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RIP Tuufuli Uperesa

ilovethecats said:
Any background on him? I’m not familiar.
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https://406mtsports.com/college/big-sky-conference/university-of-montana/former-griz-great-nfl-player-tuufuli-uperesa-dies/article_9a9c438b-5bd3-5fe9-9b9c-8deb4dd766a1.html
 
"Fuli" as we called him, was a great lineman, and I used to party with he and some of the other Griz players from Hawaii like Greg Paresa and Byron Lovell at downtown bars, and at 8-Ball Billiards on Russell. He was a mountain of a man with a huge heart. If Fuli is not already in the Griz Hall of Fame, he should be for certain.
 
hunt-ducks said:
"Fuli" as we called him, was a great lineman, and I used to party with he and some of the other Griz players from Hawaii like Greg Paresa and Byron Lovell at downtown bars, and at 8-Ball Billiards on Russell. He was a mountain of a man with a huge heart. If Fuli is not already in the Griz Hall of Fame, he should be for certain.
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If Uperesa isn’t in the Griz Hall of Fame, there shouldn’t be one.
 
FB = fullback or football, depending on point of reference. The '69-71 Griz didn't need a massive fullback. That would be left Refrigerator Perry and the Bears years later.

A friend knew Mr. Uperesa at UM, in passing(not a football term). Now, both have passed on. He was described as a fireplug with feet. HOF for sure.
 
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3-7-77 said:
FB = fullback or football, depending on point of reference. The '69-71 Griz didn't need a massive fullback. That would be left Refrigerator Perry and the Bears years later.

A friend knew Mr. Uperesa at UM, in passing(not a football term). Now, both have passed on. He was described as a fireplug with feet. HOF for sure.
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77, thanks for the FB clarification. My bad.
 
The correction was SoCal's use of the term, not yours. besides, that was over 50 years ago. I doubt Swarthout as that daring. I believe Les Kent was the FB. Again, memories are what they are, yours or mine.
 
3-7-77 said:
The correction was SoCal's use of the term, not yours. besides, that was over 50 years ago. I doubt Swarthout as that daring. I believe Les Kent was the FB. Again, memories are what they are, yours or mine.
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So true. By the way, Les Kent was a very good fullback. Another Hawaiian as I recall.
 
Spanky2 said:
3-7-77 said:
The correction was SoCal's use of the term, not yours. besides, that was over 50 years ago. I doubt Swarthout as that daring. I believe Les Kent was the FB. Again, memories are what they are, yours or mine.
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So true. By the way, Les Kent was a very good fullback. Another Hawaiian as I recall.
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And thanks to a stupid rule, Kent and most of our best players were not allowed to play in the Camellia Bowl giving NDSU early bragging rights they didn’t earn two years in a row.
 
Mick Holien's 'The University of Montana Football Vault, The History of the Grizzlies:' 2009, Whitman Publushing, LLC, pp. 68-69, has an amazing list of his accomplishments. Copywrited, so I can only refer you to the source.
 
Yes, Les Kent was the FB in the wishbone offense that the Griz ran in those years. One of the halfbacks was Arnie Blancas, and the other one was Casey Riley (from Anaconda). The QB was Ray Brum. I am not 100% sure, but I think that both Kent and Blancas have passed away. I know that Steve Caputo, who was a 1000-yard rusher in 1971 0r 72 died several years ago.
 
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