Utah Warriors & Alexander Tucci

The Utah Warriors signed former Colorado State and West Texas A&M defensive tackle, Alexander Tucci.

Tucci was born in New York City in the Bronx and moved to South Florida as a teen to concentrate on sports year round. At age 15 Alex was introduced to both rugby and football and quickly excelled in both sports.

Tucci attended Cypress Bay High School in Weston, Florida. where he graduated in 2010. As a senior, he was named to the Class 6A first team All-State and All-County teams as an offensive tackle. He also played on the defensive line. He also was invited to the Aloha Prep Bowl on Dec. 12, 2009, representing the mainland all-stars against the Pacific Islands.

Upon graduation, he accepted a football scholarship at Colorado State University. He was redshirted in 2010, was a varsity reserve in 2011, but did not play and in 2012 he started all 12 games for the Rams as a defensive lineman. While at Colorado State, he also played No. 8 with the D1A Rugby, Rams Rugby team.

Tucci then transferred to West Texas A&M to complete his College Football career. In the two years for the Bluffs, he played in all 25 games, starting for 24 of them. In 2014 he was named to the 2nd team All-Conference team. He also played rugby at the college.

In 2016 Tucci moved back to Florida and joined the Okapi Wanderers Rugby Club from Weston, Florida. On November 6, 2016, he represented the USA Rugby South Panthers against Life University. He also played with the Okapi Wanderers during the Spring 2017 season, but this past Fall moved to Ireland to play with the Gorey RFC.

Comments

In the Utah Warriors release, Tucci indicated that “I’m grateful for the opportunity to join the Utah Warriors and to be a part of history in Major League Rugby’s inaugural season. I have to give credit to hard work and trusting the process. Just keep working is what I would tell myself. I’m looking forward to making the move to Utah, I’ve heard it’s a beautiful place. I can’t wait to meet the team and get to work. I want to take advantage of every opportunity in practice and games to better my game because I still have a lot to learn. I can’t wait to start this new chapter in my life.”

“I’m looking forward to making the move to Utah, I’ve heard it’s a beautiful place. I can’t wait to meet the team and get to work.”

Head Coach Alf Daniels added that “Tucci is a physical specimen. At 6’3 and 260 lbs, he can really move. As a Coach, you can teach skills but you can’t teach size. Alex is an explosive runner who carries the ball well. He’s very hardworking and dedicated to becoming better and contributing to the team in any way possible. His ceiling is very high, and we look forward to tapping into that potential.”