SMU OLB Junior Aho Joins Vikings Via NFL’s International Player Pathway Program

Aho is a native of Nice, France who had five sacks in his college career.

SMU's Junior Aho is joining the Vikings as part of the NFL’s International Player Pathway Program, the team announced on Thursday. The 6'2", 260-pound native of Nice, France is being listed as an outside linebacker. 

OLB Junior Aho (@AhoJunior) has been selected to join the #Vikings as part of the NFL’s International Player Pathway Program.

🇫🇷 @NFLFrance

📰: https://t.co/imrhPni28k pic.twitter.com/t8wLpCJdwy

— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) May 4, 2023

Aho had five sacks, 7.5 total TFL, and two forced fumbles in parts of 24 games at SMU while playing on their defensive line. He's a great athlete who ran a 4.59 40 at his pro day and has a 7.51 RAS as a linebacker.

Growing up, Aho playing football in his hometown of Nice, and later for teams in Marseille and Finland. He played for the French national team in 2018, winning gold in the European Championships. Then he came over the United States, playing for a junior college — New Mexico Military Institute — in 2019 and SMU from 2020 to 2022. 

The NFL's International Player Pathway Program was launched in 2017. The league recently hosted prospects for two months of training at IMG Academy in Florida, then allocated one player to every team in the NFC North and AFC West divisions.

A key detail is that "the roster spot is specially designated and does not count against the practice squad limit of 16 players," according to the Vikings.

The team also shared details of head coach Kevin O'Connell's call with Aho, welcoming him to the team.

"There's a lot of things we're gonna be really excited about – getting to see you compete on our team and get a chance to just continue your football journey, your football dream. We all have our story that we've grown up playing this game, and we maybe have different paths to this league, but there's no greater league in the world to play in," O'Connell said. "I know the guys downstairs in the locker room are really excited to have you join our roster."

Aho was all smiles.

"Thank you, Coach. I'm very excited. Thank you for giving me a chance," Aho said. "I'm excited to be a Viking. … I'm over the moon. I'm ready to compete. And I know it's a great culture with the Vikings; I know it's a high standard, and I'm so excited. I'm so excited."

"The calls, whether it's a first-round pick like Jordan Addison or a player in the International Pathway Program, everybody's a Minnesota Viking that I'm making that call to – and that means something. It means something to us," O'Connell added.

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