driving, knowing at any given time I could be questioned and thinking, 'Oh, freak, where is my green card?'

"(Friday) I'm going to throw that green card away. It feels good to have that weight off my shoulders. I've been waiting a long time. I understand both sides, of how to do it right and also being a non-citizen. But, hey, I still play for 'Los Cardenales.' "

 

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Tommie Harris Punches Deuce Lutui

Tommie Harris has been sent to the showers before he had time to break a sweat.

Harris, the Bears' defensive tackle, was ejected from today's game against the Arizona Cardinals just 1:05 into the game for punching Cardinals offensive tackle Deuce Lutui.

The punch came in a pile-up after a Cardinals running game, with Harris and Lutui tangled up on the ground. Harris hit Lutui in the face; there was no indication of whether Harris was reacting to something Lutui did.

Referee Ed Hochuli saw the punch and ejected Harris in addition to giving the Bears a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

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