Tautolo’s Parents? All About Ex-NFL Guard’s Guardians, Relationship, Family and More

The autumn of 1987 crackled with tension thicker than the shoulder pads on the Los Angeles Raiders practice field. The NFL players were on strike, and the owners, refusing to blink, filled rosters with replacements. Into this pressure cooker stepped John Tautolo, a veteran lineman with UCLA Bruins grit etched into his bones.

He wasn’t just playing for a paycheck; he was snapping the ball in a bizarre chapter of football history, embodying a resilience forged long before this unexpected call back to the trenches. Little did he know, decades later, his son Sam Tautolo would anchor an offensive line half a country away, inheriting not just the position, but the profound legacy of family that defined the Tautolo name.

For new Iowa State center Sam Tautolo, arriving in Ames felt like finding a familiar rhythm. The 6’3”, 305-pound junior wasn’t just stepping onto a new campus; he was walking a path paved by generations. “Athletics are all in the family,” Sam acknowledged, a simple statement echoing with the weight of Samoan tradition – faasamoa – and gridiron pedigree. His father, John, navigated the Bruins’ offensive line before a journeyman pro career.

Cousins like Matt Toeaina and Matt Tuiasosopo, plus UA standout Conan Amituanai, cemented the family’s athletic dynasty. Even sisters Emma (UCLA hoops) and Hannah (Regis volleyball) contributed to the legacy. Sam, however, was a late bloomer. He didn’t strap on football pads until his freshman year at Valley View High in Long Beach, California. His sheer size made an immediate impression. “The coach bumped me up to the junior varsity right away,” Sam recalled. “Then they moved me to center.” The transition wasn’t seamless. “The first time I snapped the ball it was over the quarterback’s head.”

It’s a value rooted in profound sacrifice. Faamaise – the family’s ‘sports taxi’ and homemaker – suffered a devastating stroke in 1969, leaving her fully paralyzed. Overnight, her five sons became caregivers. “Although they were angered and frustrated with the caregiving tasks that a trained nurse should be performing, the boys helped feed, change and bathe their mother out of love,” the family history notes.

The strain proved too much for their father, David, a Navy lifer working at McDonnell Douglas. He left David Jr., the eldest, in charge, promising financial support but abandoning the emotional battlefield. Despite this heartbreak, the brothers persevered. David Jr. sacrificed college football to care for their mom; the others – Terry, Ray, John, and Eric – all played college ball, with Terry (Eagles, 49ers) and John reaching the NFL. Faamaise passed in 1987; David Sr. in 2012.

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