Former Washington Huskies edge rusher Zion Tupuola-Fetui is resilient. During the season, he played through a torn labrum. Following Washington’s victory over Stanford, he learned of his father’s passing.
After playing the following week against USC with a heavy heart and forcing a clutch fumble of quarterback Caleb Williams in a 52-42 win, he gave a tear-filled tribute to his father in a postgame interview that pulled at every Husky fan’s heartstrings.
The winner of the Don James Perseverance Award at the team’s postseason banquet was one of the 15 Washington players to enter the 2024 NFL draft and was the only one who didn’t find a home, either through the draft or free agency.
One could attest that he was overlooked due to the injury that he played through during his senior season and opted to have surgery following the national championship before getting a chance to showcase his talents at the NFL combine or the East-West Shrine game.
The Pearl City, Hawaii native still held out hope that he was meant to continue with his football career. This past weekend, those hopes became a reality when the Saskatchewan Roughriders signed him to their practice squad.
However, that could be a short stint, given the stats he was able to amass over his 60 career games on Montlake. In that time, he recorded 88 total tackles, 16 sacks, 19 tackles for loss, and five forced fumbles.
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