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The University of Utah Athletics
Leki Fotu: Making His Family Proud
6/28/2018 4:43 PM | Football
With two older brothers who played football at Illinois and Arizona, and a younger brother joining the Utes this fall, there is no doubt that Leki Fotu comes from an athletic background. As the 2018 season approaches, Fotu will be able to showcase his background as one of the leading contenders for defensive tackle.
Fotu, who was born and raised in Oakland, Calif., considers his family the most important thing to him. While he has his brothers to thank for getting him into the sport of football, he considers someone else his biggest influence.
"My two older brothers are the reason why I'm playing football," Fotu said. "If it were not for them, I would not have anyone else to look up to in football. They have been a huge influence in my life and I still look up to them, but everything we do is for our mom. She is the most important thing to us and its who we do this for."
His parents, who are originally from Tonga, watched their son play rugby to start off his athletic career as he played on the USA Rugby Boys High School All-American team and trained with the London Wasps' in 2013.
It was a move to Utah in 2015 that changed Fotu's athletic path, helping him realize his possible future in football. He started at Herriman High School his senior year, earning Deseret News 5A MVP and first-team all-state, quickly catching the eye of the Utah coaching staff.
"Choosing Utah was an easy decision for me," Fotu said. "When we first moved here from California, Utah was one of the only schools recruiting me and stayed with me from the start until later on in the recruiting process when everyone else started looking at me too. I wanted to stay with Utah and stay loyal."
Utah football has been known to pump out NFL caliber defensive lineman on a yearly basis, something Fotu found attractive in the program. With the addition of Kylie Fitts to the Chicago Bears in the 2018 NFL Draft, Utah now has nine former Ute defensive linemen on NFL rosters, giving Fotu plenty of learning examples throughout his career.
"I learned a lot from the older guys, especially my freshman season," he said. "I didn't really play much, but throughout that year, I was getting to learn a lot. That year helped me develop and I just started to get more comfortable playing because of them teaching and guiding me through my technique."
Fotu's technique isn't the only thing that stands out on the field, the 6-5, 323-pound junior has speed, length and athleticism that will be on display this fall. Coming off a strong sophomore campaign where he played in 13 games and started two on the line, Fotu is focusing on getting himself and his team better."
"I've been putting in a lot of extra work, looking back at film from last year and trying to better my technique," Fotu said. "I'm also trying to get the younger guys into it as well. That is something I feel like I've tried to do since I have been here is just to get the whole defensive line and team to do that extra work, and not just after practice, but on our days off too."
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Fotu, who was born and raised in Oakland, Calif., considers his family the most important thing to him. While he has his brothers to thank for getting him into the sport of football, he considers someone else his biggest influence.
"My two older brothers are the reason why I'm playing football," Fotu said. "If it were not for them, I would not have anyone else to look up to in football. They have been a huge influence in my life and I still look up to them, but everything we do is for our mom. She is the most important thing to us and its who we do this for."
His parents, who are originally from Tonga, watched their son play rugby to start off his athletic career as he played on the USA Rugby Boys High School All-American team and trained with the London Wasps' in 2013.
It was a move to Utah in 2015 that changed Fotu's athletic path, helping him realize his possible future in football. He started at Herriman High School his senior year, earning Deseret News 5A MVP and first-team all-state, quickly catching the eye of the Utah coaching staff.
"Choosing Utah was an easy decision for me," Fotu said. "When we first moved here from California, Utah was one of the only schools recruiting me and stayed with me from the start until later on in the recruiting process when everyone else started looking at me too. I wanted to stay with Utah and stay loyal."
Utah football has been known to pump out NFL caliber defensive lineman on a yearly basis, something Fotu found attractive in the program. With the addition of Kylie Fitts to the Chicago Bears in the 2018 NFL Draft, Utah now has nine former Ute defensive linemen on NFL rosters, giving Fotu plenty of learning examples throughout his career.
"I learned a lot from the older guys, especially my freshman season," he said. "I didn't really play much, but throughout that year, I was getting to learn a lot. That year helped me develop and I just started to get more comfortable playing because of them teaching and guiding me through my technique."
Fotu's technique isn't the only thing that stands out on the field, the 6-5, 323-pound junior has speed, length and athleticism that will be on display this fall. Coming off a strong sophomore campaign where he played in 13 games and started two on the line, Fotu is focusing on getting himself and his team better."
"I've been putting in a lot of extra work, looking back at film from last year and trying to better my technique," Fotu said. "I'm also trying to get the younger guys into it as well. That is something I feel like I've tried to do since I have been here is just to get the whole defensive line and team to do that extra work, and not just after practice, but on our days off too."
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