Seven players who graduated from high school in Hawaii are returning veterans with NFL teams and two others are veteran free agents looking for a squad for the 2020 season.
The NFL veteran players from Hawaii high schools about to start another campaign at football’s highest level are: quarterback Marcus Mariota (Las Vegas Raiders), defensive end Tyson Alualu (Pittsburgh Steelers),and linebacker Kamalei Correa (Tennessee Titans) from Saint Louis School; kicker Kaimi Fairbairn (Houston Texans) and defensive tackle DeForest Buckner (Indianapolis Colts) from Punahou; linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill (Miami Dolphins) from Kamehameha; and defensive end Hercules Mata’afa (Minnesota Vikings) from Lahainaluna.
The two free agents are linebacker Manti Te’o from Punahou and tight end Mitchell Loewen from Lahainaluna.
When the NFL returns to the field for its next season (the date of which is up in the air due to the COVID-19 health crisis), the list of NFL game-experienced veterans is most certainly going to increase. That’s because four Hawaii high school graduates were chosen in the 2020 NFL Draft: quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (Miami Dolphins) from Saint Louis School; defensive end Bradlee Anae (Dallas Cowboys) from Kahuku; defensive back Alohi Gilman (Los Angeles Chargers) from Kahuku; and guard Netane Muti (Denver Broncos) from Leilehua.
Overall, there have been 123 players from 31 different Hawaii high schools who have played in at least one NFL regular-season game, according to pro-football-reference.com.
Saint Louis leads the way with 17 alumni who have made it to the NFL, but Punahou is close behind with 15. Next comes Kahuku with 13 and Kamehameha with 12. Farrington is the only other school in double figures with 11.
