Don’t expect a re-boot of the Hula Bowl any time soon.

But one of its positive by-products — the Mosi Tatupu Award — is back. It will again be bestowed upon college football’s best special teams player after nearly a decade on the shelf.

The Hula Bowl was a highlight of the Hawaii sports calendar for decades. It gradually withered away, though, partly because the NFL designated the Senior Bowl as its college football all-star game of choice.

Owners Lenny and Marcia Klompus tried to keep it going in the 1990s by moving it to Maui and building relationships with the coaches association and the Heisman Trophy Foundation, among other groups.

One of Lenny’s promotional ideas was filling a void with an award for the top special teams player in college football — whether he be a return guy, snapper, gunner, kick blocker, kicker or punter. Even a holder could win it.

Naming it after Tatupu was a natural, since he was from Hawaii, had played in the Hula Bowl, and established himself as an all-time great special teams performer.

At its peak, the Tatupu Award was announced along with the other individual honors on ESPN’s awards show in December. Kick returners Wes Welker (Texas Tech) and Chad Owens (Hawaii) were the winners in 2003 and 2004.

But, as ownership changed hands three times, the award faded away along with the game itself. In 2006, it was awarded for the 10th and final time, to Ohio State punter A.J. Trapasso. The Hula Bowl and the Mosi Tatupu Award were no more.

In 2010, Tatupu — one of the greatest athletes to come out of the state of Hawaii — died at age 54.

Meanwhile, Lenny Klompus was senior communications adviser for Gov. Linda Lingle from 2002 to 2010, and founded Friends of Hawaii Robotics.

He always wanted to eventually bring back the Tatupu Award, and has partnered with Tatupu’s widow, Linnea Garcia-Tatupu, to co-chair a committee facilitating that. The winner will be announced Dec. 8.

“It killed me that it stopped because we got out of the business. (Garcia-Tatupu) will assure it never goes away again,” Klompus said. “Special teams get everyone jacked up and can be game-changers. That’s what I love about it.”

It was discovered last year in an autopsy that repeated head trauma associated with football had likely contributed to Tatupu’s death and Garcia-Tatupu expressed mixed feelings about the game. But she wants to be clear that she isn’t for eliminating football.

“My father, my husband, my son. They all loved it, lived it. It’s not going to be banned, but it should be handled in a responsible manner,” she said. “What I want people to know is my grief, my energy that is not the most positive is not about football, but about being kept in the dark about what the NFL knew and should have let us know (about concussions).”

Interestingly, some have proposed that elements of the kicking game be limited or completely cut out in the name of player safety. If that happens, how relevant would an award be for the best special teams player?

For now the puka honoring a player from what coaches call “one-third of the game” has been filled again. And fittingly, it is still named after Mosi Tatupu.

Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. His blog is at Hawaiiwarriorworld.com/quick-reads.