Jonah Laulu had to kneel down. A boy, his head barely reaching the 6-foot-5 Laulu’s waistline, stood alone; Laulu approached and got him to look up from his cleats. A brief conversation ensued, followed by an embrace.

Then they walked together across Centennial High’s football field turf. The boy hid behind Laulu as they neared some cones and a line of children, all wearing shirts adorned with Laulu’s name and image. Sensing the hesitancy, Laulu bent back over for some final words of encouragement and a high five. The boy ran to join his peers and joined in a drill being conducted by Laulu’s old high school teammates.

As the sun set behind the barren red rock peaks, Laulu looked on and smiled. This was his second annual free youth football camp at his alma mater, one of several local events he’s put on since joining the Raiders. The native-Las-Vegan-turned-Raiders-defensive-tackle ran the clinic for kids aged 7-13 with the same energy he deploys on game days. He riled up campers before running alongside them during warm-ups, joined them in drills and celebrated with them after successful reps. During breaks, he chatted with young fans; he took pictures and signed autographs for everyone once the workout was over, until darkness had fallen on the late-June evening.

“It means a lot to come out here and have this many people want to come and spend time with me,” Laulu said. “I just think it’s important because as a professional football player, I was once that kid.”

Takeaways from Raiders mandatory minicamp

Sam Warren

Laulu is inspired by something he didn’t have growing up. The 26-year-old was born and raised in northwest Las Vegas before there was a local professional sports team to root for.

While some NFL alumni lived in the area, Laulu said he never attended a camp like his as a kid. Given the area’s interest in a chance to be coached by a Raider, and Laulu’s resources after two NFL seasons, he is proud to provide the opportunity.

“These kids, I see myself in them,” Laulu said. “They have all these dreams and aspirations. They have that goal, but they don’t really see the trials and obstacles that you have to go through to get to that goal. To be able to be a physical representation of whatever they want to do is really cool.”

Laulu hopes to instill in them the same drive that he had. His mother, Palolo, said he and his siblings were basically raised at the YMCA while she worked two jobs to support the family. While many of the Las Vegas Valley’s most gifted athletes attend private schools, like national football powerhouse Bishop Gorman, Laulu went to public school, first Cimarron-Memorial High, before transferring to Centennial as a junior.

He earned all-conference honors as a senior despite playing just half the season. Still, lacking the pedigree of a player coming from a prestigious high school program, he was lightly recruited, fielding offers from only the University of Hawaii and UNLV. He decided to play for the Rainbow Warriors, leaving the valley for the first time. He starred for three years, then transferred to Oklahoma ahead of the 2022 season, putting him on the radar of NFL teams. After two seasons in Norman, he was taken by the Indianapolis Colts in the seventh round of the 2024 draft.

He never forgot where he came from.

“He’s just always (had) a soft spot for Las Vegas,” Palolo said.

Battling for a roster spot in his first training camp, Laulu was cut by the Colts at the end of the preseason. Months earlier, he had participated in the Raiders’ local pro day ahead of the draft and impressed; they claimed him off waivers.

“In a weird way, it almost felt like fate that he went to the Colts, he had that experience, and then for him to have this big disappointment of being waived before getting picked up by the Raiders,” Palolo said. “The very next day, he’s at the Raiders facility and he didn’t really have time to think about it. It was just there you go, now you’re back in it.”

A few weeks after that, Laulu notched his first career NFL tackle, at Allegiant Stadium. And a month after that, he made his first NFL start. Laulu logged defensive snaps in every game for the rest of his rookie season and finished 12th on the team with 35 tackles.

He parlayed a strong finish to his first season into more opportunities in Year 2. Laulu started 15 games and displayed improved pursuit, finishing tied for third on the team with four sacks and eight tackles for loss. He credited his growth to heightened attention to detail and more experience playing the professional game.

Laulu is excited to take another step forward in his third season. He said he likes how new head coach Klint Kubiak is holding everybody accountable. And he’s completely bought into what Rob Leonard, his position coach the last two years — “I would literally die for Rob Leonard,” Laulu said — is bringing in his first year as defensive coordinator.

Laulu is one of the first Las Vegas natives to play for the Raiders since their move to Sin City in 2020. Palolo believes Jonah has already made an impact on his community. Young fans can draw inspiration from any player who dons silver and black, but seeing one of their own take the field on Sundays carries extra weight.

“It gives them some hope,” Palolo said. “It gives them something to strive for. He made it a possibility. And the odds are against you, but he stuck with it and it happened.”

Laulu is a role model for Las Vegas’s large Pacific Islander population, in particular. Players such as Marcus Mariota have made their mark on the team since the move, and Laulu is one of several current Raiders of Polynesian heritage, but his ties to the area make him unique.

“I think he has a lot of pride with our family last name and to be able to represent our Samoan culture,” Palolo said. “Just to show that it’s possible, and you can be out there, work hard, find some success and then also give back to the community. He never forgets where he came from.”

And Laulu can draw from the city just as much as he can give back to it. Palolo said she feels playing in Las Vegas is a “big motivation” for Jonah.

“He’s putting on for the city, for his friends that he came up with who didn’t make it,” Palolo said. “I think it really means a lot to him to have that support and know he always has people around him who’ve known him from the beginning. And he wants to make them proud.”