Saul Patu
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Seattle, Washington, U.S.
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| Position | Defensive end | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Born | June 8, 1978 Seattle, Washington, U.S. | ||||||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 260 lb (118 kg) | ||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||
| High school | Rainier Beach (Seattle) | ||||||||||||
| College | Oregon | ||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 2001: undrafted | ||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||
Playing | |||||||||||||
* Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||||||
Coaching | |||||||||||||
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| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||||
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| Career Arena League statistics | |||||||||||||
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Saul King Patu (born June 8, 1978) is an American football coach and former defensive end. He played college football at Oregon and professionally in the Arena Football League (AFL).
Patu was born and raised in Seattle to a family of Samoan, Tongan, Fijian, German, and French background.[1] He graduated from Rainier Beach High School in Seattle in 1996.[2]
From 1997 to 2000 at the University of Oregon, Patu was a four-year starting defensive end for Oregon Ducks football. As a senior in 2000, Patu set a school record for single season tackles for loss with 21 and ranked third in the Pac-10 in sacks with eleven.[3] Patu earned honorable mention All-Pac-10 honors for his first three seasons and second-team All-Pac-10 honors in his senior year.[3] He graduated from Oregon in 2000 with a bachelor's degree in family and human services.[4]
Professional football
Saul Patu signed a free agent contract in the National Football League for the New York Jets (2001) and spent time with the New England Patriots (2001) and Tennessee Titans (2001–2002) before signing a contract in the Arena Football League for the Colorado Crush (2003–2008).[5] Patu is the Crush's all-time sack leader and holds the record for yards per carry as a fullback.[3] He was part of the 2005 Crush team that won ArenaBowl XIX.
Patu played last for the Columbus Destroyers in 2008 before retiring from football. In his six seasons with the AFL, Patu had 125 total tackles, 14.5 sacks, nine passes defended, nine forced fumbles, 196 rushing yards, nine rushing touchdowns, and one touchdown reception.[6]