rey maualuga

Oklahoma High school Eureka High School,

Eureka, California Awards 2009 Senior Bowl invitee

2008 Bednarik Award

2008 CBS Sportsline.com Defensive Player of the Year

2008 AP, ESPN, Walter Camp Football Foundation, CBS Sportsline.com, Sporting News, FWAA, American Football Coaches Association and Rivals.com All-American teams

3x First Team All-Pac-10 (2006-2008)

2008 Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year

2008 Sports Illustrated Second Team All-American

2008 Pro Football Weekly All-American Honorable Mention

2008 USC Team MVP

2008 Rose Bowl Defensive MVP

2006 All-Pac-10 Second Team

2005 Freshman All-American

Rey Maualuga (born January 20, 1987 in Oklahoma) is an American football middle linebacker for the University of Southern California Trojans football team. He is the 2008 winner of the Chuck Bednarik Award, given to the best defensive player in the nation.[1] Contents [hide] 1 Early life 2 High school career 2.1 High school honors 2.1.1 Junior year (2003) 2.1.2 Senior year (2004) 3 College career 4 Personal 5 External links 6 References //

Early life Maualuga on the sidelines of Nebraska's Memorial Stadium

Maualuga was born in Oklahoma, to American Samoan parents. His father, Talatonu, was in Oklahoma serving with the United States Army. Within a few months the family moved to Waipahu, Hawaii, near Honolulu. While in sixth grade, Maualuga started playing football because he saw the popular kids played football and carried their pads and helmets to school. After sixth grade, his family moved to Oxnard, California as his father pursued Pentecostal ministry. He spent his first year of high school in nearby Ventura before moving up to Eureka in far Northern California where his father practiced ministry.[2]

High school career

He attended St. Bonaventure High School in Ventura, California where he played with Lorenzo Booker. He moved to Eureka, California before his sophomore year where he played with Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Maurice Purify. His team, the Eureka High School Loggers completed their perfect 13-0 season with a North Coast Section championship at the Redwood Bowl during his junior year. That year he posted 146 tackles, 43 tackles for loss, 11 sacks and 1 interception. In his senior year he had 96 tackles, 37 tackles for loss, 4 interceptions (2 for TDs), -2 fumble recoveries and 1 kickoff return for a touchdown. Eureka went 20-2-1 during his junior and senior seasons. Following his senior season, Maualuga played in the 2005 U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

High school honors

Junior year (2003) Student Sports Junior All-American Cal-Hi Sports All-State Underclass first team

Senior