Ex-Husky Ulumoo Ale Signs With BC Lions -- As Offensive Lineman

As hard as he's worked at becoming a meaningful football player, Ale is due for another breakthrough.

The Samoan-born player, who called Tacoma, Washington, his home, was a 10-game starter over two seasons at offensive guard for Jimmy Lake's Huskies before Kalen DeBoer's staff came in and switched him to defensive tackle.

Once the second heaviest player in the Pac-12 Conference at 368 pounds, he was encouraged to shed 50 pounds to increase his agility and facilitate his move to defense, which he gladly did.

"Obviously, [it's] a new body and I've got time to kind of get used to it and kind of grow into my body," Ale said in 2023. "[I'm] just getting confident with my new weight, recognizing my new speed and the body changes come with a lot of differences in the way I move."

While changing positions and size, Ale also requested that people refer to him by his given first name of Ulumoo rather than his nickname "M.J."

He had a fairly productive run on defense for the UW, appearing in 26 games and starting 13 of them, including 12 in the run to the national title game.

The BC Lions will find Ale is agreeable to doing just about whatever it takes to enhance his football career.