97 Days to Purdue Football: Semisi Fakasiieiki

Of all the players on the roster, I think I am the most fascinated about today’s player. Once everything is said and done he is going to graduate from Purdue with multiple degrees and more experience than any player in Purdue history.

Semisi Fakasiieiki - Sr. (7)

Compton, CA (Dominguez HS)

6’2”, 230 pounds

Linebacker

2022 Projection: Contributor

That is not a typo. Semisi is the extremely rare 7th year senior, and he is officially the last player on the roster from the Darrell Hazell era. Injuries and the bizarre circumstances of COVID have set the stage for his lengthy career:

2016: Redshirted

2017: Did not play

2018: Played in all 12 games as a reserve and finished with 8 tackles

2019: Played in 11 games and started 4 times. Had 38 tackles, 2.5 for loss, and a sack.

2020: Played in 5 games and started once. Had six tackles, one for loss.

2021: Took free COVID year, but missed entire season due to injury in camp.

Because of last year’s injury Semisi is back one more time with a medical waiver to use his free COVID year. That is some true dedication for a former 2-star recruit from California. I can’t properly tell his story, so I will let him tell it himself as Jace had him as a guest on the latest Dub Jellison Podcast: