Tupou verbally committed to the
University of Washington on April 8, 2010.[3] Tupou
redshirted his first year on campus before playing the next four seasons. In his five years at Washington Tupou appeared in 46 games for the Huskies as a
defensive tackle and recorded 59 tackles.[2]
On September 13, 2016, Tupou was released by the Seahawks.[7]
Atlanta Falcons
During April 2017, Tupou played as a defensive tackle for
The Spring League, a developmental football instructional league.[8] Tupou received an invitation to attend rookie minicamp for the
Atlanta Falcons. On May 14, 2017, following minicamp, Tupou signed with the Falcons.[9] He was waived on September 2, 2017 and was signed to the Falcons' practice squad the next day.[10][11] He was released on September 6, 2017.[12] He was signed to the practice squad on September 19.[13] He was promoted to the active roster on October 10, 2017.[14] He was waived on October 19, 2017 and was later re-signed to the practice squad.[15][16] He signed a reserve/future contract with the Falcons on January 15, 2018.[17]
On April 11, 2018, the Falcons waived Tupou with a non-football injury designation.[18]
Arizona Cardinals
On August 22, 2018, Tupou signed with the
Arizona Cardinals.[19] He was waived on September 1, 2018.[20]
San Diego Fleet
In 2019, Tupou joined the
San Diego Fleet of the
Alliance of American Football.[21][22] In the first game of the season, Tupou recorded 2 tackles and a sack, and finished the year with 13 tackles and 4 quarterback hits.[23] The league ceased operations in April 2019.[24]
Seattle Dragons
During the
2020 XFL Draft, the
Seattle Dragons selected Tupou in the seventh round.[25] He was placed on
injured reserve before the start of the season on January 21, 2020.[26][27] He was activated from injured reserve on March 11, 2020.[28] He had his contract terminated when the league suspended operations on April 10, 2020.[29]
After playing in the
XFL and the league folded in 2020, Tupou tried to get back in the NFL by doing combines on the side. Tupou then got a call from
Peter Pasque, the general manager of the
American Raptors in
Glendale, Colorado and asked if he wanted to try
rugby out. After stepping onto the pitch for the Raptors, Tupou said, "I just fell in love with the game".[citation needed]
On January 27, 2022, Tupou signed with his hometown
Seattle Seawolves of the
Major League Rugby (MLR) as a part of their front row. The crossover athlete marks his third professional contract with a Seattle team.[33]