Rey Maualuga
From NCAA College Football Information & Resource
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Rey Maualuga (born January 20, 1987 in Oklahoma) plays middle linebacker for the Southern California Trojans in the NCAA college football tournament. Maualuga returned for his junior year as the Trojans' starting middle linebacker and like the previous year, delivered in D with 75 tackles, 7.5 tackles for a 22-yard loss, 3 sacks for -14 yards, 1 fumble recovery, and 3 deflections. He capped the year with a remarkable performance against Illinois in his third consecutive Rose Bowl appearance, sacking quarterback Juice Williams thrice while picking off one of his passes to earn for himself the Rose Bowl Defensive MVP honors.
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[edit] Personal Life
Rey, also known as Rey Rey to his friends and family, was born in Oklahoma and lived there for a few years before moving to Hawaii. He stayed in Waipahu for about 8 years but was affiliated with a notorious gang called "True Samoan Kings." In hopes of living around a positive environment, Rey moved again this time in Eureka, California which was 270 miles north of San Francisco. Off the field when he was already a Trojan, Rey faced some struggles early in his career. In November 2005, Rey was booked on suspicion of misdemeanor battery after punching a student at a Halloween party. Then two months later, his father passed away two days before his postseason debut at the Rose Bowl after a long bout with cancer. He honors his father's memory by writing the bold letters "RIP" on the eye-black sticker under his right eye and "DAD" on the eye-black sticker under his left eye before games. On campus, Rey took up sociology as his major at the USC.
[edit] High School
During his freshman year, Maualuga attended St. Bonaventure High in Ventura (Calif.) in 2001 before transferring to Eureka High School for his junior year after he moved to Eureka, Ca. Along with Nebraska wide receiver Maurice Purify, Maualuga and the rest of the "Loggers" capped a perfect 13-0 record with a North Coast Section championship at the Redwood Bowl during his junior year. That season, he recorded 146 tackles, 43 tackles for loss, 11 sacks and 1 interception on his way to earning Student Sports Junior All-American and Cal-Hi Sports All-State Underclass first team selections.
As a senior, Maualuga logged 96 tackles, 37 tackles for loss, 4 interceptions (2 for TDs), 2 fumble recoveries and 1 kickoff return for a touchdown and received a collection of postseason accolades that include a spot at the 2004 Parade All-American team, USA Today All-USA first team, Super Prep Elite 50, Prep Star Top 100 Dream Team, Student Sports Top 100, Rivals 100, Super Prep All-American, Prep Star All-American, Tom Lemming All-American, Scout.com All-American first team, EA Sports All-American second team, Super Prep All-Farwest, Prep Star All-West, Long Beach Press-Telegram Best in the West first team, Tacoma News Tribune Western 100, Orange County Register Fab 15 first team and Cal-Hi Sports All-State first team.
He ended his career at Eureka High with a 20-2-1 win-loss-tie record in two seasons.
[edit] College
[edit] 2005
As a freshman, Maualuga was utilized mostly as a reserve middle linebacker with appearances on the special teams. He played in 12 of the Trojans' games, missing one against Hawai'i, and tallied 37 tackles, including 4.5 for losses of 23 yards (with an 8-yard sack), to go along with his 2 forced fumbles, 2 deflections and an interception that he returned 9 yards. He established a season and career high 9 tackles (1 TFL), 2 forced fumbles, and 2 deflections against UCLA, had 6 tackles (with the sack) and an interception at California, another 6 stops against Washington State, 5 tackles versus Stanford, 3 stops (2 for losses) against Arkansas and another 3 versus Fresno State. By season's end, Maualuga received postseason All-American First Team accolades from the Football Writers and Scout.com and also received the team's John McKay Award (for most competitive spirit).
[edit] 2006
After a successful rookie year, Maualuga returned and quickly became one of the most ferocious tacklers in the USC D unit, earning a starting nod just two games into the season. As a sophomore, he appeared in all 13 games and made ten starts. He registered a new career high 11 tackles (1 TFL) against Nebraska, had 6 tackles apiece against Arkansas and Oregon, had 9 stops and i deflection against Washington State, added 5 tackles apiece against Arizona, Washington, and Stanford, had 8 stops against Arizona State, had 4 against California, 3 against Notre Dame, and 2 against Michigan for a grand total of 78 stops (5 tackles for 17 yards loss), 3 pass deflections, and 1 interception for the season. For his efforts, he was rewarded with an All-America selection from Pro Football Weekly (honorable mention) and CFN (Sophomore First Team) while also making it to the All-Pac-10 selection of several publications. Maualuga was also considered for the Butkus Award for the nation's Outstanding Linebacker as one of the ten semifinalists, eventually won by Patrick Willis of Mississippi.
[edit] 2007
By his junior year, Maualuga was already heralded as one of the fastest and toughest go-to-guy in the Trojan defense and he continued to pile up a good resume for his future NFL application in only his third season at USC. He appeared in 12 games and started almost all of those outings had not for a hip pointer injury that slowed him down in the Notre Dame game. He matched a career-high 11 tackles (3 solo, 8 assisted) against 23rd ranked Oregon and had two ten-tackle games against Washington and Stanford. In his third consecutive postseason appearance against Illinois in the Rose Bowl, Maualuga logged 4 tackles (3 solo, 1 assisted including 3 tackles for an 18 yard loss), and 1 INT (returned 19 yards) to garner the game's defensive MVP honors. He finished the year with 79 tackles (41 solo, 38 assisted), including 10.5 tackles for (40 yards) loss, 6 sacks, and an interception to once again gain several postseason recognition from a number of publications. He was also named into several award watch lists including the Bednarik, Lombardi, and Nagurski awards.
[edit] Highlights
| 2008 Rose Bowl Defensive MVP Rey Maualuga's post-game interview. |
[edit] Achievements
[edit] 2007
- Athlon Preseason All-American
- Bednarik Award Watch List
- Butkus Award Watch List
- CBS Preseason All-American
- CollegeFootballNews.com All-America Defense Honorable Mention
- CollegeFootballNews.com All-Bowl Team Defense
- CollegeFootballNews.com All-Pac-10 Defense
- CollegeFootballNews.com's #14 Player in the Pac-10
- CollegeFootballNews.com's #3 Linebacker in the Pac-10
- CollegeFootballNews.com Preseason All-Pac-10 Defense
- CollegeFootballNews.com's Preseason #12 Player in the Pac-10
- Nagurski Award Preseason Watch List
- Pac-10 All-League First Team
- Phil Steele's All-Pac-10 First Team
- Phil Steele's Third Team All-American
- Pro Football Weekly All-America Honorable Mention
- Rivals.com All-Pac-10 Second Team
- Rose Bowl Defensive MVP
- Rotary Lombardi Preliminary Watch List
[edit] 2006
- Butkus Award Watch List
- CollegeFootballNews.com All-Pac-10 Defense
- CollegeFootballNews.com Sophomore All-America First Team
- CollegeFootballNews.com's #14 Player in the Pac-10
- CollegeFootballNews.com's #2 Linebacker in the Pac-10
- Pac-10 All-League Second Team
- Scout.com All-Pac-10 First Team
[edit] 2005
- FWAA Freshman All-America
- Scout.com Freshman All-America
- USC John McKay Award
[edit] References
- Led by Rey Maualuga, USC's defense dominates in Rose Bowl victory
- Rey Maualuga Feature
- Rey Maualuga Stats @ CFBStats.com
- Rey Maualuga USC Profile
- Rey Maualuga Wikipedia
