Palmer grad agrees to deal with Dallas Cowboys

PALMER — Junior Aumavae did not play football during his freshman year of high school. In college, Aumavae did not play at the Division I level.

But none of that matters, because Aumavae did not quit working toward his goal of playing professional football. And now, he has the chance.

The former Palmer football standout agreed to a three-year deal with the Dallas Cowboys on Saturday afternoon and will fly to Texas next week to join the team.

“Words can’t explain it,” an elated Aumavae said shortly after agreeing to terms with the National Football League franchise. “All that hard work has paid off.”

The 6-foot-2, 330-pound defensive tackle, who garnered first-team all-conference honors for a pair of Division II programs during a stellar college football career, was seen as an “under the radar” prospect by NFL scouts and a potential pick during the 2010 NFL Draft.

Aumavae was not selected during the NFL’s three-day, seven-round selection ceremony. But just minutes after the final player was selected on Saturday, Aumavae’s phone started to ring.

The Indianapolis Colts, New England Patriots, Cleveland Browns and Dallas Cowboys were all interested in signing Aumavae, a mammoth defensive tackle scouts see as a nose guard in a 3-4 scheme at the NFL level. Then Aumavae’s agent called with news that Dallas was ready to make an offer.

Dallas signed Aumavae as a priority rookie free agent, and he’ll now report to the team’s rookie minicamp, which starts next week. He’ll also participate in the Cowboys’ organized team activities that start in May.

Shortly after committing to the team, Aumavae also received a call from a Dallas scout.

“He said I have a real good chance to anchor their nose position,” Aumavae said. “They were very excited and they welcomed me to the team.”

Aumavae was in contact with Dallas during the seventh round of the draft, and there was a chance that he could have been selected with the Cowboys’ final pick. Dallas actually chose another defensive tackle, William and Mary’s Sean Lissemore.

“I was kind of discouraged,” Aumavae said. “But they ended up picking me up anyway.”

Aumavae is the first former Palmer football player to get the chance to play in the NFL. Longtime Palmer head coach Rod Christiansen was elated when Aumavae told him he’d agreed to a deal with Dallas.

“He’s a real deserving guy,” Christiansen said of Aumavae. “He had the desire to stick with it. His focus was on wanting to see if he can make it.”

As a college player, Aumavae earned first-team all-conference honors at Western Washington and Minnesota State-Mankato. He also had to overcome his fair share of adversity during his college career.

Aumavae missed an entire season while he recovered from elbow and ankle surgeries, and forced to find another football program after Western Washington abruptly ended its football program prior to his senior season.

He worked through the various injuries, and as he was about ready to return to the Western Washington program, the university announced it was cutting the football program, which the school founded in 1903. With the Vikings program now gone, Aumavae hoped to go Division I. There was interest from Portland State and the University of Washington, but the NCAA denied his bid for a sixth year of eligibility to be used in a Division I program. That sent him looking for a top Division II teams.

There were a number of schools interested, including DII power Central Washington, but Aumavae said he quickly saw Mankato as the right place to be. Aumavae was actually meeting with the Central Washington coaching staff when he received a call from a Mankato coach urging him not to sign with the Wildcats.

Aumavae made an immediate impact for the Division II Minnesota State Mavericks, making 10 starts. He was dominant in the interior of the Mankato defensive line and was named first-team All-Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference and the NSIC Defensive Newcomer of the Year following the 2009 season.

Following his senior year, Aumavae signed with Imani Sports. Since, he’d been in contact with a number of NFL franchises and worked out for NFL scouts during a “Pro Day” at the University of Minnesota earlier this year.

Aumavae was named Alaska’s top large-schools lineman after his senior year at Palmer High. He was a first-team All-Railbelt Conference and All-State selection on both offense and defense as a junior and a senior, even though his football career didn’t even begin until his sophomore season.

Aumavae attended East Anchorage as a freshman, and after moving to Palmer prior to his sophomore year, his sister convinced him to join the football team.

Aumavae will now work toward making Dallas’ regular season roster. If Aumavae does stick with the Cowboys, he would be the 11th Alaskan to make an NFL regular season roster. Three players from the 49th state are currently in the NFL. Dimond graduate Chris Kuper is an offensive lineman with the Denver Broncos, North Pole’s Daryn Colledge in an offensive lineman with the Green Bay Packers and former Bartlett standout Zack Bowman is a defensive back with the Chicago Bears.

Aumavae could also be the first player with Valley ties to make an NFL regular season roster. Cole Magner, a 2001 Colony High School graduate, was in training camp with the Atlanta Falcons prior to the 2005 and 2006 seasons. Magner, a standout wide receiver at Colony and Division I Bowling Green State University, also spent time on the Baltimore Ravens practice squad in 2006.

Shane Bonham (Lathrop), Travis Hall (Kenai), Rocky Klever (West Anchorage), Tom Neville (Eielson), Mark Schlereth (Service), Reggie Tongue (Lathrop) and Mao Tosi (East Anchorage) round out the list of Alaskans who played in the NFL.

Aumavae spent Saturday watching the NFL draft on television and celebrated with friends and family after finding out he’ll be a Cowboy. Aumavae said his agent is working on the final details of his contract and making travel arrangements for his trip to Texas. Now that he’s found a place to play in Dallas, Aumavae said he’ll do whatever it takes to stay there.

“I just very thankful they gave me a shot,” Aumavae said.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.