The last time Boss Tagaloa flew to the Bay Area and saw family during a football weekend, it wasn’t a happy homecoming.
His team was playing elsewhere that September day, more than 1,350 miles away from the family’s residence in Pittsburg. Tagaloa and his relatives watched a few drives of UCLA’s 49-21 loss to Oklahoma on television before moving on to something else, the viewing difficult for reasons beyond the final score.
Boss Tagaloa couldn’t play because he was suspended. He was among six players who were punished for violating unspecified athletic department policies. Tagaloa’s suspension was for three games, matching the longest penalty any of his teammates received.