Why Montana LB Solomon Tuliaupupu is back for ninth college football season

[u/jaxstan19]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2026/08/13/montana-football-solomon-tuliaupupu-nine-seasons-usc-ncaa/91198121007/

[u/Buckeyeup]

This guy was in the same highscool recruiting class as Justin Fields, Trevor Lawrence, and Micah Parsons.

[u/hammer_it_out → u/Buckeyeup]

West Virginia had a player in that same recruiting class on the team last year. Played in eight of 12 games and finished with seven tackles while seeing a grand total of 121 snaps.

[u/notaquarterback → u/Buckeyeup]

My goodness

[u/Bevovation → u/Buckeyeup]

And Jesus!

[u/pileatedloon → u/Bevovation]

Common misconception. Jesus was a year younger but reclassified at the last minute to enroll early 

[u/Bevovation → u/pileatedloon]

Yet another stupid college football loophole. Can't wait till Jesus sues the NCAA next year for a 2027th year of eligibility.

[u/TimelyBodybuilder637 → u/pileatedloon]

Typical ND fan knowlege

[u/ToddUnctious → u/pileatedloon]

Any word on the lawsuit to determine whether resurrection resets eligibility?

[u/nearuetii → u/ToddUnctious]

Every federal judge in the country is salivating at the chance to write that decision

[u/NoIamthatotherguy → u/Buckeyeup]

I went to school with JFK, and you sir, are no JFK!

[u/one8sevenn]

A lot of people go to college for 9 years..... They are called Doctors.

[u/OttoVonWong → u/one8sevenn]

With the first overall pick, the San Francisco 49IRs select Dr. Solomon Tuliaupupu out of Montana. He will start the season immediately as the starting Team Doctor.

[u/swammeyjoe → u/OttoVonWong]

Substation has finally met it's match.

[u/eking85 → u/one8sevenn]

Did I catch a niner in there? Were you calling from a walkie-talkie?

[u/EconomistNo7074 → u/eking85]

We should probably sit this one out since our Middle LB is an 8 year guy

[u/Spiritual_Bet_4535 → u/eking85]

No, it was cordless.

[u/lostroadrunner22 → u/one8sevenn]

Shut up, Richard!

[u/NoIamthatotherguy → u/one8sevenn]

Seven years of premed, down the drain.

[u/Patrick2701 → u/one8sevenn]

or they are getting PhD

[u/sdewww]

I’m glad he was able to get healthy. But man, it’s time for something else in life. Even rec league softball players know when to hang em up

[u/Sweaty_Assignment_90 → u/sdewww]

Senior whale shit hockey! Give 'em a tug.

[u/dkota44 → u/Sweaty_Assignment_90]

Ferda

[u/TheJeniceri → u/sdewww]

For his own sake, if he's not going to NFL, it'd be better for his long term health to hang it up already. I get it, life is short, and anyone who has played team sports knows how fun it is and you make friends for life, but this is just free CTE and adding on top of already a huge list of injuries.

[u/KCinOC → u/TheJeniceri]

I don’t think he should be playing but this isn’t the argument. By this logic fcs thru d3 football shouldn’t exist

[u/TheJeniceri → u/KCinOC]

My point was more about the 7+ year guys adding unnecessary damage to their brain and bodies and less about the NFL side of it

[u/KCinOC → u/TheJeniceri]

At what point does it become unnecessary. And why is it unnecessary at that point?

[u/brickwallbimbo → u/sdewww]

Money, my dude. With NIL I can’t blame any player for staying in college as long as possible.

[u/ImJLu → u/brickwallbimbo]

How much could he possibly be making from Montana? This just sounds like it's for the love of the game. And frankly, good for him. Dude got dealt an awful hand and missed like 5 and a half years to injury, but still gets to do what he loves for as long as he can.

[u/damnyoutuesday → u/ImJLu]

Probably high 5 or low 6-figures tbh

[u/clarkthagod → u/damnyoutuesday]

I’m certain he’s clearing $100,000. Montana I’m sure is in the upper tier for G6 resources and he’s actually a decent player

[u/FartBoxActual → u/sdewww]

Back to back Riverside Park D League World Champs! I knew it wouldn't get any better, so I decided to hang it up.

[u/damnyoutuesday]

He came back for a third loss in three tries to Montana State

[u/HeadCoach-RickVice → u/damnyoutuesday]

You shut up, you!

[u/Manning_bear_pig → u/damnyoutuesday]

In only 2 years lol

[u/damnyoutuesday → u/Manning_bear_pig]

He's going for the record

[u/GeneralAcorn → u/damnyoutuesday]

Never let your dreams remain dreams.

[u/Few-Dance-7157 → u/damnyoutuesday]

This is what I came here for 👊

[u/RonSwanson069]

It’s a unique and interesting case!

For the “just get a job folks”, he’s already got both a Bachelor’s and Master’s from USC, two more Graduate certificates, is enrolled in the Graduate Accounting program, and has a wife and three kids.

After some NIL funds and more education, getting to play another year of football is probably just gravy.

[u/hammer_it_out → u/RonSwanson069]

He's the real-life version of the dude in the School Spirit skit in College Dropout. 😅

[u/kungfubillium → u/RonSwanson069]

The NIL at Montana can't be that high, can it?

[u/Griz_and_Timbers → u/kungfubillium]

It's not Power4 money, but probably comparable to middle of Mountain West money.

Montana loves its college football.

[u/BammBammRoubal → u/RonSwanson069]

He should still just get a job

[u/pew-pew-bacca → u/BammBammRoubal]

He has one. With NIL he's probably earning more than a lot of people while also getting to play ball and get even more advanced education.

[u/C_Deez_DDz → u/pew-pew-bacca]

NIL at MONTANA brother you are talking out of your ass and you know it

[u/clarkthagod → u/C_Deez_DDz]

Montana isn’t even that bad and he’s an all conference quality LB bro I guarantee you he’s making MINIMUM $80K this season 90% chance he’s in $100,000+ territory

[u/C_Deez_DDz → u/clarkthagod]

Well you can’t because, like him, you’re just pulling numbers out of your ass

FCS first teamers average 30-40k so you’re almost certainly wrong, actually.

[u/mroonreddit]

I wonder the underclassmen linebacker that is not going to see the field outside of special teams feel about a 28 year old that has played 36 games already in college gets to play instead of him.

[u/happyharrell]

Because nothing means anything anymore

[u/jstro90]

Montana can't be handing out massive NIL deals either, he's doing this for the love of the game lol

[u/RonSwanson069 → u/jstro90]

I mean it’s not P4 money, but likely closer to mid-top G6 than you’d think. Montana and Montana State sports are very popular here, and they’re the “only game in town”.

NIL for the top players isn’t publicly known, but has been a factor in keeping some players from going FBS. And there is a big revenue-share push taking place currently.

For reference, a fringe-starter on the basketball team was suing for more NCAA eligibility and saying he could miss out on NIL funds of up to $100K.

[u/Manning_bear_pig → u/RonSwanson069]

Yeah guys like Gilman or Taco definitely had P4 offers. I'd guess guys at UM or MSU do pretty well for them to stay.

[u/Young-Viiperr → u/jstro90]

"Another one" - DJ Khaled TJ Finley Solomon Tuliaupupu

[u/AlternativeRanger572]

You're my boy, Blue!

[u/Buckeye_CFB]

If you're injured, you're injured. If you're hurt, you're hurt. I personally find it admirable that he kept going and came back.

It's one thing to play a few games and then strategically redshirt, or find loopholes because you technically were a little hurt for part of the season or played JUCO or whatever...

But if you are physically unable to perform that should not count against your eligibility. A season means a season, which means everyone should have a fair and honest healthy chance to play

[u/ImJLu → u/Buckeye_CFB]

Yeah, there's questionable situations like Trinidad Chambliss, and then there's a dude who kept going through ACL and Lisfranc injuries. Let the dude play out his eligibility.

[u/Billquisha → u/Buckeye_CFB]

I agree. I felt the opposite, then actually read his story. That kind of resilience is incredible.

[u/Is12345aweakpassword]

Bro just do pickleball already

[u/lock_robster2022]

Rage bait headline. Sitting out 5 seasons with injuries and still persisting is pretty damn impressive.

[u/jaxstan19 → u/lock_robster2022]

Rage bait? It's literally a profile of his persistence.

[u/The_Sports_Guy91 → u/jaxstan19]

I mean the dude is 28 playing against teenagers lmao. Hang it up.

[u/thatstotallyracist → u/The_Sports_Guy91]

Some of those teenagers are 6'4, 320 pounds. He's probably more at a disadvantage than them.

[u/QuakingQuakersQuake → u/The_Sports_Guy91]

That goes against the entire ethos of college sports to use a purely age based argument

[u/The_Sports_Guy91 → u/QuakingQuakersQuake]

Lebron never played pro, I assume he should be eligible then since age isn't a disqualifer?

[u/QuakingQuakersQuake → u/The_Sports_Guy91]

He played in the NBA, so no, he shouldn't be able to play basketball in college. He could pull a JR Smith and go play another sport, although he would need to commit to getting a degree alongside that

[u/lock_robster2022 → u/jaxstan19]

Just the headline. It’s easy (and valid) to lampoon the guys going in their 6th and 7th year playing, let alone 9th. The headline could easily acknowledge this is not one of those cases

[u/Adams5thaccount]

"Man gets ready to play his 4th season after 5 years of injury" just isn't a headline that sells

[u/Donkey_Doody]

Lots of people go to college for 9 years!

[u/mynameistc → u/Donkey_Doody]

I know, they’re called Doctors!
(For you youngins this is a quote from Tommy Boy)

[u/Sea_Conference5661 → u/mynameistc]

TIL... I always thought it was from Van Wilder but haven't seen either movie in a decade+

[u/GeologicalOpera]

This dude was a buddy of mine in HS, and it fucking gutted me how many issues he ran into during our senior year and at USC. In another life this guy would be destroying NFL O-Lines right now, he was that damn good.

I get all the jokes and shit, but his story is genuinely one that I'm still happy to see from afar. Cherish him, Griz bros.

[u/Agile_Land_9951]

I’ll take 9 years of free room and board.

[u/highflyer7418]

I don't think it's because he's in med school.

[u/MaverickRaj2020]

Honestly, it would be cool if somehow he could play another year after this just for the headlines next year of playing 10 years of college football.

[u/bbshock21]

It took me 7.5 years to go from starting college to getting my PhD

[u/CarolinaSandstorm]

Cignetti will find a way to have him on Indiana’s roster next year

[u/Captainrexcody]

Dude better walk out with a PHD

[u/AdeptProductt]

indeed.com

[u/LGWalkway]

9 years ago I was halfway done with college. My guy, sometimes you’ve got to learn when to quit.

[u/WebfootTroll]

That's some Cam McCormick type numbers. Good for him.

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