Teu Kautai to Fulfill a Dream at BYU

Teu Kautai #17 (Courtesy dallasnews.com)

2010 BYU Football signee Teu Kautai has an unusual way of keeping in shape.

“I have people hit baseballs and then I take off chasing after them,” Teu explains. “I need to stay running to stay in in good shape!”

Kautai (pronounced cow-tie) also drags his family members with him on some of his runs. “It’s good for me, but not too good for them,” Teu joked.

The 6′1″ 210-pound athlete is one of three athletes from Oakridge School in Arlington, Texas to sign with BYU this past February.

Teu (pronounced Tay-oo), Ross Apo and Tayo Fabuluje have a long history together and have been friends since the 5th grade at Euless Elementary in Euless, Texas.

“We all grew up together and went to the same elementary school. We all played in the same peewee league,” says Teu. In fact Kautai and Apo go back even further, having been friends since first grade when Teu moved with his family to Texas from Hawaii.

Both of their families are part of a significant and tight knit Polynesian community in Euless. “We all get along and try to help one another. We’re always involved in church activities and family activities,” says Teu.

Kautai began his high school playing career along with Apo and Fabuluje at Texas powerhouse Euless Trinity. But Teu suffered a devastating tear of his ACL during his sophomore year and then decided to transfer to Oakridge along with Apo. The transfer to the private school 20 minutes from his home came in an attempt to focus more on his school work.

Oakridge School has a reputation as one of the top private preparatory schools in North Texas. Its student body consists of just 900 students from preschool through high school. Students dress in school uniforms and live by an honor code. Virtually all Oakridge graduates attend college.

For Kautai it was a difficult transition initially. In order to catch up academically he repeated his sophomore year at Oakridge while his ACL healed and he learned to hit the books. “It’s like the school you see in the movies,” says Teu. “The environment is one where everyone is busy doing their (school) work. The work load was a lot more and it took me some time to get used to it.”

On the field he worked his way back into shape, trying to regain his former speed before the knee injury. He worked diligently to get his forty time to 4.8 seconds, and then down to 4.6. His demanding running regimen now has Teu checking in at 4.58 in the forty-yard dash.

While Teu was working his way back, his friend Ross Apo was garnering significant recruiting attention as a highly touted wide receiver.

Going back to their days at Trinity, Apo and Teu attended every BYU football camp they could. The Cougars had already offered Ross, but Teu was not so lucky. Each year he would return to Provo and work out at a different position.

“I’ve always loved BYU since I was a little kid,” Kautai says. “I didn’t really know much about their football team until I got to high school though. It’s just my dream school, I’ve wanted to go there forever.”

Heading into BYU’s Junior Day in 2009, Kautai was determined to make a name for himself as he worked out with the linebackers. “They didn’t plan to offer me (a scholarship), but I did my best and they did!” Teu committed to the Cougars on the spot. “BYU was the only school I had in mind.”

Prior to that Junior Day in Provo, Fabuluje contacted Kautai to tell him that he wanted to transfer from Trinity to Oakridge as well. Teu suggest that Tayo (he goes by “Terry”) accompany him and Ross to BYU for Junior Day. The rest, as they say, is history.

Kautai says that the BYU coaching staff has penciled him in as an inside linebacker. But before he takes the field in Provo he feels the need to respond to a higher calling. “I just finalized my mission papers today,” Kautai explained. “My idol is my cousin Inoke Funaki (who played quarterback at Hawaii). He says that serving a mission changed his life a lot, so it’s just something that I have to do.”

Serving a mission will mean that playing college ball with his childhood friends will be put on hold for the next two years. “I always think about those two,” Teu says. “I’m going to miss them a lot. But it’s just a blessing for us to be there (BYU).  As long as I can play with them when it get back, I’ll be fine.”