Sam Taulealea, the popular nose guard who suited up with the Concordia Stingers football team in 2004, has been signed by NFL Europe and will be on the field with the Berlin Thunder when play starts this weekend.
A native of Halawa, Hawaii Taulealea originally played college football at the University of Colorado. Unhappy with the program, he stopped playing football until Rudy Hage, a friend from Montreal, convinced him to give Concordia a try.
"I had lost the passion to play when I was in Colorado. I wanted to get the feeling back again and I found it at Concordia," he told local reporters during his Stinger season.
At six foot two, 320 pounds he was formidable on the Stingers' defensive line. In eight regular season games Taulealea recorded 12 solo tackles, 14 assists and one sack.
The Thunder visit the Amsterdam Admirals on Saturday in an NFL Europe season opener. The 10-game regular season wraps up on May 20 with a game versus the Frankfurt Galaxy.
