Laki Tasi (born October 24, 2003) is a Samoan-Australian American football defensive lineman for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). Born in Samoa, he grew up in Brisbane, Australia, playing rugby league and rugby union. He switched to American football in 2024 and was selected for the NFL's International Player Pathway (IPP) program.
Life and career.
Tasi was born in 2003 or 2004 in Samoa. He was one of seven children and later moved with his family to Australia, where they lived in a three-bedroom house in Brisbane. At age 12, he started playing rugby league for the Goodna Eagles, before later transitioning to rugby union in high school. He weighed but lost about in 2023, then joining the rugby club Queensland Samoa.
Tasi said that around 2022, a family friend who owned a burger shop suggested he switch to American football. Tasi was initially not interested, but the friend suggested it again in 2024 and Tasi decided to try it out. He entered the NFL Academy in Gold Coast, Queensland, and in December 2024, he was chosen for the NFL's International Player Pathway (IPP) program. Becoming a defensive lineman, he trained with fellow IPP member Jordan Petaia at the NFL Asia Pacific Academy before later training with the other IPP members at IMG Academy in the U.S. state of Florida.
Tasi measures at and , while having an arm length of 34.5 inches, among the longest of defensive linemen eligible for the 2025 NFL draft. NFL analyst Scott Pioli cited Tasi as one of four IPP players to watch at the IMG Academy pro day, noting that he "has very good size and the tools to be a big interior defensive lineman, along with the toughness and makeup to play in the trenches. He possesses a strong and intriguing combination of developmental tools, stature and mindset." After going unselected in the draft, he signed with the Las Vegas Raiders on April 30, 2025, as an undrafted free agent.