As the Raiders prepare to draft a few talented football players in just over a week’s time, they are having a former futbol star for a visit, according to Ian Rapoport.
#Raiders are hosting today ex-American Somoa goal-scoring soccer star Shalom Luani… who also starred as a All-Pac 12 #WashingtonSt safety.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 18, 2017
His name is Shalom Luani and at the age of 17, he was a World Cup soccer player for the Tonga.
Tonga went on to play American Football in the Bay Area — first at Chabot College, then San Francisco City College — before transferring to Washington State.
In two seasons with the Cougars, he started 25 games at safety collecting 8 interceptions and 20 passes defended along with 158 tackles.
The 5-11, 202-pound safety is viewed in most draft projections as a late round pick or priority free agent prospect.
Should he go undrafted, the Raiders would be a wise place for him to choose to play. They are in much need of depth at the safety position after losing Nate Allen and Brynden Trawick in free agency. And obviously, being that Luani spent three years playing football in the Bay Area, it would be familiar to him.
Luani attended the scouting combine where he ran a 4.55 40-yard dash and a 6.87 3-cone. Both respectable times for a safety.
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