Chris Maumalanga

Maumalanga was born in Redwood City, California and attended Bishop Montgomery High School where he was named All-State in both football and track.[1]

Maumalanga attended Kansas where he was a four-year letter winner while majoring in business.[1] As a sophomore, he recorded the first safety in Aloha Bowl history during the Jayhawks win over BYU. As a senior, he recorded 74 tackles and 7.5 sacks.[1] He was also named first-team All-Conference and honorable mention All-American as a senior.[1] He finished his senior season by winning the 1994 Hula Bowl defensive MVP award.

Maumalanga was selected in the fourth round (128th overall) by the New York Giants.[2] On July 25, 1994 during training camp Maumalanga got into a fight with offensive lineman Scott Davis.[3] Maumalanga bloodied Davis after cutting him open with a one-and-a-half-inch gash from his forehead to his nose, which required five stitches to close.[3] Later in 1994, Maumalanga was involved in a locker room fight with Michael Strahan. Strahan dodged Maumalanga's initial punch and locked Maumalanga in a rear naked choke hold and held him there until the fight was broken up by teammates.[4]

As a rookie, replacing an injured Coleman Rudolph, Maumalanga recorded five tackles against the Dallas Cowboys.[5] He finished the season with seven total tackles, one forced fumble and one pass defensed.[6]

In 1995 with the Arizona Cardinals he played in six games recording one tackle.[6] In 1996, he played in one game.

In 1997, he spent time with the Kansas City Chiefs, St. Louis Rams and Chicago Bears.[7] In 1999, he spent time with the Cleveland Browns.[7] In 2000, also spent time on the off-season roster of the Oakland Raiders.[7]

In 2000, he also played in the Arena Football League as an offensive lineman as well as a defensive lineman for both the Buffalo Destroyers and Houston ThunderBears. In his lone AFL season, he recorded eight tackles, one sack and two pass break-ups. In 2001, he played for the New York/New Jersey Hitmen. For the league's lone season, he recorded 37 total tackles and four sacks.[1]

Maumalanga also coached at Cathedral High School in Los Angeles.[8]

Growing up, Maumalanga was a member of a street gang.[5][9] In June, 1995 during training camp, he knocked out linebacker, Mitch Davis, and had to be pulled off of him by two fellow linebackers, Pete Shufelt and Jessie Armstead.[5] Not long after, Maumalanga got into a fight with future Hall of Fame defensive end Michael Strahan.[5][9]

He has four children, Olivia, Matthew, Christian and Ana Elizabeth.[1][10]

His cousin, Stephen Paea, was a second-round pick by the Chicago Bears as a defensive tackle and played seven seasons with the NFL.

Maumalanga founded the Tongan American Youth Foundation. He also coaches at Football University.

• Football University bio