A fullback who played for the USC Trojans in 1974-1977 and the New England Patriots of the NFL from 1978-1990 and then the Los Angeles Rams in 1991. In the Greater Boston area Mosi Tatupu was a star, not because he racked up touchdowns (He scored 28 TD in a 14 year career) or because of his ground gaining ability (he gained 2415 yards rushing during his whole career, his best year being 1983 where he gained 578 of those yards) but because he was a madman on special teams.
On any given special teams play Mosi usually did one of two things:
- Crush the ball carrier.
- Crush a blocker so somebody else could crush the ball carrier.
Mosi did this so often that he was named to the 1986 Pro Bowl, mainly due to his special teams play. In fact he was such a standout on special teams, the NCAA created a award in 1997, The Mosi Tatupu Special Teams Player Award, given annually to the best special teams player in college football.
But that wasn't all that Mosi did. As a fullback he usually got put in short yardage situations and almost always converted for a first down or a touchdown. If you needed a yard,he got you that yard, if you needed two yards he got you two yards, if you wanted three yards he got you two yards, but hey, nobody is perfect after all. The point is that Mosi always went full-force into the line, caring not a whit what the resulting collision would do to him. In fact as far as football was concerned Mosi Tatupu did everything full-force, and that's something that fans (especially in New England) remembers him for.
For "The Simpsons" fans, in episode 9f04,"The Treehouse of Horror III, the island chief in the "King Homer" segment shouts at one point (you guessed it) "Mosi Tatupu"! "Mosi Tatupu"! likely because of his American Samoan heritage.