Fautanu grew up a Steelers fan, largely in part of his love and respect of Steelers Hall of Famer Troy Polamalu, bucking the trend in the household where his father, Fautanu ‘John’ Fautanu was a San Francisco 49ers fan.
“I always tried to remind him and tell him, son, you know that you were born in the Bay area,” his father said with a smile as he stared at the Steelers six Super Bowl trophies. “But to me, it wasn’t much of anything. It’s whatever team that he was happy with and all that. I didn’t mind buying whatever he wanted for that team. But really, in my heart, I was still hoping and praying that he would say, dad, I’m a 49ers fan.
“But it turned out to be the Steelers he loved. And the crazy thing about it is, we never would have thought it would come to this point and the Steelers would draft him. It’s a journey. I never had the idea of where he’s going to be in life up until now and he ends up being here with the Steelers.
“We grew up in the name of God and everything and how our heavenly father works in a mysterious way in a lot of things that we go through in life, whether it’s good or bad. It’s a blessing that it ended up this way.”
And blessings are something that have been abundant in Fautanu’s life, but there isn’t one that is greater than his family. He holds them tight in his heart, where his love for them is hard to hide.
“Without the people in my corner, I wouldn’t be able to have the opportunities that I was presented with,” said Fautanu. “My family has done so much in life to set me up to be successful. So, my biggest thing is wanting to give back, whether that’s in love, whatever that may look like.
“It takes a village to raise a kid, just to raise anybody. And I did have that village behind me, and I’ve always had that village behind me. So, I take pride in showing them that love.”
That love was on full display on draft night when he was surrounded by the ones he loves…
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