BIOGRAPHY
Tyson Alualu was born on May 12th, 1987, in Honolulu, Hawaii. He is a defensive end for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the NFL.
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.
Alualu attended the University of California and played in all 13 games of his first season, then started all thirteen games of his next three consecutive seasons. He earned second-team All-Pac-10 honors as a junior in 2008 and first-team All-Pac-10 honors as a senior in 2009. 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.
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.
The Jacksonville Jaguars selected Alualu in the first round (10th overall) of the 2010 NFL Draft. On August 2, 2010, Alualu signed a five-year deal with the Jaguars. The contract included $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 Jacksonville 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 against the Tenessee Titans. Following his rookie year, he was named to All-Rookie teams by National Football Post, Pro Football Weekly, and The Sporting News.
Alualu was named the starting defensive tackle by new head coach Mike Mularkey in 2012. In the season-opener against the Minnesota Vikings, he collected four combined tackles and sacked Christian Ponder. During a Week 10 game against the Indianapolis Colts, Alualu recorded five solo tackles and sacked Andrew Luck. Alualu 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.
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 Minnesota 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 2018, Alualu played in 15 games with two starts, recording a career-low 22 combined tackles and no sacks. On February 22, 2019, Alualu signed a two-year contract extension with the Steelers. 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.
