Talanoa Hufanga

Golden Nuggets

• His name is pronounced tal-uh-NOE-uh who-FAWN-guh.
• Grew up on a farm where he and his family looked after goats, cows, chickens, pigs, dogs and cats. On his farm, they would drive dirt bikes and tractors, but taking care of his goat was always his favorite activity. "Growing up on a farm, it's a different kind of childhood I didn't have neighborhood friends to hang out with," he said. "On the weekends it was mandatory that my brother and I were working. We weeded, cleaned the barn, fed the animals, took eggs out of the chicken coop and maintained the pig pens."
• Comes from a family of football players, as brother, T.J., was a linebacker at Oregon State from 2013-14 and cousins Marlon and Tuli Tuipulotu are both defensive linemen at USC.

Golden Nuggets

• His name is pronounced tal-uh-NOE-uh who-FAWN-guh.
• Grew up on a farm where he and his family looked after goats, cows, chickens, pigs, dogs and cats. On his farm, they would drive dirt bikes and tractors, but taking care of his goat was always his favorite activity. "Growing up on a farm, it's a different kind of childhood I didn't have neighborhood friends to hang out with," he said. "On the weekends it was mandatory that my brother and I were working. We weeded, cleaned the barn, fed the animals, took eggs out of the chicken coop and maintained the pig pens."
• Comes from a family of football players, as brother, T.J., was a linebacker at Oregon State from 2013-14 and cousins Marlon and Tuli Tuipulotu are both defensive linemen at USC.

Goldmine

• Hufanga grew up on a small farm in Oregon where he and his family raised goats, cows, chickens, pigs, dogs and cats. The family would drive dirt bikes and tractors, but caring for his goat was always his favorite activity. "Growing up on a farm, it's a different kind of childhood I didn't have neighborhood friends to hang out with," he said. "On the weekends it was mandatory that my brother and I were working.
• We weeded, cleaned the barn, fed the animals, took eggs out of the chicken coop and maintained the pig pens."
• Hufanga's father, Tevita, grew up in Tonga until the age of 18. In 2014, Tevita took Hu-fanga to the village of Pea on Tonga's largest island, Tongatapu, to see where their family comes from. "It just kind of humbled me in the sense that I'm grateful for everything I have," Hufanga reflected. "You go to a
  place like that and see how my pops was raised is very different from how I was raised. He came from living on dirt floors to where he is now, it's a different lifestyle. It made me work that much harder just to try to do what I can do and be the better version of myself because that was the best version of himself moving and creating a better life for his family." Hufanga brings that culture, enthusiasm, energy and unwavering work ethic to everything he does on and off the field.

College

• Appeared in 24 (21 starts) games in 3 years (2018-20) at USC and recorded 203 tackles, 16.5 TFLs, 12 PDs, 6.5 sacks, 4 INTs and 4 FFs. As a junior in 2020, started all 6 games and registered 62 tackles, 5.5 TFLs, 5 PDs, 4 INTs, 3.0 sacks and 2 FFs. Started all 10 games in which he appeared as a sophomore in 2019 and recorded 90 tackles, 7.5 TFLs, 3.5 sacks, 3 PDs and 2 FFs. As a freshman in 2018, appeared in 8 games (5 starts) and hauled in 51 tackles, 4 PDs, and 3.5 TFLs

Awards & Honors

• 2022: NFC Pro Bowl Games, NFL Way to Play (Week 3), Polynesian Pro Football Defensive Player of the Year, AP First-Team All-Pro, PFWA All-NFL Team, PFWA All-NFC Team