His football journey began at Mesa High School, from there he played for the Arizona Football League before ending up at the other SC, Snow College and then at USC for the Trojans.

Taitusi Lutui and his first name is pronounced Ty-Toosey but it was so often butchered he just went by Deuce. He's a sociology major at USC. He was married in July of 2004 and his wife's name is Pua. Their son, Inoke Liuaki Moeltau ("Return a champion"), was born on Jan. 5, 2005, the day after USC's win in the 2005 Orange Bowl. Named after his father. His brother, Sam, was an assistant football coach at Southern Utah, where he also started on the line in 1995 and 1996. He is related to current BYU players T.J. Sitake and David Tafuna and former Cougar Ofa Mohetau. His nickname is "Deuce". He was born in Ha'api, Tonga.

His draft status, depending on whom you believe swings from a possible first round by Seattle replacing Steve Hutchinson to middle second or even third round. Until it actually happens it is just guess work. All agree that he should develop into a starting NFL guard very soon. He is listed currently as 6’6 370 pounds but as Duece has said in the past, “I am just a candy bar away from 400.” He did play at 340 his senior year at USC. He was the biggest player on the team at USC.

The problem with the draft this year is that the coaches feel that there may only be three or four offensive lineman that should be taken in the first three rounds. Players taken this early should be ready to play and impact a team. The issue is that the front office usually steps in because they don’t think they should take more skill players early if the coaches don’t like the linemen available. This will likely result in too many offensive lineman that need two to three years to develop being overpaid and underproducing.

No guard or center has been a top 10 pick since 2000. Usually it works out that in the first round they will draft three tackles, one guard and one center. The second and third rounds are when the offensive lineman start getting picked. Lutui is easily among the best of this group. Normally NFL coaches don’t rate offensive linemen as highly because they are hyped based on their college play. Coaches often don’t like the scheme they played in, their mental skills, medical issues due to lack of time spent working out and no proof they can handle the job at the NFL level.

Some coaches are spending more time working out defensive tackle for offensive line spots than ever before. The coaches don’t want as many offensive linemen to be drafted as early this year as they have in the past six years. Those that know Duece however see the “entire” picture when they talk about him. Game tapes show a few seconds of the play. What he does, his hustle, his leadership for the entire game puts his play ahead of many at his position. Technical issues aside, he is ready to play in the NFL now.

Many think that it should be he, not Reggie Bush that gets credit for the TD in the Notre Dame game. It is now called the “Bush Push” and most agree should have resulted in a penalty. He also had the “White Toss” against Stanford for pulling RB LenDale White into the end zone. No flag there either. Maybe he is not so big after all.

Rattler Connection: Deuce started out his first year at tackle, but moved to guard this season. He became USC's first All-American guard since 1989 when the "Gladiator" Mark Tucker won that honor. Tucker played in the NFL and is now one of the premier linemen in the AFL for the Arizona Rattlers.

His evaluation by NFL scouts of course lists his balance, pass protection and his strength. They say his weakness is second level blocking, speed, needs technique work and lacks body control and has trouble with speed rushers. Many think he would fit well into the Vikings plans.

He was invited to the NFL combine and participated in USC Pro Day. Some of the results were: 40 yard dash – 5.35, Vertical – 32”, Broad Jump – 8’5”, 20 yard shuttle – 4.80, 20 yard dash – 3.15, 10 yard dash – 1.86, 3 cone drill – 8.05, 225lb bench reps 26.

Here is a quote by Deuce on himself: “I don’t know if mauler is the right word to describe me because I compare myself to a dancer, I have light feet.” Lutui said. He has had to overcome loss and tragedy as a youngster. But he was the only married player on the USC team this year plus he had his son. All this helped him become a mature leader.