Hercules Mata'afa

Hercules Mata'afa (born September 18, 1995) is an American football defensive end for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Washington State University.

Hercules Mata'afa
No. 51 – Minnesota Vikings
Position:Defensive end
Personal information
Born: (1995-09-18) September 18, 1995
Lahaina, Hawaii
Height:6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight:254 lb (115 kg)
Career information
High school:Lahainaluna (Lahaina, Hawaii)
College:Washington State
Undrafted:2018
Career history
Roster status:Active
Career highlights and awards
  • Consensus All-American (2017)
  • Polynesian College Football Player of The Year (2017)
  • AP Pac-12 Defensive Player of The Year (2017)
  • First-team All-Pac-12 (2017)
  • Second-team All-Pac-12 (2016)
Career NFL statistics as of 2020
Total tackles:25
Sacks:2.5
Forced fumbles:0
Fumble recoveries:1
Player stats at NFL.com

College career

As a junior in 2017, Mata'afa was a consensus All-American and was named the Polynesian College Football Player of the Year.[1][2][3] He was also named the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year by the Associated Press.[4] On December 31, 2017, Mata'afa declared his intentions to enter the 2018 NFL Draft.[5]

Professional career

Mata'afa signed with the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent on April 30, 2018.[6] However, on June 6, he suffered a season-ending injury to his ACL.[7] He was waived/injured on June 20, 2018 and was placed on injured reserve after clearing waivers.[8] He was signed back to the Vikings for the 2019 preseason. He managed to make the final roster coming out of training camp. On September 15, 2019, he recovered an Aaron Rodgers fumble in a loss to the Packers.

Mata'afa was waived by the Vikings on October 13, 2020,[9] and re-signed to the practice squad two days later.[10] He was elevated to the active roster on October 31 for the team's week 8 game against the Green Bay Packers, and reverted to the practice squad after the game.[11] He was promoted to the active roster on November 6, 2020.[12]

References
  1. Lawson, Theo (December 12, 2017). "Hercules Mata'afa becomes Washington State's first consensus All-American DL in 15 years". Spokesman-Review. Retrieved April 3, 2018.
  2. Loh, Stefanie (December 12, 2017). "WSU's Hercules Mata'afa named Polynesian College Football Player of the Year; also becomes consensus All-American". Seattle Times. Retrieved April 3, 2018.
  3. Lawson, Theo (December 12, 2017). "Washington State defensive tackle Hercules Mata'afa named Polynesian Player of the Year". Spokesman-Review. Retrieved April 3, 2018.
  4. "WSU's Mata'afa named AP Pac-12 Defensive Player of Year". Walla Walla Union-Bulletin. December 11, 2017. Retrieved April 3, 2018.
  5. "Hercules Mata'afa declares for NFL Draft". CougCenter. Retrieved December 31, 2017.
  6. "Vikings Agree to Terms with Undrafted Free Agents". Vikings.com. April 30, 2018. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018.
  7. Krammer, Andrew (June 6, 2018). "Vikings rookie defensive end Mata'afa tears ACL in practice". StarTribune.com. StarTribune. Retrieved June 7, 2018.
  8. "Vikings Sign Rookie Linebacker Mike Needham". Vikings.com. June 20, 2018.
  9. "Hercules Mata'afa: Waived by Minnesota". CBSSports.com. October 13, 2020. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
  10. Krammer, Andrew (October 15, 2020). "Vikings re-sign defensive tackle Hercules Mata'afa to practice squad". StarTribune.com. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
  11. "Vikings Activate Dantzler From Reserve / COVID-19 List, Announce Other Roster Moves". Vikings.com. October 31, 2020. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
  12. "Vikings Place CB Mark Fields on Reserve/Injured; Announce Roster Moves". Vikings.com. November 6, 2020.
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