Laki Tasi signs with Las Vegas Raiders; International Pathways Program

A second player from Australia's 2025 class of the International Player Pathways program has signed with an NFL team, with the Las Vegas Raiders agreeing to terms with Brisbane's Laki Tasi.

Tasi, 21 years old and who stands 198cm tall and weighs over 157kg, was playing club rugby before he was told about the International Pathways program by the owner of a local burger shop and family friend Ben Niumata, who mentioned the program to Tasi.

"One of the guys that owns a burger joint back home, he was telling me about this IPP that Jordan Mailata joined, which is kind of surprising because I didn't know who Jordan Mailata was or what the NFL [was]", he told ESPN before last week's NFL draft.

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"The owner was onto me... like let's try out this NFL thing, you've got a good body [for it].

"As soon as I searched up the YouTube [story] about Jordan and the NFL IPP I realised how big it is."

Laki Tasi Instagram

Speaking to the ABC before this year's NFL draft, Tasi, who is viewed as a defensive line prospect, said it wasn't the first time that Niumata had mentioned the NFL when they had crossed paths.

"He brought up the information about NFL… like three years ago, but in my head I was like 'nah, I just want to stay home, be around my family'," Tasi said.

"But then last year when [Ben] popped the same question ... that's when I realised, 'OK, sweet. Let's give it a crack'."

Niumata told the ABC he's "a little bit speechless" and had "no idea it was going to blow up like how it [has]".

"I think the realisation kicked in when the NFL posted a photo of him late last year saying that this, you know, monster kid from Samoa was heading over," Niumata said.

Niumata has known Tasi and his family since he was about five, and said he spotted Tasi while helping coach the Queensland Samoa team some years back.

"He just looked like an NFL player," Niumata said.

"It was around that time when the whole Jordan Mailata thing was going crazy, and I remember saying to him 'like man, this screams that same kind of Jordan Mailata physique'," he said.

Tasi credits his family's strength as motivation after his parents migrated to Queensland from Samoa, with the family of nine sharing a three-bedroom home.

Yet his mother did not approve of his NFL journey, with Tasi lying to her about his try-out for the IPP program.

"She wasn't really happy about the NFL. She didn't know what NFL was. She even said 'no going to the trial' as well," Tasi said.

"I told her I was going to work and ended up driving down to the [Gold] Coast to do my tryout."

The man-mountain added that he did not want to go against his mother's wishes but felt it was something "I had to do".

"She thought I came home early from work — I said, 'yeah, the boss let us home early'.

"It was really tough. I'm sorry, Mum — but it was for a good reason."

The 21-year-old has spent the past few months working at the NFL Academy on the Gold Coast and then the IMG Academy in Florida.

While he did not get drafted, Tasi's measurables were hard to ignore and he obviously impressed the Raiders enough to offer him a deal as an undrafted free agent.

His arms are 34 inches and he has an 81.5-inch wingspan.

Tasi won't be the only Australian to come through the IPP this upcoming season, with former Wallaby Jordan Petaia also playing in the AFC West with the Los Angeles Chargers.

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