Big Man on CampusSalave'a returns for one more senior season

Dan Hoffman Arizona Daily Wildcat Defensive tackle Joe Salave'a (right) lines up at practice yesterday. Salave'a is returning to the UA football team this year despite graduating in May. Due to a new NCAA rule approved earlier this year, he regained the year of eligibility he lost as a freshman while trying to qualify academically.

It's not really a skirt. It's a lava lava, a traditional item of clothing from his native Samoa. But at 6-foot-4 and 280 lbs. one's got to believe that Joe Salave'a is the only man on campus who could get away with wearing it.

"The way of life where I grew up, that was tradition," Salave'a said. "No matter where I go, I'll always be Samoan."

And he could have been anywhere in the world by now. Last year was supposed to be his senior season, but the NCAA imposed a new rule and made it retroactive to Salave'a.

In February, Salave'a became one of the first beneficiaries of a new NCAA rule granting eligibility to partial qualifiers who graduate within four years. Translated, that means Salave'a regained the year of play he lost while trying to qualify academically because he earned his sociology degree in May.

Arizona head coach Dick Tomey called it the "best single piece of news we've had in 1997."

"It's a tribute to Joe for his hard work and academic focus," Tomey said earlier this year. "He means everything to this team that a guy like Peyton Manning means to a Tennessee."

Now a graduate student, Salave'a can focus on what he does best: lead the Arizona football team.

"I'm able to do a lot of the things I wasn't able to do by taking classes," he said. "I'm watching extra films, resting, trying to keep my body healthy."

That's because a healthy Salave'a is the kind Arizona will need to be successful. Even when he plays injured, though, Salave'a is a force along the defensive line.

He played last year with a variety of ailments and still led all down lineman with 47 tackles and six sacks. Not Tedy Bruschi-like numbers, but Tomey says that is not what Salave'a is all about.

"He has said he's not a great football player like the category of Rob Waldrop or Tedy Bruschi," Tomey said. "But as far as a leader is concerned, nobody here has been better."

On the field is where Salave'a prefers to do his thing. He's a dancer and a screamer and when big number 56 takes the field, people listen.

"The kind of respect that he commands ... money can't buy that," Tomey said.

Salave'a said that when he found out about his extra year of eligibility, he thought it was a joke. After all, he had already played in two senior all-star games, the East-West Shrine and the Hula Bowl. As far as he was concerned, life at Arizona had come to an end.

"The first thing I thought about was just improvement, taking things one day at a time and getting better," Salave'a said. "College football is an experience like no other. The competition is what it's all about."

Getting better in a hurry is something Salave'a and the rest of the Wildcats will have to do quickly this year. First up is Oregon. After last year's 49-31 loss at Eugene, Ore., Salave'a said he was left with a bad taste in his mouth. Oregon running back Saladin McCullough ran over, around and through the UA defense for 223 yards and five touchdowns.

"We kind of shot ourselves in the foot. I just have to make sure I step up to the plate and do what I have to do," Salave'a said. "I'm expecting other guys to do it. I believe I can count on the other guys to do it."

Perhaps the biggest display of big time execution came two years ago against Arizona State. Trailing 28-21 late in the game, the Wildcats appeared to need a miracle. Then, Chuck Osborne laid a crushing hit on Sun Devil quarterback Jake Plummer, causing a fumble. Salave'a had the presence of mind to pick up the ball and take it eight yards into the end zone for the score.

"I'm excited to send Joe out there because he's such a warrior," Tomey said. "He's one of the all-time great people to play this game here.

"What he has in the heart and the mind is just amazing."