New Lipscomb Academy football coach Kevin Mawae has led a big life.
The NFL Hall of Fame center played 16 seasons in the league, playing for the Seattle Seahawks, Chicago Bears and Tennessee Titans. He was introduced as the Mustangs’ coach on Tuesday.
Here are 20 facts about Mawae’s life and career.
He pulled the NFLPA through a critical time: As the president of the National Football League Players Association, Mawae was a leader after the death of union executive Gene Upshaw. Mawae served during the 2011 NFL lockout and the subsequent collective bargaining agreement, which had been in place since 1993. He also advised players to take advantage of free agency more and supported limiting offseason training activities to two-a-day practices.
He’s an ironman: Mawae made 241 regular-season appearances, which at the time of his retirement was the most among active linemen. In that stretch, he played 177 consecutive games. In his 16th and final season, he played in the Pro Bowl and helped block for Titans running back Chris Johnson as he rushed for 2,006 yards.
He was a late bloomer: A four-year starter at LSU and an All-SEC performer from 1991-93, Mawae didn’t arrive in Baton Rouge as a finished product. He was 6-foot-4 coming out of high school but weighed just 244 pounds. He was former LSU coach Joe Wessell’s first recruit with the Tigers.
He was not a state champion: High school football players with NFL dreams shouldn’t worry if they don’t win a gold ball in high school. Mawae forged a great career without winning a championship with Leesville High School (Georgia).
He is shaped by tragedy: Mawae’s brother John was killed in a car accident in May 1996. John had played for LSU too, at nose guard. Mawae said the tragedy drove his Christian faith, which is now the force behind “every decision I make,” he said during his introductory Lipscomb news conference.
His edgy play drew attention: Mawae was an undersized center trying to make it in the NFL against bigger competition and needed to create his own advantages. Offensive linemen can get away with dirty plays inside the trenches, but some people felt Mawae pushed the boundary. As he explained Tuesday, his response to naysayers was, “If you’ve got a problem with the way I play, take it up with God because he’s the only person I play for.”
He got paid: Mawae cashed in during his NFL days. After being released by the Seattle Seahawks, he became the NFL’s highest-paid center for Bill Parcells and the New York Jets. According to OverTheCap.com, he earned $44,525,068 as a player.
His memorabilia is still available: Trading card enthusiasts might like to hear that his cards are easily accessible and affordable. At one time, his 1987 high school yearbook was up for auction.
He’s fresh off a birthday: Mawae turned 52 on Monday, one day before being introduced as Lipscomb’s head coach.
He’s coached it all: Mawae has a rare note on his resume. He has coached at every level of football: NFL, college, high school and junior high.
He’s an Army brat: Mawae’s father David is a Vietnam veteran who served 20 years in the Army. The family lived in Riley, Kansas, and Germany before settling at Fort Polk in Louisiana. Mawae once considered the military as a backup plan. “If I have to be honest, I probably would’ve thought about the Marines because their dress uniforms are sweeter looking than the Army,” Mawae told The Advocate in 2019. “But it was a consideration for me, and it is something I thought about.”
He’s a proud Polynesian with Pacific Island roots: His dad was born in Honolulu and probably wouldn’t have left if not for the military. Though born in Savannah, Georgia, Mawae celebrates his Polynesian roots. He has a warrior armband tattoo and told the Honolulu Star he continued practicing Hawaiian culture after moving to the states. He was the first person with Hawaiian heritage to become an NFL Hall of Fame member.
His son took a different path: Though his father was a football player in every sense, Mawae’s son Kirkland became a collegiate swimmer at Wingate University in North Carolina.
His teams will set the tone up front: Not surprisingly, Mawae believes in the power of a dominant offensive line and said Tuesday that’s where his philosophy will start with Lipscomb. During an interview with Sports Lens in November, he said: “You have to be able to protect your quarterback and open holes for your running back. Otherwise, you’re just going to be sitting in dead-ass last in every offensive category and hoping your defense can keep the opponent to under 30 points.”
He’s a romantic: Mawae and wife Tracy got engaged when attending LSU. He proposed to her over a loudspeaker during a 1992 LSU Fan Day before thousands of fans. At the time of his Hall of Fame introduction, Tracy was just the fifth wife to present a husband for the Hall.
He’s a multi-sport athlete: Not many football centers venture into sports beyond wrestling. But Mawae had another love: baseball. He was a right-fielder at Leesville High School.
He’s a servant leader: In addition to accepting the difficult role as NFLPA president, Mawae is interested in other causes. He has been a headline speaker for group events, and during the 2008 offseason, his family worked for two weeks in Africa with Children’s Cup International Relief. Additionally, he created the First and Goal Challenge to benefit the Child Life Program and Pediatric Services at Winthrop University Hospital in New York.
He played in The Earthquake Game: In 1996, the LSU-Auburn football game was interrupted by an unnatural earthquake. LSU’s crowd of 79,000-plus fans reacted so loudly that they registered on a seismograph after LSU quarterback Tommy Hodson threw the winning pass.
He broke an LSU drought: From the early 1960s to the early ’90s, the Tigers weren’t churning out tons of pro linemen. Mawae broke that trend. In 1994, when the Seattle Seahawks drafted him No. 36 overall, he became LSU’s highest-selected offensive lineman since Bo Strange in 1961.
He doesn’t mind a FaceTime: Lipscomb Academy director of schools Brad Schultz joked during Mawae’s news conference about how Schultz accidentally FaceTimed the coach when initially reaching out. It’s a somewhat embarrassing mistake people make from time to time, but it was no bother to Mawae. He missed the call but FaceTimed Schultz right back.
