Brandon Pili

Pili was born on April 2, 1999, the eldest of seven children.[1][2] His father had moved to Alaska from Hawaii in 1990 and his mother grew up in Barrow, Alaska, the most northernmost settlement in the United States.[2] He lived the first few years of his life in Barrow, later moving to Anchorage.[2][3] He played several sports growing up and attended Dimond High School in Anchorage, where he played football until the first game of his senior season.[2] Pili transferred to Westview High School in Portland, Oregon, to finish his high school career.[2] He had received little attention from college football teams while at Dimond but began receiving a significant amount of offers after transferring to Westview; he ultimately committed to play for the USC Trojans.[2]

Pili, a defensive tackle, weighed 345 pounds in his freshman year at USC and saw significant playing time that year, appearing in nine games, two as a starter, and posting 14 tackles as well as a blocked field goal.[4][5] The following year, he played in all 12 games and had two starts, posting 12 tackles and a sacks.[6] In 2019, he had 18 tackles, three pass breakups and a fumble forced in 13 games played.[6] Pili posted five tackles in four games played during the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season.[4]

Pili was expected to see significant action in the 2021 season, but tore his achilles tendon prior to the start of the season and missed the entire year.[7] In his final year, 2022, he brought his weight down to 315 pounds, played 14 games and had a career-high 25 tackles in addition to one sack and a pass breakup.[5][8][9] He finished his collegiate career with 74 tackles, 10 of which were for a loss, and four sacks in 52 games played.[9][10]

After going unslected in the 2023 NFL Draft, Pili was signed by the Miami Dolphins as an undrafted free agent.[11] He made the team's final roster, becoming the first Alaskan to be on an NFL roster since 2014.[3]

• USC Trojans bio
• Miami Dolphins bio