Junior Aumavae's bid to become the 11th Alaskan to play in the NFL ended Saturday.
Aumavae, a 6-foot-2, 310-pound nose guard from Palmer, was among 22 players cut by the New York Jets on Saturday, the deadline for NFL teams must trim their rosters to 53 players in advance of next week's season-opening games.
Aumavae was one of four defensive linemen cut by the Jets, who kept five.
A 2004 Palmer High graduate, Aumavae, 27, signed a three-year contract with the Jets in March. He's been trying to land a job in the league since college, making it as far as the Dallas Cowboys' 80-man roster in 2010 and getting cut before training camp with the Cowboys in 2012.
He has also played in Arena Football League for the Green Bay Blizzard.
Aumavae played three seasons of NCAA Division II football with Western Washington and played his final year at Minnesota State-Mankato after Western Washington eliminated its football program.
Ten Alaskans have made it to football's biggest stage, including three on teams for this season -- North Pole's Daryn Colledge (Arizona Cardinals), Dimond's Chris Kuper (Denver Broncos) and Bartlett's Zack Bowman (Chicago Bears).
The rest of the elite group includes Mao Tosi, Reggie Tongue, Travis Hall, Shane Bonham, Mark Schlereth, Tom Neville and Rocky Klever.
Anchorage Daily News