Daniel Faalele
Minnesota Golden Gophers – No. 78 | |
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Position | Offensive tackle |
Class | Senior |
Major | Business & Marketing Education |
Personal information | |
Born: | Melbourne, Australia | November 9, 1999
Height | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) |
Weight | 379 lb (172 kg) |
Career history | |
College |
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Bowl games | |
High school | IMG Academy (Bradenton, Florida) |
Career highlights and awards | |
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Daniel Faalele (born November 9, 1999) is an Australian born American football offensive tackle. He played college football at the University of Minnesota.
Early life and high school career[]
Faalele was born in Melbourne, Australia on November 9, 1999. He played basketball and rugby as a youth until a member of the coaching staff of the University of Hawaii football team discovered him while scouting players in Australia.[1]
After participating in a local satellite camp run by Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh and garnering interest from multiple Division I programs, Faalele was recruited to play football at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.[2] After only practicing and learning the sport in 2016, he was a starter on IMG's offensive line in 2017 as the team went undefeated and he was selected to play in the 2018 Under Armour All-America Game.[3] Faalele was rated a four star prospect and committed to play college football at Minnesota over offers from Alabama, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, and Michigan.[4]
College career[]
Faalele played in 10 games as a true freshman, starting the final eight games of the season at right tackle and was named honorable mention All-Big Ten Conference.[5] Following the season, he was listed as one of Australia's 50 Greatest Living Athletes by GQ Australia.[6] Faalele started 11 games at right tackle and was again named honorable mention All-Big Ten as a sophomore.[7] As a junior in 2020, Faalele opted out of the season due to the COVID-19 crisis. Despite projections that Faalele would enter the 2021 NFL Draft, he decided to stay with Minnesota for his senior year.[8] On December 28, 2021, in his final college game, he scored his first career touchdown in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl against West Virginia, with a two-yard run up the middle.
References[]
- ^ Metcalfe, Myron (December 26, 2018). "Larger-than-life Faalele making an impact at Minnesota". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
- ^ Staples, Andy (March 6, 2017). "Think big: 6'9", 396-pound Daniel Faalele has coaches drooling—and he's never played a down". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
- ^ Mason, Tyler (October 26, 2018). "Daniel Faalele's quick rise from football rookie in Australia to the Gophers' line". The Athletic. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
- ^ VanHaaren, Tom (December 10, 2017). "Daniel Faalele, at 6-8, 395 pounds, to play football for Gophers". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
- ^ Dodd, Dennis (July 22, 2019). "The biggest player in college football is just now learning how to dominate". CBSSports.com. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
- ^ Riley, Christopher (March 3, 2019). "These Are Australia's 50 Greatest Living Athletes". GQ Australia. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
- ^ Ryan, Megan (December 5, 2019). "Rashod Bateman named Big Ten Receiver of the Year; Tyler Johnson also first team". Star Tribune. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
- ^ Wald, Jeff (March 10, 2021). "'Back like I never left': Daniel Fa'alele announces return to Gophers". Fox9.com. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
External links[]
- Living people
- 1999 births
- American football offensive tackles
- Australian expatriate sportspeople in the United States
- Australian players of American football
- Minnesota Golden Gophers football players
- Sportspeople from Melbourne
- IMG Academy alumni