Al Lolotai

{{Short description|Samoan gridiron football player (1920–1990)}}

{{Infobox NFL biography

| name = Al Lolotai

| image = Lolotai-Al-1946.jpg

| caption = Lolotai in 1946

| number = 26, 30

| position = Guard

| birth_date = {{birth date|1920|6|22}}

| birth_place = Western Samoa Trust Territory

| death_date = {{death date and age|1990|9|30|1920|6|22}}

| death_place = Pago Pago, American Samoa

| height_ft = 6

| height_in = 0

| weight_lb = 224

| high_school = ʻIolani School {{nowrap|(Honolulu, Hawaii)}}

| college = Weber JC
Colorado A&M

| undraftedyear = 1945

| pastteams = * Washington Redskins ({{NFL Year|1945}})

Los Angeles Dons (1946–1949)

| statleague = NFL/AAFC

| statlabel1 = Games played

| statvalue1 = 59

| statlabel2 = Games started

| statvalue2 = 32

| statlabel3 = Interceptions

| statvalue3 = 1

| pfr = L/LoloAl20

}}

Albert Lolotai (June 22, 1920 – September 30, 1990) was a Samoa-born American football offensive lineman. He played college football at Weber Junior College. Lolotai was the first Samoan American and Polynesian to play professional American football.{{cite web|last1=Ruck|first1=Rob|title=Football's Polynesian moment: Samoa's athletic outliers are paying a steep price for their commitment to the game|url=https://www.salon.com/2016/02/05/footballs_polynesian_moment_samoas_athletic_outliers_are_paying_a_steep_price_for_their_commitment_to_the_game/|work=Salon|date=5 February 2016|accessdate=5 February 2016}}

After his football career was over, Lolotai worked as a professional wrestler throughout Australasia, at one time holding a belt as Hawaiian heavyweight wrestling champion.

Biography

=Early life=

Al Lolotai was born in the Western Samoa Trust Territory and came to Hawaii with his family at the age of 9, knowing just three words of English.Ferd Lewis, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-honolulu-advertiser-lolotai-opened-t/150716577/ "Lolotai Opened the Way in NFL,"] Honolulu Advertiser, Oct. 5, 1950, p. C1. He grew up in the town of Laie.{{cite web|url=https://www.polynesia.com/blog/first-tongan-in-the-nfl-champions-education|title=First Tongan in the NFL Champions Education|date=25 February 2016|publisher=Polynesian Cultural Center|accessdate=October 21, 2020}} He attended Kahuku High School and graduated from 'Iolani School in Honolulu, Hawai'i.

He then attended Weber Junior College (now Weber State University) in Ogden, Utah, playing on the Weber Wildcats football team from 1941 to 1942, and served in the Hawaii Territorial Guard during World War 2.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/51748664/serving-in-hawaii5/|title=Serving in Hawaii_5|newspaper=The Signpost|date=27 May 1943|page=6}}

=Pro football career=

From 1945 to 1949, Lolotai played professional football, first in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins in 1945 before jumping to the Los Angeles Dons of the rival All-America Football Conference in 1946. As a member of the Redskis, Lolotai started at guard as a rookie and helped take his team to the 1945 Championship Playoff, a defeat at the hands of the Cleveland Rams.

Lolotai remained with the Dons until the end of the league in 1949. He played in a total of 59 games with 32 starts across the two professional leagues, additionally recording one interception with Washington in 1945.{{cite web|url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/L/LoloAl20.htm|title=Al Lolotai|publisher=Pro Football Reference|accessdate=October 21, 2020}}

File:Dons-vs-Fortyniners-program-471102.jpg

=Wrestling career=

After his time in pro football, Lolotai worked as a professional wrestler in Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, and Samoa.Murry Engle, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/honolulu-star-bulletin-al-lolotai-comman/150714086/ "Al Lolotai Commanded Respect On and Off the Field,"] Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Oct. 6, 1990, p. 5. He at one time held the title of Hawaiian heavyweight wrestling champion.

=Athletic director=

Lolotai would return to school and graduate with a Master's degree in physical education from Colorado A&M, working his way through school as a line coach for the Rams football team. With the founding of Church College of Hawaii in 1955, serve as its first Athletic Director. He mentored many of the young Samoan football players coming up in the Laie community to keep up with their studies, get into good schools, and helped set them up for their future.

A British citizen from birth, Lolotai renounced his British citizenship in 1961 to become a naturalized American citizen. He was the founder of the American Samoan Community Association and served a term as president of Big Brothers of Hawaii.

In his later years, he returned to Samoa at the request of its government, helping the establish its high school football program, for which he continued to coach until his death.