Palmer graduate encouraged about his work with the Dallas Cowboys

PALMER — Junior Aumavae can’t help but feel encouraged.

Aumavae, a former Palmer High School football standout fighting for a spot on the roster of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, knows he’s a low man on Dallas’ football totem pole. But the 6-foot-2, 315-pound nose tackle is also catching the attention of those who will soon decide his football fate.

“They’ve shown a lot of postivie feedback,” Aumavae said of his Cowboys coaches by phone from Texas Friday afternoon. “So far, everybody likes me.”

Aumavae, a 2004 graduate of Palmer High, signed with the Cowboys as a priority rookie free agent just hours after the conclusion of the 2010 NFL Draf in April. Since, Aumavae has participated in the team’s rookie minicamp and offseason organized team activities as he works toward his ever-improving potential of earning a spot on the Cowboys’ regular season roster.

“It’s been an awesome experience, every kid’s dream,” Aumavae said.

Aumavae has spent his days working out with the Cowboys and nights living in team housing with other Cowboys rookies.

“It’s awesome hanging out with the guys, creating those bonds,” Aumavae said.

At times, Aumavae, a Division II standout at Western Washington and Minnesota State-Mankoto, can’t help but be a bit starstruck.

DeMarcus Ware, an All-Pro defensive lineman, has a locker next to Aumavae.

“He’s next to me, teaching me pass rush moves,” Aumavae said of Ware.

And Aumavae is regularly battling Dallas’ top offensive lineman during team practices.

Aumavae said Cowboys defensive line coach Paul Pasqualoni and head coach Wade Phillips have had good things to say to him.

“My D-line coach likes me. Wade Phillips likes me. He says I have a bright future,” Aumavae said. “They don’t say that to rookies.”

Aumavae said since the end of the organized team acitivites, he’s been working through conditioining, weight lifting and agility drills.

“Hard-core weight lifting, but it’s going good so far,” Aumavae said.

The Cowboys start training camp July 24, and then it will soon be time to start the preseason schedule of games.

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 was 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 team.

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.

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 reciever 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.

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