COLLEGE: Second-team Great Northwest Athletic Conference all-star last season ...Started all 10 games ... Named team[apos]s Defensive Lineman of the Year ... Credited with 28 tackles, 9.5 for losses of 29 yards, both team highs, including 2.5 quarterback sacks for minus-14 yards ... Also had 1 forced fumble ... One letter ... Attended Diablo Valley Junior College in Pleasant Hill, Calif., for two years ... Honorable mention Golden Gate Conference pick as sophomore ... Credited with 53 tackles, 11.5 quarterback sacks and four forced fumbles on squad that played in East County Bowl ... Twice Mid-Empire Conference academic all-star ... Started and lettered two years.
HIGH SCHOOL: Honorable mention all-Bay Area Valley League as senior at Pittsburg High School ... Helped Pirates reach first round of Class 4A state playoffs ... Most Improved award winner ... Did not play as junior ... Also earned two letters in baseball and one in wrestling.
PERSONAL: Major is physical therapy ... His brother, Simon, played baseball at Fresno State University, being member of 1996 U.S. Olympic Team, and reached Class AAA level in Tampa Bay Devil Rays farm system; and another brother, Eugene, earned all-conference honors in football at Fresno City CC ... His cousin, Joe Tafoya, earned all-PAC 10 honors two years in football at University of Arizona and currently plays for the NFL Chicago Bears, and another cousin, Shaunard Harts, played football at Boise State University and currently for the Kansas City Chiefs.
