Laiatu Latu is an American professional football defensive end for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League.
24 Facts About Laiatu Latu
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Laiatu Latu played college football for the Washington Huskies and UCLA Bruins, where he was named a unanimous All-American and won the Ted Hendricks and Lombardi Awards with the latter in 2023.
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Laiatu Latu was born on December 31,2000, in Sacramento, California, later attending Jesuit High School.
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Laiatu Latu was named first team All-California after recording 94 total tackles, 29.5 tackles for loss, and six sacks as a senior.
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Laiatu Latu began his college career with the Washington Huskies in the fall of 2019.
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Laiatu Latu played in 12 games as a freshman and finished the season with 16 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss.
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Laiatu Latu suffered a neck injury during fall practices entering his 2020 sophomore year.
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Laiatu Latu did not appear in any of Washington's four games played during the COVID pandemic-shortened season.
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Laiatu Latu underwent surgery on his neck in March 2021 in an attempt to alleviate his nerve issue.
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Washington's team doctors deemed that Laiatu Latu's injury had not recovered sufficiently for him to continue playing football.
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Huskies' head coach Jimmy Lake announced that Laiatu Latu had been forced by injury to retire for medical reasons at the start of spring practices in 2021.
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Laiatu Latu sought to continue his career as a player and spent the next four months attempting to gain medical clearance to play elsewhere and searching for a college program that would take a chance on him given his previous injury.
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In September 2021, Laiatu Latu traveled to California to be examined by Watkins, who subsequently gave him medical clearance to play football again.
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Laiatu Latu entered the NCAA transfer portal and transferred to UCLA in time to begin non-contact work in preparation for the 2022 season.
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Laiatu Latu was cleared to play by team physicians near the end on the Bruins' spring practices.
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Laiatu Latu ended with 10.5 sacks for the year in 13 games played.
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In December 2022 Laiatu Latu was named one of three comeback players of the year in college football, along with University of Washington quarterback Michael Penix and University of Minnesota running back Mohamed Ibrahim.
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Laiatu Latu led the nation in tackles for loss per game and ranked fourth nationally in sacks per game, with a 1.08 average.
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Laiatu Latu intercepted two passes as a senior and forced a total of five fumbles over the two years of his career as a Bruin.
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Laiatu Latu was UCLA's first-ever winner of both the Lombardi Award and the Ted Hendricks Award, presented to the top defensive end in the country.
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Laiatu Latu was the Pac-12 Conference Defensive Player of the year in 2023 and a unanimous selection as an All-American for that season.
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Laiatu Latu was selected by the Indianapolis Colts with the 15th overall pick in the first round of the 2024 NFL draft.
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Laiatu Latu was the first defensive player selected in the draft.
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Laiatu Latu had four sacks, 32 tackles, one pass defended, and three forced fumbles.