USC fan-favorite Tatupu dies


By
 2 Comments/in ,

Former Trojan fullback Mosi Tatupu died Tuesday at the age of 54.  The Plainview, Mass., fire department took him to the Sturdy Memorial Hospital in Attleboro, Mass., early Tuesday morning, where he died of undisclosed causes.

Born in Pago Pago, American Samoa, Tatupu attended Punahou high school in Hawaii, where he was a star running back.  During his time there, he set a state record with 3,367 rushing yards, a record that stood for 17 years.

A successful high school career brought him to USC, where Tatupu was a fullback on the 1974 National Championship team.  During his time with the Trojans, he rushed for 1,277 yards on 233 carries, an average of 5.73 yards per carry.  He was named USC’s Offensive Player of the Year and Most Inspirational Player in 1977, his senior season.  From 1997 to 2006 the Mosi Tatupu Award was given annually to college football’s best special teams player.

He went on to a 14 year career in the NFL.  His first 13 seasons were spent with the New England Patriots, who selected him in the eighth round of the 1978 NFL draft.  He was one of the teams most popular players and had his own cheering section, where the fans were known as “Mosi’s Mooses.”  He was named to the 1986 Pro Bowl as a special teams player and played in the Super Bowl the same season.  He retired as the NFL career leader in games played by a running back with 199.

Tatupu’s son, Lofa, played linebacker on the Trojans’ national championship teams in 2003 and 2004 and is now a Pro Bowl linebacker with the Seattle Seahawks.

Tatupu will be remembered for his hard-nosed play, whether it was running the ball, blocking for the ball carrier, or on special teams.  He will be missed by the Trojan Family.

2 replies
  1. Rich
    Rich says:

    My condolences to the Tatupu familly for the loss of such a young father. Mosi sounds like he was a great leader and a good family man. Ron, thats a great story about aspects of Mosi people probably didnt know, he was a good student as well. What a great Trojan!

  2. Ron
    Ron says:

    Very sad news about Mosi passing away at only 54 years old. Although his football achievements were many and brought him notoriety, I remember him from an upper division engineering class we took together as USC students. A few times we hung out after class and played backgammon. For such an aggressive workhorse, with calves bigger than my thighs, I got a kick out of his laid back mellow side. A genuinely nice guy and a great Trojan. My condolences to his family.

Comments are closed.