ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - With NFL teams making their final roster cuts Tuesday, four players with Alaska ties were among the 53 players left standing on their respective teams.
Here’s what to know about these four Alaskans before the regular season kicks off next week.
Brandon Pili, DT, Miami Dolphins, #96
Brandon Pili — and the Pili family — have a strong connection to Alaska. Raised in Barrow and Anchorage, Pili enters his second National Football League season.
Pili, 25, went undrafted in 2023 but found a new home in Miami last summer after a solid collegiate career at the University of Southern California. He appeared in four games with the Dolphins his rookie season, recording one solo and one assisted tackle while showing bright spots during preseason bouts, in part why he will be returning to Miami this year.
Listed at 6-foot-3 and 319 pounds, Pili will play alongside the Dolphins’ pass-rushing and run-stopping crew that includes six-time Pro Bowler Calais Campbell and former first-round draft pick Jaelan Phillips.
Pili attended Dimond High School where he was an all-conference wrestler, track and field athlete, and of course, football player. His sister, Alissa, also of Dimond fame, was selected in the first round of the 2024 WNBA Draft by the Minnesota Lynx.
Edefuan Ulofoshio, LB, Buffalo Bills, #48
The standout linebacker on last year’s national championship runner-up University of Washington was selected in the fifth round, 160th overall, in the 2024 draft by the Buffalo Bills.
The son of Nigerian immigrants, Ulofoshio was raised in Anchorage and played for South Anchorage High School his freshman year before moving to Las Vegas at age 16.
“I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for the state of Alaska,” Ulofoshio previously told Alaska’s News Source. “I had been [in Anchorage] my whole life, all my friends were here; everything I knew was Anchorage.
“I’ve been chased by moose — I couldn’t go home from school because there was a moose in my driveway — so I think I have earned my badge,” he added with a laugh.
Ulofoshio made great strides while at the University of Washington. A walk-on his freshman year, the Anchorage native was named First Team All-Pac-12 and Second Team All-American as a senior.
He was also listed as a finalist for the Butkus Award, given to the top linebacker at the collegiate level each year.
The 6-foot-1, 239-pounder is listed as Buffalo’s third-string weakside outside linebacker. Expect him to play special teams and fill in on spot plays at the linebacker position for the Bills.
Malaesala Aumavae-Laulu, OL, Baltimore Ravens, #71
The two greatest football players to ever come out of Palmer come from the same family. Before Malaesala Aumavae-Laulu made an NFL roster, his uncle, Junior, was an all-state offensive and defensive lineman for the Palmer Moose before going on to play Division II football and signing with the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent in 2010. Although Junior never played in an NFL regular-season game, his nephew, Malaesala, or “Sala” as many call him, may make his debut this year.
Sala Aumavae-Laulu grew up in Palmer and played at Palmer High his freshman season before he and his family moved to the Las Vegas area. Sala ultimately went to the University of Oregon. Selected in the sixth round, 199th overall, by the Baltimore Ravens in 2023, Aumavae-Laulu made the Ravens roster last season, but did not make an appearance. At 6-foot-5, 344 pounds, Aumavae-Laulu is listed as the Ravens backup left guard.
Tyree Wilson, DE, Las Vegas Raiders, #9
Although having spent less time in Alaska than the trio above, Tyree Wilson is a known name in football with family ties to the state.
Wilson was born in Anchorage to an Alaskan track star, Tiffany Weatherton, who won four straight state championships in the long jump from 1991 to 1995 for Dimond High School. Weatherton, who also won state titles in the hurdles and triple jump, went on to compete at the University of Oregon. When Wilson was 2, his family moved to Texas, eventually playing for Texas Tech University.
Wilson was selected seventh overall in the 2023 NFL Draft, recording 29 combined tackles, 3.5 sacks and a forced fumble in his rookie season. At 6-6, 275 pounds, Wilson will play defensive end alongside three-time Pro Bowler Maxx Crosby.
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