Tyson Alualu

Tyson Asi Alualu ( ; born May 12, 1987) is an American former professional football player who was a nose tackle in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the first round of the 2010 NFL draft. He played college football for the California Golden Bears.

Early life A native of Honolulu, Hawaii, Alualu attended and graduated from Saint Louis School in Hawaii in 2005. He was selected to the all-state team twice by the Honolulu Star Bulletin. He was ranked as the No. 2 player in Hawaii and the No. 24 defensive tackle in America by Rivals.com for 2005. He recorded 7 sacks and 59 tackles in high school. During his senior year, he was named the ILH Player of the Year by the Honolulu Advertiser.

College career Alualu played in all 13 games of his first season at the University of California, Berkeley, then started all thirteen games of his next three consecutive seasons. Following his senior season, Alualu represented Cal at the 2010 Senior Bowl, where he finished the game with a sack, a fumble forced, and a fumble recovered.

Professional career Pre-draft After the 2009 season, Alualu was ranked at the 12th best defensive line prospect (42nd overall) in the 2010 NFL draft by Sports Illustrated. Coming out of California in 2010, Alualu was projected to be a first or second round pick. He received an invitation to the NFL Combine and completed all of the required combine and positional drills. On March 10, 2010, he participated at California's pro day and opted to attempt the bench press (24) and short shuttle (4.28), achieving better numbers in both. Alualu was ranked the fourth best defensive end by NFLDraftScout.com.

NFL predraft height ft = 6 height in = 2 3/8 weight = 295 dash = 5.02 ten split = 1.73 twenty split = 2.82 shuttle = 4.28 cone drill = 7.15 vertical = 35.5 broad ft = 9 broad in = 8 bench = 24 wonderlic = arm span = 33 hand span = 10 note = All values from NFL Combine/Pro Day The move was widely regarded as the biggest surprise of the draft by analysts and, according to Mel Kiper Jr., was "a risky move for taking him this high". On August 2, 2010, Alualu signed a five-year deal with the Jaguars. The contract includes $17.5 million guaranteed and a total value of roughly $28 million.

Alualu started his rookie season as the starting defensive tackle, alongside Terrance Knighton. He started the Jaguars' season-opening 24–17 victory over the Denver Broncos and finished with three solo tackles and sacked Kyle Orton for the first of his career. In Week 6, he made a season-high five combined tackles in a 30–3 loss to the Tennessee Titans. Over the course of the season Alualu started all 16 games, recording a total of 38 combined tackles (29 solo) and 3.5 sacks. Following his rookie year, he was named to All-Rookie teams by National Football Post, Pro Football Weekly, and The Sporting News.

2011 Alualu returned as the starting defensive tackle with Knighton in . On September 18, 2011, he recorded a season-high four solo tackles during a 32–3 loss to the New York Jets. On October 16, 2011, Alualu made three solo tackles and made his first sack of the season on Ben Roethlisberger, as the Jaguars were defeated 17–13 by the Pittsburgh Steelers. He started all 16 games with 40 combined tackles (21 solo), 2.5 sacks, a pass defended, and a fumble recovery returned for seven yards.

2012 Alualu was named the starting defensive tackle by new head coach Mike Mularkey. In the season-opener against the Minnesota Vikings, he collected four combined tackles and sacked Christian Ponder in a 26–23 overtime loss. During a Week 10 loss to the Indianapolis Colts, Alualu recorded five solo tackles and sacked Andrew Luck.

He started all 16 games in 2012 and finished with a career-high 45 combined tackles (34 solo), 3.5 sacks, 1 pass defended, and 1 fumble recovery. He competed with Jason Babin, Andre Branch, and Jeremy Mincey for the starting defensive end job. Gus Bradley named him the starting defensive end, along with Jason Babin, to begin the season.

On September 29, 2013, Alualu made a tackle and earned his first full sack of the season on Colts quarterback Andrew Luck during a 37–3 loss. In Week 7, he collected a season-high six solo tackles in a 24–6 loss to the San Diego Chargers. He finished the season with 42 combined tackles (33 solo tackles) and 1.5 sacks. He was named the backup defensive end to Chris Clemons and Red Bryant to begin the regular season.

In a Week 2 loss to the Washington Redskins, Alualu recorded a season-high seven combined tackles. On November 30, 2014, he made one tackle and sacked New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning for the first of the season. He finished the season with 30 combined tackles (13 solo) and two sacks in 16 games and zero starts. He participated in training camp and competed for the starting defensive end job with Chris Clemons, Jared Odrick, Ryan Davis, Andre Branch, and Chris Smith. He was named the starting defensive end with Chris Clemons to begin .

In a Week 5 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Alualu collected a season-high four combined tackles. On October 12, 2015, he recorded a tackle and sacked Titans quarterback Charlie Whitehurst during a 16–14 loss. During the 2015 season, he played all 16 games starting 14 of them, making 26 tackles (18 solo), two sacks, two passes defended, and a fumble recovery.

He was a healthy scratch for the first two games of the season. On September 25, 2016, he earned his first start of the season, playing in place of Jared Odrick who suffered a triceps injury the week prior. He made three combined tackles during the 19–17 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. The next week, Alualu earned two combined tackles and sacked Andrew Luck, for his first of the season, as the Jaguars defeated the Colts 30–27. He finished with a total of 37 combined tackles (29 solo) and 2.5 sacks in 14 games and ten starts.

Pittsburgh Steelers 2017 On March 21, 2017, the Pittsburgh Steelers signed Alualu to a two-year, $6 million contract that includes $1.75 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $1.25 million.

He competed with Leterrius Walton, Lavon Hooks, and Roy Philon for a backup defensive end position. Alualu was named the backup right defensive end to Cameron Heyward to start the regular season.

Alualu made his Pittsburgh Steelers debut in their season-opening 21–18 victory over the Cleveland Browns and recorded five combined tackles. On September 17, 2017, he earned his first start of the season in place of Stephon Tuitt, who suffered a biceps injury the week prior. He collected three combined tackles during the Steelers' 26–9 victory over the Vikings. In Week 7, he recorded four solo tackles and made his first sack as a Steeler, taking down Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton in a 29–14 victory. In week 4 against the Cincinnati Bengals, Alualu sacked Andy Dalton on a fourth down late in the fourth quarter, sealing a 27–3 win.

2020 In Week 2 against the Broncos, Alualu recorded his first sack of the season on Jeff Driskel during the 26–21 win.

2021 During free agency, Alualu had initially agreed to terms with the Jacksonville Jaguars; however, his trip to Jacksonville was delayed due to his testing positive for COVID-19. He ultimately changed his mind and decided to instead re-sign with the Steelers on a two-year contract.

In Week 2, Alualu suffered a fractured ankle and was placed on injured reserve on September 20, 2021.

Detroit Lions On December 5, 2023, Alualu signed with the Detroit Lions practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster on January 24, 2024.

NFL career statistics Legend BoldCareer high Year Team 2010 JAX 16 38 29 9 3.5 0 0 0 1 2011 JAX 16 40 21 19 2.5 1 1 7 1 2012 JAX 16 45 34 11 3.5 0 1 0 1 2013 JAX 16 42 33 9 1.5 0 0 0 1 2014 JAX 16 30 13 17 2.0 0 0 0 0 2015 JAX 16 26 18 8 2.0 0 1 0 2 2016 JAX 14 37 29 8 2.5 1 0 0 0 2017 PIT 16 39 25 14 4.0 0 0 0 1 2018 PIT 15 22 12 10 0.0 0 0 0 0 2019 PIT 16 41 21 20 1.0 1 0 0 2 2020 PIT 15 38 17 21 2.0 1 0 0 5 2021 PIT 2 5 2 3 0.0 0 0 0 0 2022 PIT 17 13 5 8 0.5 0 0 0 1 Career 191 416 259 157 25.0 4 3 7 15

Personal life Alualu was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, and grew up in the Kuhio Park Terrace neighbourhood of Kalihi. He was one of nine children, with seven sisters and a brother. His sister, Trinity Alualu, played college volleyball at Tulsa. His father, Ta'avao Alualu, went in and out of prison in Alualu's youth, having been convicted multiple times on assault and drug charges. He had started at California in the summer of that year, but returned home before fall semester classes to get married and to see the birth of his first child, Tyreé. He returned to California and enrolled in January 2006. Alualu also has a daughter, Deréon, who was born in 2008. He now has 6 children total with the addition of Tydes in 2011, Tyten in 2015, Tyson-Jaxx in 2017, & Deonne-Skye in 2020. His oldest son, Tyree, plays as a linebacker for the Temple Owls football team.