Gene J. Puskar / AP
Pittsburgh Steelers first-round draft pick Troy Fautanu, left, and owner Art Rooney II pose at an NFL football press conference in Pittsburgh, Friday, April 26, 2024.
Wednesday, May 8, 2024 | 2 a.m.
The importance of family was underscored when Troy Fautanu decided where he would celebrate his selection in the NFL Draft.
The league invited all potential first-round prospects to attend the draft in Detroit. That included Fautanu, the 23-year-old fifth-year senior from Washington who was projected to be among the tackle-heavy prospects taken on the first day.
Just 13 players accepted the invitation. Some stayed home because of the uncertainty surrounding their draft position. Others may have balked at celebrating their big day in the Motor City.
For Fautanu, it came down to the two women seated next to him — one on each side — at his draft party in his hometown of Henderson.
“He wanted his grandmothers there with him,” said George Baker, Fautanu’s position coach for his senior year at Liberty High School. “He wanted to be able to share it with them.”
Which is why they were the first two people Fautanu hugged once his selection by the Pittsburgh Steelers became official. First, he embraced his maternal grandmother. Then he bent over and hugged his paternal grandmother. Next Fautanu met with his parents.
“Without their sacrifice, I wouldn’t be here,” Fautanu said.
Fautanu completed his rounds by hugging his sister and girlfriend while a room filled with dozens of friends and family members erupted in applause.
“Those people,” Fautanu said the next day when he was introduced by the Steelers, his parents and sister in tow, “being able to share that moment with them (was special) because they’ve done so much to get me to this point. Hats off to them for believing in me from such a young age.”
Las Vegas has such an influx of Hawaiian descendants that it is known as the ninth island. The Henderson suburb in general and Liberty High School in particular are no different. Enrollment at the school is about 3,300 students, and head football coach Rich Muraco estimates two-thirds of his players are of Pacific Island descent.
“They respect their elders and don’t speak when they are talking,” said Muraco, who has been at Liberty since 2003. “That is what makes our school so special. You get a different family vibe.”
Fautanu is of Samoan and Tongan heritage.
“It’s everything to me,” Fautanu said of his Polynesian background. “It’s the loyalty you have.”
The sense of community is shared on Senior Night for the football team. Players at many high schools are accompanied on the field by their parents. At Liberty, it’s not uncommon for 20-30 family members to attend the festivities and walk the field.
“Entire families come in for it,” Baker said. “Kids are decked out head to toe and are wearing leis, big crowns. It’s something to see.”
Within any tight-knit community, squabbles can arise that threaten to splinter that familial camaraderie on a team. In athletics, the interests of parents and coaches don’t always align perfectly. Coaches may ask a player to move from a familiar position to one of need.
It happened with Fautanu after his freshman season at Liberty. After playing fullback and defensive end growing up, Fautanu moved to tight end when he was called up to the varsity roster for the playoffs.
Troy Fautanu of the Liberty High football team poses for a photo at the Las Vegas Sun's high school football media day Tuesday July 31, 2018 at the Red Rock Resort and Casino.
The following spring, ahead of Fautanu’s sophomore year, Muraco decided to move him to offensive tackle.
“He wasn’t happy,” Muraco said. “His parents weren’t real happy.”
Muraco laid out the family’s options: Fautanu could continue to play tight end or focus on defensive end, but he would not be first string at either spot. If Fautanu moved to tackle, he could start as a sophomore.
“It took a little convincing, but they eventually bought in,” Muraco said.
By moving to tackle, Fautanu had to give up the No. 43 he wore as an homage to his favorite player, Steelers Hall of Fame safety Troy Polamalu. He also had to learn a position that didn’t come naturally.
“He wasn’t in love with it,” Muraco said. “It’s one of those positions where you have to love the grind. You do all the dirty work and don’t get the recognition.”
Fautanu put in the work and improved to the point that he received 12 scholarship offers after that sophomore season.
One of the first was from Vanderbilt without coaches having personally seen Fautanu take a snap on the football field. When a Vandy coach showed up to watch spring practice, he was informed that Fautanu was inside the gym playing in a volleyball match. That caught the Vanderbilt coach by surprise, Muraco said, considering offensive linemen aren’t known for their leaping ability.
“An hour later, he came out and said I’m offering that kid,” Muraco said. “He said Troy was just too athletic.”
Baker arrived at Liberty in 2018 to coach the offensive line. He came aboard in time for Fautanu’s senior year.
“He had so much talent, I didn’t want to mess him up,” Baker said. “There were things we would tweak, but at the end of the day, I didn’t need to do too much.”
As Fautanu’s scholastic career progressed, the college offers continued to pour in. Muraco estimated Fautanu had at least 30, including Southern Cal, the alma mater of Polamalu.
On the night Fautanu was drafted, he told the story of how then-USC coach Clay Helton timed his recruiting trip to a day when Polamalu would be on campus. Fautanu was in Helton’s office when they heard a knock on the door. Fautanu answered and found Polamalu standing in front of him.
Washington offensive lineman Troy Fautanu (55) blocks for running back Dillon Johnson (7) who takes a handoff from quarterback Michael Penix Jr. (9) during the team's NCAA college football game against Arizona on Sept. 30, 2023, in Tucson, Ariz. The Pittsburgh Steelers selected Fautanu with the 20th overall pick in the first round of Thursday's NFL draft, giving them a potential bookend to last year's top pick Broderick Jones.
It wasn’t enough to sway Fautanu, who verbally committed to attend Washington. What Fautanu didn’t say on draft night was how Helton and an entourage of USC assistants showed up at Liberty on the eve of signing day trying to flip the commitment.
It didn’t work. Fautanu had given his word to Washington, and off he headed to the Pacific Northwest. Like many young offensive line prospects, Fautanu needed to add weight and allow his body to develop so he could handle bigger, older defensive players.
Fautanu was redshirted as a freshman, then saw limited playing time as a backup during the COVID-shortened 2020 season. In 2021, he started three games and appeared in nine.
“I think for a couple of years he wondered where he would fit in,” Baker said. “Then he took off, and it was like wildfire.”
Fautanu started 27 games at left tackle during his final two seasons with the Huskies. As he progressed into a 6-foot-4, 317-pound force on the offensive line, so did the program, which played for a national championship last season, losing to Michigan.
“I think his talents were really highlighted by the way Washington used him,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. “You saw everything that you wanted to see. You saw him out in space in the perimeter game, be it crack toss or wide receiver screens. He was great in the run game. He was great in drop-back pass protection. ... He just checked every box.”
Fautanu was one of several tackles the Steelers invited to Pittsburgh for an official top-30 visit. The Steelers, though, held the No. 20 overall pick. Fautanu thought he might stay in Seattle given that the Seahawks had hired Huskies offensive line coach Scott Huff in the offseason.
“As much as he was a Steelers fan,” Baker said, “I don’t think Pittsburgh was in his mindset.”
Seattle had the No. 16 pick but selected defensive tackle Byron Murphy. Two picks later, Cincinnati made Amarius Mims the fifth tackle taken. After the Los Angeles Rams took a defensive lineman, the Steelers didn’t waste time choosing Fautanu.
Two days earlier, Fautanu returned to his high school alma mater and spoke to the football team at spring practice. On draft night, though, his former head coach and position coach had other obligations and were unable to attend the Fautanu draft party.
As head of the local coaches association, Muraco was an invited guest at the Las Vegas Raiders’ draft event. Baker was helping run spring practice when Fautanu’s selection to the Steelers was announced.
“My phone started blowing up,” Baker said. “It was people from the Ohio Valley saying, ‘We got your boy.’ ”
And a good one at that, according to Baker.
“I grew up a Steelers fan. ... I know Steelers fans. I know Steelers nation,” he said. “He’s going to fit right in.”
