Amini Silatolu

Aminiasi Silatolu (born September 16, 1988) is an American former professional football player who was an offensive guard in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Midwestern State Mustangs from 2010 to 2011. He was selected by the Carolina Panthers in the second round of the 2012 NFL draft.^[1]

A native of Redwood City, California, Silatolu attended Merrill F. West High School in Tracy, California, where he was a lineman on both sides of the ball. The 2005 team went to the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I championship game and finished as runner-up, and in 2006 they got as far as the section semifinals.^[2] Silatolu was not recognized by any recruiting service.

After graduating from high school in 2007, Silatolu took the junior college route to San Joaquin Delta College, where he was a heralded offensive tackle.^[3] After starting nine of ten games at left tackle as a freshman, he had a dominant sophomore season earning California Community College Coaches' Association first-team All-America, first-team Region II All-California and first-team All-Valley Conference honors in addition to capturing All-Valley Conference Offensive Lineman of the Year. Despite his accomplishments, Silatolu was regarded as only a two-star recruit by both Rivals.com and Scout.com.^[4][5] He drew interest from California, Hawaii, San Jose State, and Tennessee,^[3] before signing with Nevada. However, he did not qualify academically and had to sit out the 2009 season.^[1][6]

Silatolu transferred to Division II Midwestern State, where he dominated the competition with his aggressive play, and was a two-time All-American in 2010 and 2011. Protecting the blind side of quarterback Zack Eskridge, Silatolu draw the attention of NFL scouts.^[7] He delivered 182 knockdowns and 43 touchdown-resulting blocks, and allowed just one-half sack and one quarterback pressure in 560 pass plays. He was selected as the Lone Star Conference Offensive Lineman of the Year both of his seasons at MSU,^[8] and in 2011 finished as runner-up in voting for the Gene Upshaw Award, which is presented to the nation's top Division II lineman. He was invited to participate in the 2012 Senior Bowl—the first MSU player to ever receive an invitation—but was unable to play due to an injury.^[9] Besides Rishaw Johnson, Silatolu was the only D-II player invited to the 2012 Senior Bowl.

Silatolu es de ascendencia tongana ; sus padres, Saia y Lupe Silatolu, emigraron de Tonga al Área de la Bahía de San Francisco en 1985, donde Amini nació y se crió. ^{[ 3 ] [ 31 ]} Su hermano menor, Paul Silatolu, suboficial naval, sirvió a bordo del USS New York . ^{[ 31 ]}

• Biografía de los Mustangs del estado del Medio Oeste