Isaac Sopoaga

Isaac Sopoaga (born September 4, 1981) is an American football nose tackle and occasional fullback for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He was originally drafted by the 49ers in the fourth round of the 2004 NFL Draft. He played college football at Hawaii.

Early years
Sopoaga attended Samoana High School in Pago Pago, American Samoa and was a letterman in football, basketball, and baseball. In football, he was a two-time All-League selection and as a senior, he was named the League's Defensive Player of the Year. He played rugby league growing up in Samoa. Isaac also attributes his strong throwing arm, reportedly being able to throw the ball 78 yards flat footed, to throwing 1-2 pound rocks at coconuts up to 70 feet high hanging from the trees. He would eventually develop enough strength and accuracy to knock down five or six coconuts in a matter of five minutes according to his own account.

Pre-draft
He performed 42 bench-press repetitions of 225 pounds.

San Francisco 49ers
He was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the 4th round (104 overall) in the 2004 NFL Draft. Sopoaga missed the entire 2004 season with an injury. In 2008, the 49ers have stated that they will use Sopoaga as a defensive end. For the 2010 season Sopoaga has been the starting left defensive end in the 49ers 3-4 defense.

In the October 17, 2010 game against the Raiders, Sopoaga lined up as a fullback and successfully blocked for Frank Gore deep in the red zone near the end of the game. The play resulted in a first down which allowed the 49ers who were leading 17 to 9 to run out the clock and win the game. In a Monday press conference following the game 49ers head coach Mike Singletary said that putting Sopoaga in as fullback was an idea he presented to former offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye earlier in 2010. Singletary gave credit to Bill Walsh's playing of guard Guy McIntyre as a fullback rather than Mike Ditka's playing of lineman William "The Fridge" Perry as a fullback on Singletary's Chicago Bears team, since Walsh started the trend and Ditka followed. Prior to the 2011 season the 49ers parted ways with nose tackle Aubrayo Franklin, leaving a void at the nose tackle position which was filled by Sopoaga. On October 30, 2011, playing from fullback position, Sopoaga caught a pass for a key first down in the fourth quarter of the 49ers' 20-10 victory over the Cleveland Browns.