If Kiko Mauigoa sacks Tua Tagovailoa, he is almost certain the quarterback’s parents won’t hold it against him.
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SIGN UP NOW“I’ve met them — very good people,” Mauigoa said. “It’s nothing personal, you know?”
Mauigoa, a rookie fifth-round draft pick, could make his first career start Monday night when the short-on-linebackers Jets visit the Dolphins. Not only will Mauigoa be returning to the site of some of his best football memories — his alma mater, the University of Miami, shares Hard Rock Stadium with the Tagovailoa’s Dolphins — but he will be chasing around a boyhood idol.
Mauigoa grew up playing quarterback in American Samoa, and the Hawaii-born Tagovailoa is of Samoan descent. American Samoa is known for producing a high rate of NFL players per capita, but many of the greats are linemen, and Mauigoa saw a path to being under center when Tagovailoa led Alabama to a national championship and Marcus Mariota led the Titans to the NFL playoffs.