The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Fatukasi made an impact on the field and in the community
STORRS — Perhaps Folorunso Fatukasi will add to his career totals of 164 tackles, 18 tackles for loss, 13 sacks and four forced fumble when he suits up on last time for the UConn football on Saturday.
However, Fatukasi’s full impact won’t be illustrated by the mere crunching of numbers.
Regardless of what transpires in the 2017 finale at Cincinnati (noon, ESPNnews) Fatukasi can walk away knowing he made a difference on the field and off.
The 6-foot-4, 303-pound defensive lineman out of Far Rockaway, N.Y., has been among the football players recognized for attaining at least a 3.0 gradepoint average during his time with the Huskies, but the off-the-field recognition didn’t stop there. He was UConn’s lone candidate for the Wuerffel Award which recognizes not only the quality of play on the field but the positive impact in the community as well.
Fatuaski — who also made his way on to the preseason watch lists for the Outland Trophy and Nagurski Trophy, and was recently invited to play in the East-West Shrine Game — downplays any chatter about the recognition coming his way.
He finds it rewarding enough to meet with members of the community when he heads to visit local schools or takes part in the Collective Uplift program on campus, which is involved in charitable endeavors including the collection clothes and schools to give to children in Connecticut schools.
“It’s great, they look up to you so you can be a role model, and when you have a chance to meet those kids, it’s a great feeling,” Fatukasi said. “Hopefully we give them something to look forward to, whether it’s football, basketball or whatever it is they aspire to do.”
Fatukasi said his parents instilled in him the impor-
tance of not letting his athletic ability be all he is known for. But certainly the experiences he faced as a senior at Beach Channel High School in Queens only intensified his desire to make a difference.
Fatukasi’s family was ordered to leave their home as Hurricane Sandy was about to wreak havoc in the community they called home. For a time, they stayed in a hotel before a family friend opened her doors. The football field at Beach Channel was used as a landing strip for emergency helicopters during and after the devastation caused by Sandy. Fatukasi had a 30-minute bus ride to Franklin D. Lane High School in Brooklyn for the rest of his senior year.
Beach Channel had qualified for the state playoffs, but with the players scattered to various locations because of the storm, there was talk of forfeiting the game. Fatukasi was at the forefront of rallying his teammates and they stepped onto the field for the playoffs. The 38-6 loss to Port Richmond couldn’t diminish what Fatukasi, his teammates and coaches accomplished by mustering up enough bodies and fighting spirit to take part in the playoff game.
“We still made it there. We still played our butts off to impose our will, so that time, I will never forget it,” Fatukasi said in a 2014 interview with the New Haven Register. “For those four quarters you didn’t think about anything but those four quarters, and it was great.”
There will be no postseason for Fatukasi and 22 others suiting up at UConn for the final time, since not even a win over Cincinnati would be enough to make the Huskies bowl-eligible.
Fatukasi is one of 19 outgoing UConn players to have started for the Huskies over the past four seasons. He is set to make his 36th and final career start; only linebacker Junior Joseph and cornerback Jamar Summers started more games in the senior class.