Matayo Uiagalelei (born July 2, 2005) is an American

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

for the

Oregon Ducks The Oregon Ducks are the College sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Oregon, located in Eugene, Oregon, Eugene. The Ducks compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCA ...

Early years

Uiagalelei, who is of

Samoan Samoan may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the Samoan Islands, an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean ** Something of, from, or related to Samoa, a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands ** Something of, from, ...

descent, was born in

Bellflower, California Bellflower is a city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. It was founded in 1906 and municipal corporation, incorporated on September 3, 1957. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, th ...

. His older brother

DJ Uiagalelei David John Uiagalelei ( ; born April 17, 2001) is an American professional football quarterback for the Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Clemson Tigers, Oregon State Beavers, and Flori ...

is a quarterback for Florida State. Matayo attended

St. John Bosco High School St. John Bosco High School (SJBHS) is a Salesians of Don Bosco, Salesian all-boys college preparatory high school located in Bellflower, California, and is operated by the San Francisco Province of the order. The school is named after the ord ...

. He played on both offense (tight end) and defense (defensive end) at St. John Bosco. He was rated by ''Sports Illustrated'' as the No. 19 prospect in the

2023 college football recruiting class The college football recruiting class of 2023 refers to the recruiting of high school athletes to play college football in the United States, starting in the fall of 2023. The scope of this article covers: (a) the colleges and universities with r ...

Rivals.com Rivals.com (stylized as ''rivals'') is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was found ...

rated him as the No. 20 recruit overall (No. 3 in California). He had scholarship offers from multiple Power 4 schools.

College career

Uiagalelei accepted a scholarship from Oregon in December 2022 and enrolled early in 2023. During Oregon's 2023 summer camp, he was used at both tight end and defensive end. He was rated as the true freshman most likely to play for the

2023 Oregon Ducks football team The 2023 Oregon Ducks football team represented the University of Oregon as a member of the Pac-12 Conference during the 2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Ducks were led by Dan Lanning in his second year as Oregon's head coach. They ...

References

External links

Oregon Ducks bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Uiagalelei, Matayo 2005 births Living people American football defensive ends American sportspeople of Samoan descent St. John Bosco High School alumni Oregon Ducks football players Players of American football from Bellflower, California Pacific Islander American players of American football