EUGENE, Ore. — Oregon offensive lineman Malaesala Aumavae-Laulu is a quiet guy. He goes about his business, puts in his work, plays hard.
He seems to be good at just about everything except talking about himself.
A 10-minute interview with Aumavae-Laulu, who was the nation’s top-ranked junior college lineman, is a challenge. He’s polite and kind, and more than happy to talk about his teammates.
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New Oregon wide receiver Juwan Johnson? “He’s going to be a special one,” Aumavae-Laulu said confidently.
But when questions narrow in on Aumavae-Laulu, they deflect off him like an undersized defensive lineman against his 6-foot-7, 332-pound frame. (And he is down 57 pounds from when he signed with the Ducks in December.)
Maybe his reticence is because he’s on a bigger stage than he’s used to. Before Aumavae-Laulu was the No. 1 JUCO lineman in the country, he grew up in Palmer, Alaska, a town of about 7,200.
Kids from Palmer don’t typically end up at programs like Oregon. And they certainly don’t have the opportunity to bypass schools such as Alabama and USC in the process.
So, big step?
Yes.
“He’s very humble. People mistake that as being shy,” said his uncle, Junior Aumavae. “Sala just doesn’t like to talk about himself. He’s just a humble guy, very similar to how I was raised.”
Aumavae’s upbringing paved the way for his nephew. Aumavae was born in Samoa and moved to Washington, then Alaska, when he was young. Junior’s family settled in Palmer, a farming town about 40 miles northeast of Anchorage.
It’s certainly not a traditional football town. Tommy Moe, who won gold in the downhill at the 1994 Winter Olympics, is arguably Palmer’s most successful athlete. Kerry Weiland, a member of the 2010 U.S. women’s hockey Olympic team, has a street named after her, and resident Scott Robb holds the world record for the heaviest cabbage ever grown, a 138-pounder that was weighed-in at the Alaska State Fair. Area newspapers usually feature stories on locals playing professionally, but more often than not, those names are limited to indoor sports, such as hockey.
Now, don’t be fooled. Palmer is a prideful football community, built on the back of longtime coach Rod Christiansen. Palmer uses a lineman’s dream of an offense, described by Jeremiah Bartz, the managing editor and sports reporter for the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman in nearby Wasilla, as “run, run, run.” The Potato Bowl, pitting the Palmer Moose against the rival Wasilla Warriors, is annual appointment viewing every September.
It was there, in the early 2000s, that Aumavae made a name for himself. He was a two-time all-state offensive and defensive lineman who went on to play at Western Washington and later Minnesota State, in Mankato, after Western dropped football before his senior year.
Junior Aumavae never played in a regular-season game, but did see time in some preseason games as he attempted to make an NFL roster. (Al Pereira / New York Jets for Getty Images)
He had a cup of coffee in the NFL, signing with the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted defensive end in 2010 and bouncing around on various practice squads. He also played for some indoor-league teams before hanging up the spikes in 2015. Aumavae never played a down in an NFL regular-season game, but his legacy as one of the best to ever come out of Palmer is secure.
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“He just had natural ability. A rare combination of size and speed,” Bartz said. “… I remember the day he signed in the Palmer weight room. It was a big deal to go Division II.”
Before Aumavae retired, he would go home to train. He has 10 sisters and two brothers, and he said he also has more than 50 nieces and nephews. And when Aumavae was home, he’d make his younger relatives, including Aumavae-Laulu, train with him.
“I would just line them up and go heads-up with every single one of them to see if they could move me out of the way,” Junior said. “I used to take them out to the park or in the street and throw a football around, and they would just run into each other, tackling each other in the street.
“There were times when Sala cried (when he was little), and I’d tell my brothers and my other nephews that they better watch out because he’s going to be big time because he would stand back up every time he got hit like that.”
It’s not as hard to for an Alaska high school football player to get noticed as it used to be, but it’s certainly not like living in L.A. or south Florida. So, after his freshman year at Palmer High, Aumavae-Laulu and his family moved to the Las Vegas area.
Forget the differences in football; think instead about the weather. Summer days in Alaska are in the 60s and 70s. At Liberty High in the Vegas suburb of Henderson, Aumavae-Laulu remembers nearly having heat stroke during one of his first practices. He eventually became a two-time second-team all-state selection before heading to Navarro College in Corsicana, Texas, about an hour south of Dallas, to focus on getting his academics in order and to gain recruiting notice from bigger programs.
He often turned to Junior for guidance.
“It was a big struggle. (In junior college) everything you have to do by yourself. You have to make sure you’re on top of everything every day,” Aumavae-Laulu said. “Junior was always there for me since day one. He made sure I was on top of my grades and watching film.”
Aumavae-Laulu developed into the nation’s most highly touted junior college offensive lineman at Navarro College. (Courtesy of Navarro College Athletics)
Aumavae-Laulu’s first season at Navarro put him on the recruiting map. Between his first and second year in Texas, then-Navarro coach Jim Gush sung his praises to 247Sports.
“I think he hasn’t reached his full potential,” Gush said last summer. “He has all the physical tools. I didn’t think his freshman year was quite as dominant as it could’ve been. When he understands how to finish every single play and play with consistent pad level and use his overwhelming strength and length and decide to dominate every snap, he could be very special.
“If he understands and continues that a little further and carries it out a little past the whistle, he’ll be totally dominant.”
Aumavae still works out with his younger relatives. Now, though, they travel to see him. Last summer, Aumavae-Laulu, his brother Folagi Aumavae-Laulu and his uncle, Benjamin Aumavae (Junior’s younger brother), trained at Junior’s company, Elite Athletic Trend, in the Indianapolis area. The focus wasn’t necessarily on improving the players’ football skill set.
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“The biggest thing we try and get these boys to master is the mental game,” Junior said. “Physicality is obviously part of it, but most of it is mental, trying to get them to push through whatever adversity you’re going to get thrown at you.”
Benjamin, a linebacker who played four years at Palmer High, signed in February to play at Division II Adams State in Alamosa, Colo. Folagi, who played at Kea’au (Hawaii) High, will play at Garden City (Kan.) CC this fall.
Then there’s Aumavae-Laulu, who was one of the most coveted JUCO players in the nation. He had offers from more than a dozen programs, headlined by those from Oregon, Alabama and USC.
When it came time to pick a school, his uncle said it was the message pitched by Oregon offensive line coach Alex Mirabal that helped seal the deal.
“You can kind of tell when you’re being recruited who is committed to you as a player,” Aumavae said. “Coach Mirabal exemplified that in his recruiting of Sala, ensuring him that he’s going to raise him into a young man before an athlete. That’s what we looked to it as a family.”
Aumavae-Laulu committed to the Ducks last June, signed in December and arrived in Eugene in January. He says he’s feeling fitter than ever. He also has a new number, ditching the No. 74 he had at Navarro for 71 — Junior’s number from college.
“He’s like my big motivation right there,” Aumavae-Laulu said. “Him and my parents. They saw something good in me and wanted to help me out every single day.”
At this point, Aumavae-Laulu is on track to surpass anything Junior did on the football field. He’s been practicing with Oregon’s second unit this spring and will have a chance to earn serious playing time, if not this fall then next season, after the Ducks graduate four senior linemen.
While Aumavae has enjoyed his time as perhaps the best player to come out of Palmer, he’s more than happy to pass the torch. Plus, he still has video evidence from when he was the one pushing everyone around.
“I remind him that I don’t care who has recruited him; I have this video where I was dominating you,” Junior said. “He was always thinking about how he was going to surpass me. And you know what? That’s not a bad deal. I look forward to watching.”
