Big Man on Campus: UW's Gigantic Ale Awaits His Big Chance

The Washington offensive guard might be the program's biggest player in more than two decades. He brings excessive girth as well as a big personality to the Huskies.

Ulumoo Ale sounds like a tall, cold one with a milk chaser.

Yet he comes in an extra-large helmet and shoulder pads, not a frosted glass or a shot glass.

As probably the University of Washington's biggest scholarship football player in a couple of decades -- pushing Lincoln Kennedy-sized girth -- Ale checks in at a mountainous 6-foot-6 and team-high 352 pounds.

In the accompanying photo, Ale (68) stands at the far right of the intense Apple Cup celebration, gesturing and towering so much over his UW teammates that he resembles his own Husky Stadium upper deck.

This is a big man.

He is the heaviest among an impressive collection of O-line largesse on the roster, sharing the training table with 6-6, 342-pound Nate Kalepo and 6-8, 330-pound Julius Buelow, both redshirt freshman.

While the other two await their first game-day snaps, what comes next for Ale is finding extended playing time that matches the numbers on the tape measure and scale. He appeared in all 13 games in 2019, mostly on special teams.

The Samoan-born, Australian-grown and globally groomed UW lineman finished up last season at the Las Vegas Bowl as a redshirt freshman manning backup left guard. He's ready for more.

Besides the extra-thick physique, Ale has an outsized personality. While not permitted by the UW to do interviews as an underclassman, he should in time show himself to be an entertaining presence and a fan favorite.

When informed that his family was packing up and traveling halfway around the world to Washington state, so his father could take a pastoral position, he made a wrong but humorous assumption.

"I thought I was moving near the White House," Ale said.

By now, he was a championship boxer and a devoted rugby player being exposed to new sporting activities. Enrolling at Fife High School in Fife, Washington, the same place that produced UW and NFL offensive lineman Kaleb McGary, he was encouraged to try something new -- American football. He had to figure out the game first. 

"I watched a lot of football on Youtube," he said. 

His rugby buddies gave him so much grief over his new athletic interest, chiding him over the fact that it required padding, he tried and failed to obtain a waiver from school officials to play football without a helmet.

This is another in a series of profiles on prospective UW football starters. While spring practice has been canceled or postponed because of the pandemic, Husky Maven/Sports Illustrated continues to provide uninterrupted coverage.

Entering his third season in the UW program, Ale has spent considerable time building strength and learning technique. His next step is to secure a starting role.

A lot of his progress in the near future depends on whether or not the Huskies move senior Luke Wattenberg from left guard to center, giving the huge sophomore a position opening.

Ale chose the UW over nine other schools, swayed by the prospects of playing for the local team in his American landing place. He's on schedule to become a steady fixture on the offensive line. 

He's put on plenty of bulk but he's rid himself of a nickname. Named for his father the pastor, he answered to M.J. when arriving on campus, as in Moo Junior. He goes by his formal first name of Ulumoo now.

Ale will next see if he can add some labels, such as starter, all-conference and pro prospect, which shouldn't be any harder than picking up more pounds.

SUMMARY: This giant of a man from Down Under looks eager and fit. He just needs to play with everything on the line. Game time should be his next goal. 

GRADE (1 to 5): Ale gets a 2.5. While his size lends to all sorts of intriguing possibilities, he still hasn't done anything. Will he have that breakthrough this year or next?