Tatupu, Polamalu take different paths to same place

DETROIT — During the first week Lofa Tatupu spent at USC, coach Pete Carroll pulled him aside and advised emulating an older player who shared Tatupu's Samoan heritage and an uncanny knack for pursuing running backs.

He didn't know Tatupu would take that advice so far.

Tatupu didn't just study Troy Polamalu. He honored him. It happened during his junior season, when Tatupu decided he wouldn't cut his hair until after USC won the national championship.

If it worked for Polamalu, Tatupu decided, it couldn't hurt. And so he grew it shoulder length and didn't shave it until the Trojans won another trophy.

"I'm sure a lot of guys with long hair have it because Troy did it," Tatupu says, referencing Polamalu wigs fans wore at USC. "He's a trend-setter."

And still, it's too easy to compare the two. Both graduated and won championships at USC. Both are young and leaders of their respective NFL defenses. Both have Samoan blood and watch tons of film and pinball into running backs. Both grew up in small towns, but on opposite coasts.

Seahawks safety Michael Boulware says one player "is always flying around the ball. He plays like I want to see myself playing." He says you "never" see the other player "in slow motion. Anything he's doing, he's doing full speed and all-out. I love that intensity."

The first quote describes Polamalu. The second describes Tatupu. Both could easily describe the other.

But that's about where this tale of two Trojans ends. In fact, they probably have more differences than similarities.

Tatupu says he never really followed the careers of Samoan football players, other than his father, Mosi, who enjoyed a long NFL career. He followed running backs, the position his dad played, and loved Thurman Thomas.

Polamalu spent a good portion of his media-day interviews talking about Samoan football players. He referred to Jack Thompson, the Washington State graduate, by his nickname — The Throwin' Samoan. He talked about how the family atmosphere Samoans are raised in translates to their love of football.

He even gave a dissertation on Samoan life in America.

"Samoans have had a problem assimilating in American society," Polamalu says. "Because they're very different. American society is a rat race. Samoan is really open and really laid back. In that sense, we've had a tough time assimilating."

Polamalu moved to Tenmile, Ore., about 150 miles north of the California border, to escape crime in California at the age of 8. He lived with an aunt and uncle, part of the only minority family in the town, and grew out of a lifestyle he joked "the FBI has some public files on."

Raised by a village, Polamalu says, and then off to USC and the first round of the NFL draft. In only his third NFL season, insiders already consider Polamalu one of the elite defensive players in the league.

The same could be said for the Seahawks' rookie middle linebacker, although he took an entirely different road to get there. Tatupu first went to Maine, then transferred to USC. He left early for the draft, but experts considered him a reach in the second round.

And still, Tatupu says he expected this season to go exactly the way it has gone.

"And I know that's easy to say now because of the way that it worked out," he says. "Had it worked out any other way, I would have told you that it was a failure. Everybody who leaves college with eligibility, they leave because they're pretty certain they can make an impact."

Tatupu still studies Polamalu — the angles he takes, the way he disguises coverage until the last minute. Maybe Tatupu's disguised interception in the NFC Championship Game came from that study.

Tatupu's voice even jumps an octave when he talks about his favorite Polamalu plays. Like the time Polamalu lined up across from a receiver, went in motion with him, then ran 30 yards diagonally to cover his deep half of the field. Tatupu estimates it took four seconds.

"He doesn't like the limelight," teammate Joey Porter says of Polamalu. "This stuff [media day] is a distraction to him. On game day, he's going to go out there and be Troy, let his hair down, so to speak."

Polamalu and Tatupu provide an interesting comparison in that way — two players at once so similar and so different. For everyone, that is, except Tatupu and Polamalu.

"We're very different football players," Polamalu says. "We play different positions. The defense calls us to do different things as well."

Different things very well. And that's where similarities meet differences.

Greg Bishop: 206-464-3191 or gbishop@seattletimes.com