Athletes - Marques Tuiasosopo

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	Athletes - Marques Tuiasosopo

Marques Tuiasosopo (born March 22, 1979 in Seattle) is a professional football player. He is currently a quarterback for the NFL's Oakland Raiders, where he begain his career in 2001.

Marques Tuiasosopo is the son of former NFL defensive lineman Manu Tuiasosopo, who played collegiately for UCLA, then professionally from 1979-86 for the Seahawks and 49ers.

Marques was raised in Woodinville, a suburb of Seattle. An excellent athlete, he was also a standout shortstop in baseball at Woodinville High School. After his senior year, Tuiasosopo was drafted in the 28th round of the 1997 Major League Baseball Draft by the Minnesota Twins, but chose to play college football instead. Because he played on both offense & defense in high school (option quarterback & safety), he was primarily recruited by Division I football programs to play defense.

Marques accepted a football scholarship to the University of Washington in Seattle, primarily because Jim Lambright was one of the few head coaches that would grant him the opportunity to compete at quarterback, rather than just at safety.

In September 1997, just months out of high school, he was called into action in a nationally-televised home game against Nebraska, due to an injury to starting quarterback Brock Huard. Later in the year, he became the Huskies' first true freshman to start a game at quarterback. He also played considerably the following year for the oft-injured Huard, and never did use his redshirt season. Following the 1998 season, Rick Neuheisel replaced Lambright as head coach. As a junior in October 1999, Tuiasosopo became the only player in NCAA college football history to pass for over 300 yards and run for over 200 yards in a single game. This was accomplished in a close victory over the Stanford Cardinal at Husky Stadium.

As a senior in 2000, he led the Huskies to the Pac-10 title and a Rose Bowl victory over the Purdue Boilermakers, quarterbacked by Drew Brees. Tuiasosopo was named the most valuable player of the game. The Huskies finished the season with an 11-1 record, ranked third in the national polls. The season included a victory over the Miami Hurricanes at Husky Stadium in September.

In April 2001, Tuiasosopo was selected by the Raiders in the second round of the NFL Draft, the 59th overall pick and the fourth quarterback (behind Michael Vick, Drew Brees, & Quincy Carter).

In the NFL, Tuiasosopo has primarily been a reserve quarterback, the Raiders' backup to Rich Gannon and Kerry Collins.

His older sister Leslie is an assistant volleyball coach for the Huskies (winners of the 2005 NCAA Championship), and his younger brother Zach is a former fullback for the Huskies. A second younger brother, Matt, is an infielder in the Seattle Mariners system, currently with the Class A Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. Matt was a talented high school quarterback and was offered a football scholarship to Washington, but chose professional baseball instead.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Marques Tuiasosopo ]

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