Will Ta'ufo'ou Leaves Mark on Cal Football Program

Fullbacks Vie for Starting Job While Striving to Meet Ta'ufo'ou Standard

In Will Ta'ufo'ou, the Cal football team lost a 6-foot, 255-pound fullback who could bulldoze a linebacker, surprise you with his speed, catch a pass out of the backfield and -- despite guiding 1,500-yard rushers in back-to-back years -- probably go unnoticed on campus.

In Ta'ufo'ou's replacement, the Bears are looking for somebody who can do all of those things (the latter is probably optional) and fill what running backs coach Ron Gould right now calls a "void" in the backfield. Fortunately for an offense riding a streak of seven straight seasons with a 1,000-yard rusher, Ta'ufo'ou taught his potential replacements quite a bit before he left.

"I learned a lot of things from Will, man," says senior Brian Holley. "Playing fullback, it's not glorified, its not anything. Just be humble, go in there and get the job done. That's what I learned from Will. He did that every day."

Ta'ufo'ou played in 11 games in 2007 and all 13 contests in 2008, the primary lead blocker for tailbacks Justin Forsett and Jahvid Best, respectively. Forsett and Best combined for 3,126 rushing yards in those two years. This season, with Best's explosive running being one of the biggest factors in the potential for Cal to unseat USC atop the Pac-10, whoever replaces Ta'ufo'ou is going to be crucial to the Bears realizing that goal.

Holley and sophomore Will Kapp appear to be the top candidates for the job a week into fall camp, with sophomore John Tyndall and redshirt freshman Eric Stevens in the discussion as well. Holley has taken most of the first-team reps with Kapp mixing in intermittently.

Neither Holley nor Kapp is quite the physical anomaly that Ta'ufo'ou was. Each gives up a significant amount of weight to Ta'ufo'ou, with Holley listed at 235 pounds and Kapp at 216. But Gould says that doesn't lower the expecations or change the way that the Bears run the ball because playing fullback is all about establishing leverage under a defender.

"Will, at his weight, he could move extremely well," says Holley. "I don't know if I could beat 255 and move as good as he does. But the thing about fullback, it's all about technique and pad level stuff, and Coach Gould's been shaping all the backs with getting pad level down, feet and striking. You can be 300 pounds and 6-foot-5 and still not be a good fullback."

Right now, Tedford characterizes the fullback play as "hit and miss," which is normal for early practices but falls below the Ta'ufo'ou Standard. Tedford has said that the depth chart will be finalized a week and half before the Maryland game, which gives the each fullback just under two weeks to lay claim to the starting job -- as Gould says, become the guy who's going to "take the bull by the horns and run with it" -- and start replacing Ta'ufo'ou.

"Just the way Will played, his play and his actions spoke tons about him," says Kapp. "He worked so hard in the weight room, which nobody saw, and in practice every rep he took was a quality rep, full intensity. We've seen that. We've seen what it takes. We know how high the bar is and we just have to keep working at it and try to get there."

That's the irony of the situation. For two years, Ta'ufo'ou played in relative obscurity while the guy running the ball behind him soaked up the stats and the recognition. It's now that he's gone that his name seems like a popular one, mostly popping up in the form of, "How is Cal going to replace ... ?"

Holley, Kapp and company, by following Ta'ufo'ou's lead, just need to make people forget him again.

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Chicago Bears Getting Used to a Little Island Flavor

Center Olin Kreutz has been a staple in the Chicago Bears organization since the team drafted him out of Washington St. 12 years ago. Kreutz, a leader both on the field and in the locker room, leads by example through hard work and determination. He keeps players in line and commands respect from not only his teammates, but opposing players as well.

Kreutz was raised and played high school football in Hawaii for St. Louis High, a team consistently playing for the island title, where he was all-state in both football and wrestling. Hawaii was his kickoff point for a prosperous and productive NFL career.

And Kreutz isn't the only one to bring the island madness to the team.

The Bears selected safety Al Afalava in the sixth round of the 2009 draft. Afalava grew up in Laie, located on the north shore of Oahu, and played high school for the Kahuku Red Raiders, a perennial powerhouse, before moving on to Oregon St.

If you look closely, there are quite a few connections to the pacific islands throughout the Bears roster:

Undrafted free agents Will Ta'ufo'ou (FB from Cal) and Johan Asiata (OG from UNLV) are both in contention for roster spots. Asiata, originally from New Zealand, actually grew up in Hawaii.

Reserve defensive tackle Matt Toeaina played high school football on the tiny island of American Samoa, which is located east of Fiji and North of Tonga before he moved on to play college ball at the University of Oregon.

Newly acquired linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa played for the University of Hawaii for four years. He made first team all WAC his senior year and was drafted in the second round of the 2003 NFL draft by the St. Louis Rams.

The Bears even have had a couple Hawaii players represented on the practice squad and in training camp. Safety Leonard Peters, also a Kahuku graduate, was on the Bears practice squad for the 2007 season. And former UH standout wide receiver Ryan Grice-Mullens was added to the Bears roster last season in training camp to add some depth, but failed to make the final cut.

And it doesn't end there, lets kick it back a little further.

Anyone remember tight end Gabe Reid? He played four years for the Bears from 2003 through 2006 and recorded a total of seven receptions—okay, not exactly stellar numbers but Reid was also a product of American Samoa and was a competent third stringer for the team.

And if you want to go old-school, how about Lakei Heimuli? Heimuli was a running back out of BYU who grew up in Tonga and played one season for the 1987 Chicago Bears. He only made it into three games that year, but to be fair, his numbers weren't terrible: 34 carries for 128 yards (for a 3.8 average), and five receptions for 51 yards and one lone touchdown.

So really, this island theme from the Bears is not a new one. And judging from recent trends, look for more and more of these Polynesian products to follow in the footsteps of Kreutz, Pisa, Seahawks linebacker Lofa Tatupu, and Steelers safety Troy Polamalu.

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