UW's Faatui Tuitele, from the Hawaiian Projects, is No Project
You can find him bringing up the rear.
Pulling on No. 99, Faatui Tuitele is the very last player listed on the University of Washington football roster, which goes 116 deep.
Yet in many ways, he ranks No. 1 amongst these Huskies.
First, as in scholarship offers — the leading recruiting websites showed the defensive tackle from Honolulu received 38 or 39 scholarship offers, a half-dozen more than any of his UW teammates.
Imagine the overwhelming number of texts or calls coming at you at all times from all of these suitors. You might not keep your phone charged just to breathe a little.
First, as in the Huskies' most heralded recruit of the 2019 class, a designation usually bestowed on a quarterback, a running back or a cornerback, a glamor guy, not often someone from the trenches.
First, as in the top recruit emerging that year from Hawaii, one of the Huskies' most fertile recruiting grounds for some time, a regular talent grab further reinforced by now having seven islanders on scholarship.
And while team followers are eager to see extended minutes out of a host of unused yet intriguing young players, such as Julius Ervin, Daniel Heimuli, Sama Paama and Nate Kalepo, Tuitele probably tops that list, too.
Still, he prefers approaching things from the other direction. It keeps him motivated.
"Rock bottom will teach you more than mountain tops ever will," Tuitele now has posted across his Twitter account.
This is the 62nd profile of a returning Washington football player, each of which can be found on the site by scrolling back. While the pandemic has interrupted and delayed team activities, Husky Maven/Sports Illustrated offers continuous coverage of the team.
Tuitele appeared in just four games as a UW freshman to preserve four seasons of eligibility, but he led the team in the biggest newspaper spread — he was the subject of a two-part series in the Seattle Times, one detailing his rise from a notorious Honolulu housing project. No other teammate received coverage such as this.
The Hawaiian shared how he grew up in a three-bedroom apartment shared by 11 family members. The place was called Mayor Wright Homes. He has those initials tattooed on his back. His body is a personal roadmap. He has a former home in Samoa and his last name inked cross his chest and stomach in large script letters, respectively.
Football, however, has afforded him the chance to move into a dorm room on almost any college campus in America.
Tuitele's final five choices resembled the top rungs of a national football poll: Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, Texas and Washington.
In this particular tweet, the highly regarded Hawaiian turned up on a visit at LSU, the reigning national champion and a place that didn't make his final cut.
Alabama thought it was the leader to sign Tuitele to a letter of intent, mainly because his former teammate from Saint Louis High School, quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, led the Crimson Tide to a national championship. That didn't factor in for him.
USC fans were incensed because Tuitele visited and said nice things about the Trojans, that it was always a dream school, and he didn't include them among his finalists.
At Washington, he carries a 6-foot-3, 288-pound frame, roughly down 15 pounds since leaving high school, toned up by the training staff. Either way, his combined quickness and aggressiveness remain his strong suits, as shown in this camp footage.
Tuitele plays with a fire within because of that background of his, which is a thing of the past everywhere but in his brain.
"I do carry that pride and the sense that nothing's going to bring me down," he told the Times, "because I know what it's like to be from the bottom."
Top or bottom, the Huskies always know where he is. Opponents will, too.
SUMMARY: Defensive tackle might have the best collection of talent of any UW position area, and Tuitele's presence helps make it so. The Huskies just need to turn him loose.
GRADE (1 to 5): He gets a 3.5 based on his exalted recruiting reputation. He should be able to build on it if the pandemic permits a college football season.
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