Source: Todd Rosenberg / Getty
[Indianapolis, IN]- The Laiatu Latu story sounds like one out of Hollywood.
The Indianapolis Colts selected Latu fifteenth overall out of UCLA. Three years ago, playing in the NFL seemed like a dream that would not come true.
While at Washington in 2020, Latu suffered a neck injury in practice that ended his Huskies career. However, the EDGE rusher still had more football in him.
“While we’re going through all this,” Latu’s former Defensive Coordinator Ikaika Malo said on the Wake Up Call with KB and Andy, “He kept telling his mom I’m not done with football.”
And done with football Latu was not. Latu would dabble in a fire fighting career and would join the rugby team.
After missing the 2021 season due to the neck injury, Latu transferred to UCLA from Washington, where he once again played under Coach Maloe.
Prior to coming to UCLA, a California doctor reevaluated Latu and cleared him to play.
“While at UCLA, I tell Chip Kelly, do you mind at least taking these MRIs and see if our team doctor will accept and have Laiatu join us at UCLA,” Coach Maloe shared, “So I give him the doctor’s name and Coach Kelly said, ‘are you sure that’s the doctor?’ And I said I’m sure why do you know him? and he said yeah that’s our team doctor.”
Latu played twenty-five games for the Bruins. He accumulated 23.5 sacks over those two years, also adding 34 tackles for loss. In his senior season, Latu had 13 sacks, 49 total tackles, and 21.5 tackles for loss.
Coach Maloe also shared how strong of a work ethic Laiatu has.
“He has no interest other than football,” Coach Maloe said, “I would call him on Sundays and ask him what he’s doing, and he’d just say watching film. I’m like bro go do something, you live about two miles from the beach. (He said) ‘Nah I’m good’. That’s his mindset. That’s exactly who you are going to get at the Colts organization.”
The story did not end on April 25th, 2024, but entered into another chapter. Indianapolis took Laiatu fifteenth overall, making him the first defensive player off the board.
Latu went from the eighteen to nineteen year old kid who was told he would never play football again, to a member of the NFL and Indianapolis Colts family.
The Colts will have their rookie minicamp next week.
Listen to the full conversation with Ikaika Maloe:
