VIDEO: Polynesian Football Hall of Fame Press Conference

HONOLULU – Former University of Hawai'i defensive lineman Ma'a Tanuvasa and current Rainbow Warrior offensive line coach Chris Naeole were among the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame Class of 2017, announced today.
 
The duo was among a group of five inductees selected from a finalist list of 18. Also being inducted are Junior Ah You, Riki Ellison, and John Manumaleuna.
 
Tanuvasa, a UH Sports Circle of Honor and Hawai'i Sports Hall of Fame inductee, starred for the Rainbow Warriors during the early 1990s. The Mililani High School graduate was a key member of UH's first-ever Western Athletic Conference championship team in 1992, which earned a trip to the program's first mainland bowl game, a win over Illinois in the Holiday Bowl.
 
The all-WAC honoree was selected to the Hula Bowl before being drafted by the Los Angeles Rams in the 1993 NFL Draft. An eight-year NFL veteran, Tanuvasa was a member of two Super Bowl champion teams with the Denver Broncos.
 
Naeole graduated from Kahuku High School on O'ahu before starring for the Colorado Buffalos. The 10^th overall pick of the 1997 NFL Draft, Naeole went on to play 12 seasons in the league with the New Orleans Saints and Jacksonville Jaguars. He missed only one NFL game and started 150 of 154 career games.
 
Naeole is in his fourth season coaching the UH offensive line. Last season, he served as interim head coach for the team's final four games.
 
The Class of 2017 will be honored during the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Weekend, to be held on January 21 & 22, 2017 in O'ahu, Hawai'i. Inductees will also be recognized at the inaugural Polynesian Bowl, a premier senior high school all-star football game featuring the world's elite players of Polynesian heritage and other ancestries.
 
The inductees were chosen by a selection committee composed of past head football coaches Dick Tomey (Chairman), LaVell Edwards, Ron McBride and Dick Vermeil, ESPN SportsCenter anchor Neil Everett, NFL player personnel expert Gil Brandt, past NFLPA president Kevin Mawae (Polynesian Football HOF Inaugural Inductee), and Hawai'i sportcaster Robert Kekaula.