UTAH head football coach Ron McBride wouldn't fly 4,000 miles on a moment's notice if he didn't believe Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala was making a mistake. Ex-Crusader might regret 'coming out'
The talented Ute running back recently decided to forgo his senior season for the chance to make megabucks in the NFL, something McBride and Utah offensive coordinator Tommy Lee view as a long shot.
"Right now I don't think people see him as the type of guy who will go in the first three rounds," Lee told the Salt Lake Tribune last week. "Obviously, Chris felt this was something he wanted to do. But we thought he needed to come back, especially since he has had a couple of so-so seasons."
McBride echoed those sentiments in the Deseret News.
"I hate to see him go," McBride said. "It's a big loss. I just hope he has a great career and plays up to his potential. I thought it was the wrong decision, but I have to support whatever he and the family do. One kid (Roy Ma'afala) helped us turn around the program, and then another kid (Chris) helped keep it going."
Despite those misgivings, Fuamatu-Ma'afala still has a decent résumé to succeed at the next level. But it won't automatically land him a house next door to Jed Clampett in Beverly Hills.
Money is tight and the odds are long for players picked in the lower rounds. Since NFL teams don't invest much in a player's future, they don't mind ending it without a second thought.
JUST ask former UH linemen Taase Faumui and Maa Tanuvasa. Tanuvasa was selected by the Los Angeles Rams in the eighth round in 1993. It has taken him four difficult years to finally realize his dream with the Denver Broncos.
Faumui, who was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the fourth round in 1994, hasn't been as fortunate. He recently signed with the Oakland Raiders, but is still trying to make it at the NFL level.
Unlike Fuamatu-Ma'afala, both players stuck around for their senior seasons. It helped prepare them mentally and physically for the difficult years ahead.
Despite an eye-opening freshman season, Fuamatu-Ma'afala is projected to be a fourth- to sixth-round choice. If a player falls into that area of the draft, he has to hope the team views him as a long-term project.
If not, the former St. Louis School standout has to make an immediate impact and remain injury free. Nagging aches and pains dogged Fuamatu-Ma'afala throughout his collegiate career.
He told the Star-Bulletin that he didn't want a career-ending injury at the college level to keep him from realizing the NFL's big paydays.
That's sound logic to a point, but there's no reason to believe the ankle and knee problems that plagued him in college won't trouble him again.
HOW he handles this potential adversity, without the help of family and friends, could determine if he has the perseverance to play professionally.
During his three years with the Utes, McBride was a father figure to Fuamatu-Ma'afala. If there were problems, McBride and the tight-knit Polynesian community in Salt Lake City were there to lend their support.
That won't be the case at the next level. It's a competitive world where fortunes can turn on the twist of an ankle. You have to believe Fuamatu-Ma'afala is aware of these factors, that having the gift of size and speed is not enough.
"But I still don't think it's a good decision, and Mac doesn't either," Lee said. "Sure, if he had three great years under his belt, it would be tough to keep him here. But at this point, he hasn't had any season comparable to his freshman season. By staying, he had another chance. Now he doesn't."
And should he fail to make it in the NFL, he won't have an education to fall back on. And the money he makes in the short run won't be enough to make a difference over the long haul.
Paul Arnett has been covering sports
for the Star-Bulletin since 1990.
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