Ex-Desert Pines lineman Poutasi makes grade as rookie with Titans

The email arrived Sept. 5, the day before most NFL teams were to begin their seasons. It was slugged: "This is really happening!"

It was about Jeremiah Poutasi of Las Vegas earning the starting assignment at right offensive tackle during the Tennessee Titans' training camp, then being penciled in to start in the trench against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in his first NFL game on Sunday. The email was from Sean R. Abid.

Sean Abid is lead guidance counselor, last names A through C, at Desert Oasis High School. A few years ago, he was a guidance counselor at Desert Pines High School, where he mentored a big kid with a last name starting with P.

He basically talked the big kid out of dropping out of high school; he helped him rebuild his GPA. That led to Jeremiah Poutasi becoming a star football player at Desert Pines and getting a scholarship to Utah in the Pac-12, where he excelled for the Utes, too — to the point that he became coveted property of an NFL team.

The Titans selected the big kid — he stands 6 feet 5 inches, weighs 344 pounds and is still only 21 — in the third round May 2. I was in his living room when it happened, with a bunch of friendly people named Poutasi who kept offering me deep fried culinary treats wrapped in bacon.

Jeremiah introduced me to his fiancee, Deanna Santiago. They had met at Desert Pines, after class, while waiting on a school bus. He said they were going to be married in July.

When the Titans took him off the board, Jeremiah cried upon hugging his parents and the other Poutasis. Deanna Santiago was pretty emotional, too.

It was really happening.

And now Jeremiah is the Titans' starting right offensive tackle, and that's why his former guidance counselor and now best pal Sean Abid added an exclamation point to the subject line of his email.

Abid was at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla., on Sunday. He only heard Jeremiah's name called once, which is how you want it as an NFL offensive lineman, unless perhaps they put in a tackle eligible play for you and you catch a touchdown pass.

No. 73, offense — aka Jeremiah Poutasi — was called for a false start in the first quarter.

He was on the field for all 59 of Tennessee's offensive plays.

Tennessee won 42-14.

The Titans' other rookie starter on offense, the slightly more heralded Marcus Mariota, is pictured on the cover of Sports Illustrated this week. He had a perfect quarterback rating, whatever a perfect quarterback rating may be, against the Bucs. So it can be assumed Poutasi played well in his NFL debut.

Afterward, Ken Whisenhunt, the Tennessee coach, said Jeremiah was physical and worked hard. He said he liked how he blocked on running plays.

Yes, Whisenhunt said, there are certain pass blocking techniques that Poutasi needs work on. That's why he left him in there during the fourth quarter after most of the other Tennessee starters got to rest on the bench.

But what a great start it was. A 42-14 win, on the road. And having his name called only once by the zebras.

"Yeah, I was pretty happy with my performance," Poutasi said Wednesday night as the undefeated (!) Titans were preparing to play the Browns in Cleveland on Sunday. "For my first time, I thought I did all right. There are always things you can work on."

He said he never envisioned earning the starting spot during training camp, but when the opportunity arose — Andy Levitre, last year's holdover at right tackle, was demoted after the first preseason game and traded to the Atlanta Falcons last week — he went for it.

"After watching the NFL on TV all these years … it's a dream come true," he said about starting as a rookie.

Asked about the biggest adjustment from playing on Saturday to playing on Sunday, Poutasi thought about it for a minute. Then he said, "Everything."

"Playbook, technique, speed," he said, adding that on Sunday you can't take even one play off, like you could sometimes on Saturday against Washington State.

He said he and Deanna got married on Fourth of July as planned. She's Deanna Poutasi now, and they are living in an apartment, and people are starting to recognize him — partly because there aren't a lot of Polynesian people walking the streets down there and partly because he's starting for the Titans now, and the Titans are undefeated (!)

He said Nashville is a good fit because he loves country music. He also said Marcus Mariota is a great guy to block for, because he's so humble.

I told him maybe we would talk again before the playoffs. He said that would be great, probably because the Titans also won their first game last year, and then they lost 14 of 15.

Then Jeremiah Poutasi, normally quiet and reserved around strangers, chuckled, which I had never heard him do. He said maybe we should just talk before Super Bowl.

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ron Kantowski can be reached at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow him on Twitter: @ronkantowski