Vuna Tuihalamaka Signs w/ the Indianapolis Colts

Former Arizona Linebacker Vuna Tuihalamaka signed a free agent contract with the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.

Tuihalamaka was a juco player who played sparingly but became a force to reckon with his senior season, his first as a full-time starter in FBS. Teams didn't have much film on him but liked the way he had a nose for where the ball was going.

Player Bio:

Arizona: 1L... The eldest of three Tuihalamakas on the club, Vuna is expected to start at middle linebacker in 2009 after a solid year in '08 following transfer from junior college... Came in game-ready and played in all 13 contests, finishing with 23 tackles, a dozen of those in backup play... Also had eight hits on kicking units... Earned coaches' citations for special teams player of the week honors against California and BYU... Enrolled in January '08...

El Camino College: First-team J.C. Grid-Wire All-America in 2006 as sophomore at California state juco champion El Camino Community College... 148 tackles in 14 games, with 14.5 for losses... Mission Conference national division Defensive Player of the Year for coach John Featherstone, 1st-team inside linebacker... SuperPrep Juco 100, No. 23 prospect... California Community College athlete of the month for October 2006... Season-high 15 tackles vs. Cerritos... 18 tackles as a freshman, with 2 TFL, 1 sack and four PBUs...

High School: Hawthorne, Calif., High School, 2005...

Personal: Academic major is sociology.... Attended Pima College in Tucson in fall 2007... Cousin of UA brothers, defensive end Apaiata and tackle Sione Tuiahalamaka... Recruited by coach Mike Tuiasosopo...

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Second Championship Has Nice Ring to Colts' Keiaho

Freddy Keiaho entered Super Bowl Media Day, his video camera held high as he pointed from left to right, recording the event.

He brought the camera down to eye level, then zoomed in on teammate T.J. Rushing, who had been grabbed by a TV reporter. Keiaho taped Rushing for a moment before moving on and getting stopped himself by a reporter. Keiaho kept the camera going and recorded himself being recorded.

The San Diego State alum already has a Super Bowl ring. As he goes through this week leading up to his try for another, he’s going to preserve some memories.

“The first time around I didn’t really get to appreciate it because I was a rookie,” Keiaho said. “This time around, I have a lot more chance to enjoy it. My first year, it was a little more overwhelming. Now I have a chance to sit back and really enjoy it.”

Anyone who knows Keiaho knows he is a man of great faith, devoted to his wife of three years and a new father. And, really, he must be living right.

Drafted in the third round by the Colts in 2006, he was a reserve linebacker on their Super Bowl XLI championship team. He started most of the next two seasons, including 14 games in 2008 despite being diagnosed with a sports hernia in the season’s first month.

“You can’t run full speed,” he said. “It’s pretty painful to do anything.”

He had surgery after the season, and Indianapolis did not offer him a tender as a restricted free agent last offseason. But after visiting the Buffalo Bills, Keiaho signed a one-year deal with the Colts in April.

“They wanted me and I was coming off a pretty serious injury. It was the best thing to do at the time, ” Keiaho said.

It is possible, perhaps likely, that Keiaho leaves Indianapolis this year. He doesn’t complain about his role as a special teamer, but he started just two games this season and the man who plays in front of him, Gary Brackett, never comes off the field.

“There are always ups and downs in football,” Keiaho said. “You change from role to role. Every year is different.”

Once convinced Keiaho was healthy, the Colts brought him back because they needed him, even if it wasn’t as a starter.

“Freddie can play every position,” Indianapolis linebackers coach Mike Murphy said. “What that gives you, a comfort zone; he can play every position without making mistakes.”

While Brackett is considered one of the best middle linebackers in the league, one area there is no dropoff when Keiaho comes in — and this is rare — is mentally. A middle linebacker is the quarterback of the defense, making and relaying and changing calls.

“Gary is like having a coach on the field, and Freddy is one of the few guys who can do that like Gary does it,” Murphy said. “In the past he played all three (linebacker) positions. I would not be afraid to put him in there. He is not a guy who just memorizes what he does. He learns the entire system.”

That separates Keiaho as player and likely makes him too valuable to remain a backup. He might not be a Pro Bowler, but he has the makings of a starter for some team.

Or maybe, if the Colts win another Super Bowl come Sunday, Keiaho will remember how much fun he’s had coming here two of his first four years in the NFL.

“That’s the only thing that’s important right now,” he said yesterday.

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'Fili'ng The Gap

Colts Second-Round Pick Hopes To Be In The Middle Of Team’s Success


Three years ago, the Colts traded their second-round draft pick for a big, athletic defensive tackle (Booger McFarland) that shored up the team’s rushing defense and ultimately helped them win the Super Bowl.

This past April, the Colts used their second-round pick to draft a big, athletic defensive tackle they are hoping will do the same.

Fili Moala, a 6’4” 300-pound tackle from the University of Southern California, established himself as one of the premier defensive tackles in college football last year and was named First Team All-Pac 10.

Now, the California native is trying to make just as big an impact with the Colts.

Only three days into training camp, it is too early to predict if Moala can repeat McFarland’s success, but the rookie has coaches excited about his potential.

“It is pretty early, but we can see some good things from him,” Colts Head Coach Jim Caldwell said. “He moves well, he has good quickness, obviously he has size, and he’s coming along.”

Moala fits the mold of what Colts President Bill Polian said he was looking for this offseason in a defensive tackle: a player big enough to clog up the middle, but also athletic enough to run and change direction.

“Three thirty-five without athleticism is not what we’re after, to set the record straight,” Polian said.

Moala, a cousin of Baltimore Ravens tackle Haloti Ngata, spent the offseason in California making sure he did not come into training camp out of shape. So he trained at USC’s complex and took part in their offseason weight program.

Moala’s hard work paid off, and the rookie came into camp “a little light” at about 296 pounds.

“I wanted to come in at a healthy, solid 300,” he said. “I was training and running everyday (this summer) and making sure I got my wind so if I had to I could run.”

In his slimmed-down state, Moala said he thinks he will fit in “really well” with the team’s new defense.

“I move laterally, I can run, I’ve got speed, I’ve got strength, I’m powerful – all of those are good things that can kind of mesh into this defense,” he said. “Now it’s just about fine-tuning, talking to my coaches…and applying it to my game.”

Coach Caldwell said Defensive Line Coach John Teerlinck has been working hand-in-hand with Moala to get him “entrenched in what we do and how we do things.”

More than anything, Moala said his coaches are looking for “reliability and productivity” out of the team’s defensive tackles.

“They want to be able to trust us and know we’ll do our job, first and foremost, and do it at a high level and be productive as well,” he said. “Once you get a combination of those two things, (the coaches) are comfortable with you and trust you to be in there and take care of business.”

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Getting to know . . . Fili Moala

Position: Defensive tackle.

Jersey No.: 95.

Height, weight: 6-4, 303.

Age: 24.

Family: Wife, Jordan.

Hometown: Born and resides in Buena Park, Calif.

College: USC.

Pro tenure: Rookie, drafted in second round, 56th overall.

Your name is? "Tongan. Tonga is about an eight-hour flight from Samoa, about a six-hour flight from Fiji, in the South Pacific, north of New Zealand. It's similar to Samoan or Hawaiian. We're friendly people."

But you're a California guy? "Yeah, born and raised, first generation, my parents are from the islands. Grew up in Inglewood, California. I'm a Lakers fan."

What do you like to do? "I like to fish. Whatever, freshwater, saltwater, I just like the sport. Hang out, good friends and family, barbecue a lot, snowmobiling and snowboarding. I've got a lot of family in Utah."

Your parents understand football? "Yeah, over the years. When they first got here, my dad played a lot of rugby and boxed. Football was new to him, but the Rams were still in L.A. and he took to the Rams. That was basically the start of his football education."

So if he played rugby and boxed, that makes you the second-toughest Moala in the family? "He's got some years on him, so I think I take over by default."

Anything stand out about camp? "You've just got to take the positives and work on the negatives. I like how things are run. It's about getting better as a football player. That's everyone's goal. They're not about running you into the ground. It's about progress and production."

This thick facial hair the regular look? "Nah. This is about 2 1/2 weeks of just hanging out."

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Tauiliili Out to Prove Doubters Wrong

Mike Tauiliili was suspended for the first game of the season in 2007, and had 13.0 tackles for loss this past season with four sacks and three interceptions. A big-time recruit at Duke under his former name, Mike Brown, he changed his name to Tauiliili because of his maternal great, great, great grandfather, a Samoan high chief. He was a first-team freshman All-America, a three-year starter, and while his size (5-feet-11, 235 pounds) isn’t prototypical NFL, it perhaps not coincidentally is exactly the size of Brackett, who went undrafted from Rutgers in 2003. He was the Defensive Most Valuable Player of the East-West Shrine game. Outlook: Although the Colts have depth at linebacker, Tauliili was too productive in college to be overlooked in training camp.

Wedding Plans Take Back Seat to Colts' Workouts

Fili Moala, a second-round draft pick, didn't wait although he and his bride, Jordan, agreed to delay a full-blown honeymoon. They went through graduation ceremonies at USC on May 15, were married in Los Angeles May 16 and traveled to Indianapolis so Moala could join the Colts' organized team activities that began May 19.

It's been a busy time.

"I love my wife to death. She comes first," Moala said. "But for me to take care of her, I've got to take care of business. She's very understanding. She knows what I've got to do."

The Moalas' "honeymoon" consisted of the couple spending about a week in Indy before Jordan returned to the West Coast.

"We just visited as many things as we could, did everything that everyone was talking about,'' Moala said. "We found a couple of hidden gems in the area, basically just looking for things to do so when the family comes out to visit us, we'll have some things to do."

Moala isn't off the hook for delivering a snazzy honeymoon. "We'll do something later on," he said.

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