Rey Maualuga

Infobox NCAA Athlete
name = Rey Maualuga


caption = Maualuga with "DAD" eye black stickers
college = USC
conference = Pac 10
sport = Football
position = Linebacker
jersey = 58
class = Senior
career_start = 2005
major = Sociology
nickname = Rey Rey
height_ft = 6
height_in = 3
weight_lb = 255
nationality = USA
birth_date =birth date and age|1987|1|20
birth_place = Oklahoma
highschool = Eureka High School,
Eureka, California
former_school(s)=
awards = 2008 Rose Bowl Defensive MVP 2007 All-Pac-10 First Team
2006 All-Pac-10 Second Team
2005 Freshman All-American

Rey Maualuga (born January 20, 1987 in Oklahoma) is an American football middle linebacker for the University of Southern California Trojans football team.

Early life

Maualuga was born in Oklahoma, to American Samoan parents. His father, Talatonu, was in Oklahoma serving with the United States Army. Within a few months the family moved to Waipahu, Hawaii, near Honolulu. While in sixth grade, Maualuga started playing football because he saw the popular kids played football and carried their pads and helmets to school. After sixth grade, his family moved to Oxnard, California as his father pursued Pentecostal ministry. He spent his first year of high school in nearby Ventura before moving up to Eureka in far Northern California where his father practiced ministry.David Leon Moore, [http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/pac10/2008-08-11-maualuga-respect_N.htm Maualuga hoping to gain respect on and off the field] , "USA TODAY", August 12, 2008, Accessed August 12, 2008.]

High school career

He attended St. Bonaventure High School in Ventura, California where he played with Lorenzo Booker. He moved to Eureka, California before his sophomore year where he played with Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Maurice Purify. His team, the Eureka High School Loggers completed their perfect 13-0 season with a North Coast Section championship at the Redwood Bowl during his junior year. That year he posted 146 tackles, 43 tackles for loss, 11 sacks and 1 interception. In his senior year he had 96 tackles, 37 tackles for loss, 4 interceptions (2 for TDs), -2 fumble recoveries and 1 kickoff return for a touchdown. Eureka went 20-2-1 during his junior and senior seasons. Following his senior season, Maualuga played in the 2005 U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

High school honors

Junior year (2003)

*Student Sports Junior All-American
*Cal-Hi Sports All-State Underclass first team

enior year (2004)

*"PARADE" All-American
*"USA Today" All-USA first team
*SuperPrep Elite 50
*PrepStar Top 100 Dream Team
*Student Sports Top 100
*Rivals 10
*SuperPrep All-American
*PrepStar All-American
*Tom Lemming All-American
*Scout.com All-American first team
*EA Sports All-American second team
*SuperPrep All-Farwest
*PrepStar All-West
*"Long Beach Press-Telegram" Best in the West first team
*"Tacoma News Tribune" Western 100
*"The Orange County Register" Fab 15 first team
*Cal-Hi Sports All-State first team honors as a senior linebacker
*U.S. Army All-American Bowl participant

College career

Maualuga plays college football for the University of Southern California. He wears number 58, which was previously worn by Lofa Tatupu who like Maualuga is also of Samoan descent.

Maualuga is a 2007 preseason Athlon and CBS Sportsline All-American and on the 2007 Bednarik Award, Lombardi Award and Bronko Nagurski Trophy watch lists and was considered a top choice for the 2008 NFL Draft. But he decided to stay for his senior year in college.

At the end of the 2007 regular season, Maualuga was selected to the All-Pacific 10 Conference first team for the second year in a row by league coaches. [http://www.pac-10.org/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/120307aal.html Pac-10 Football Awards and All-Conference Team Announced] , Pacific 10 Conference, December 3, 2007.] He was the defensive player-of-the-game in the 2008 Rose Bowl.Chris Foster, [http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-roseside2jan02,1,7111227.story USC's Maualuga caps a strong defensive effort] , "Los Angeles Times", January 2, 2008.]

In 2006 he was nominated for the Butkus Award and second team All-Pac-10.

He made the 2005 Football Writers Association of America Freshman All-American first team and Scout.com Freshman All-American first team; also he won USC's John McKay Award (most competitive spirit).

Some NFL scouts have compared Maualuga to former Trojan and current Pittsburgh Steelers safety Troy Polamalu for his aggressive style of play at linebacker, although Polamalu played both positions at USC before switching to safety for the Steelers.

Personal

He writes "RIP" on the eye-black sticker under his right eye and "DAD" on the eye-black sticker under his left eye in honor of his dad who passed away two days before the Rose Bowl after battling brain cancer during Maualuga’s freshman season. They now both read "DAD".

External links

* [http://usctrojans.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/maualuga_rey00.html Rey Maualuga] , USC Player Bio

References