Pisa Tinoisamoa

Pisa Donald Tinoisamoa, who is an American football linebacker, born July 15, 1981 in San Diego, California. He was drafted by the St. Louis Rams in the second round of the 2003 NFL Draft. He played college football at Hawaii.

Early years

Tinoisamoa attended Vista High School in Vista, California. In football, he was a three-time All-Palomar League, a three-time All-CIF pick, an All-American pick as a senior, and a three-time All-State selection and a All-American Runing backs. 

College career

In his career, Tinoisamoa recorded 289 tackles (210 solo) with 15.5 sacks, 39 tackles for loss, 11 QB pressures, six forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, nine passes defensed, two interceptions, and one blocked field goal while starting 27 of 35 games for Warriors. He earned All-America third-team, Super Sleeper Team selection by The NFL Draft Report, First-team All-WAC pick as a senior. Received the Alec Waterhouse Award, given to team’s Most Valuable Player. Was named Second-team all-WAC as a junior. He was a General Studies major.

Professional career

Tinoisamoa was drafted out of the University of Hawaii by the St. Louis Rams in the second round (43rd overall) of the 2003 NFL Draft. On July, 24, 2003, Tinoisamoa signed a four-year $2.9 million contract with the Rams.

In his rookie season he played in all 16 games and finished the season with 76 tackles, two sacks and three interceptions. He was the first Rams rookie to lead the team in tackles.

The following season, he recorded a career-high 95 tackles and 1.5 sacks. In 2005, he led the team in number of tackles for the third straight season recording 94 and also ended up with 1.5 sacks and two interceptions.

On October 11, 2006, he signed a five-year $24.7 million contract extension with the Rams. The 2006 season saw him play in 11 games after breaking his hand versus the Chicago Bears on December 11. He finished the campaign with 36 tackles and two sacks. In 2007, he recorded 40 tackles and two interceptions in 9 games. he hand, knee, shoulder, elbow, and ankle injuries struck in ‘06 and ‘07, forcing Tinoisamoa to miss 12 of 32 games. But he stayed healthy last season, playing all 16 games for the fourth time in six NFL seasons.

On May 8, 2009, the Rams' leading tackler in 2008, was given his release. This coming season, TInoisamoa was scheduled to make a base salary of $3.25 million and count $4.25 million against the cap. Releasing him frees up $2.25 million in cap space.

Now, Pisa Tinoisamoa is a free agent.