Fuamatu-Ma'afala rushed the ball 20 times for 182 yards and two touchdowns, one a career long 70 yards. On October 18, 1996, the day before the Utes victory over Tulsa, Fuamatu-Ma'afala underwent knee surgery, and missed the next three games, returning to play in the regular season finale against the BYU Cougars. Against the Cougars, Fuamatu-Ma'afala rushed the ball 18 times for 87 yards and one touchdown. Two days after Christmas in the Copper Bowl loss to the Wisconsin Badgers, he carried the ball only four times for five yards before suffering a sprained ankle in the first quarter of play. For his efforts, he was named First-team All-WAC. Junior (1997) In 1997, Fuamatu-Ma'afala had somewhat of a down season, due to being hampered most of the season by an injured left ankle, and a strained hamstring. He rushed for only 814 yard on 154 carries and four touchdowns, which was good enough for second best on the team, behind Juan Johnson, and 12th in the WAC. He also finished seventh on the team in receiving with four receptions for 39 yards and one touchdown. Fuamatu-Ma'afala, was however named All-WAC (Mountain Division) Honorable Mention. Professional career Pittsburgh Steelers Fuamatu-Ma'afala was selected in the sixth round (178th overall) of the 1998 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers. In 1998, Fuamatu-Ma'afala played in 12 games for the Steelers. In his rookie season, he carried the ball seven times for 30 yards and two touchdowns, he also made nine receptions for 84 yards and one touchdown. In 1999, Fuamatu-Ma'afala appeared in only nine games. On the season, he rushed the ball one time for four yards, and had zero receptions. His lone carry of the season came against the first meeting of the season between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cincinnati Bengals. In 2000, Fuamatu-Ma'afala played in seven games for the Steelers. In his seven games he carried the ball 21 times for 149 yards and one touchdown. He also had 11 receptions for 107 yards. Fuamatu-Ma'afala did not play until week three, and did not play again after week eight. In his first appearance of the season during week three's loss to the Cleveland Browns, Fuamatu-Ma'afala carried the ball twice for 22 yards, and also recorded two receptions for eight yards. In the week four loss to the Tennessee Titans, he carried the ball four times for 21 yards, and also recorded