Junior Aho (born February 2, 1999) is a French-born

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

nose tackle for the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for the SMU Mustangs.

College career

In his college career, he recorded 43 tackles with 7.5 going for a loss, five sacks, and two forced fumbles, in three years with the SMU Mustangs.

Professional career

Minnesota Vikings

After not being selected in the

2023 NFL draft The 2023 NFL Draft will be the 88th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players. The draft is scheduled to be held in the plaza outside of Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri, on April 27–29, ...

, Aho signed with the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

through the NFL's

International Player Pathway Program The International Player Pathway Program (IPPP) is a program run by the National Football League (NFL) to increase the number of non-American and Canadian players in the NFL. The program was formed as part of the NFL's strategy to grow globally as ...

. Additionally, he was drafted (16th overall) by the BC Lions of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

(CFL) in the

2023 CFL Global Draft The 2023 CFL Global Draft was a selection of non-Canadian and non-American players by Canadian Football League (CFL) teams that took place on May 2, 2023. It was the third CFL Draft that pooled all of the global players together after previously ...

. He was waived by the Vikings on August 29, 2023 and re-signed to the

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

. He was not signed to a reserve/future contract and became a free agent at the end of the season.

Carolina Panthers

Aho signed with the

on May 20, 2024.

References

External links

SMU Mustangs bio
1999 births Living people American football defensive tackles New Mexico Military Broncos football players SMU Mustangs football players Minnesota Vikings players Carolina Panthers players International Player Pathway Program participants French players of American football Sportspeople from Nice {{defensive-lineman-1990s-stub