Team

Originally from Marysville, Washington Tupou played football for Archbishop Murphy before committing to the University of Washington. The defensive lineman played 33 games for the Huskies, made 59 tackles, and served as a game captain in 2015. He also was the recipient of the 108th annual Guy Flaherty Award, the Washington football program’s oldest award, in 2015 – awarded to UW’s most inspirational player by player vote. In May 2016, the Seattle Seahawks signed Tupou as a fullback / defensive tackle option after a successful showing at rookie minicamp. Although released by the Seahawks in September after contributing to the Hawks’ season opener victory, Tupou pivoted to The Spring League where he then got an invite to the Atlanta Falcons minicamp. An on-and-off member of their practice squad for the 2017 season, the Falcons waived Tupou in April 2018. The Arizona Cardinals picked up Tupou next for a short-term before playing for the Alliance of American Football’s San Diego Fleet until AAF ceased their operations. Returning to his home state, the XFL’s arrival presented another chance to put on a Seattle jersey as he was drafted to the Seattle Dragons in the seventh round. XFL was forced to cease their operations though in April 2020 due to the global pandemic.

Waiting for the next door to open, a new opportunity finally presented itself after years of moving around in football with the game of rugby. The American Raptors invited him to Glendale, Colorado to give the sport a go. Tupou caught on quick, becoming the Raptors team captain and earning valuable minutes in matches across the US. The Raptors toured to Uruguay in Fall 2021, giving Tupou a taste of international rugby competition and travel. The 6’2, 275 lb. prop will continue to build his rugby skills under the Seawolves coaching staff as he prepares to make his Major League Rugby debut in the coming weeks.