Who is the heaviest active player in the NFL? It’s Trent Williams, who weighs about 380 lbs. But closer to him is one man who weighs around 379 lbs, as per 2024 stats. And that is Daniel Faalele.

Born on November 9, 1999, 6’8” Daniel Faalele is the big guy in the Baltimore Ravens team, who plays at the position of guard. However, unlike most of his fellow footballers, the 25-year-old hails from a different country and ethnicity. So, let’s check.

What is Daniel Faalele’s nationality?

When drafted in 2022, Daniel Faalele was known for being the fifth-heaviest player in NFL history. Obviously, with such tall height and heavy pounds, he was different from the rest. But it was not just his physique that made him stand out in the league. It was also his nationality. Daniel Faalele belongs to Australian nationality. Yes! He was born in Victoria, Melbourne, but he left the country at the age of 16 to pursue football in the United States.

However, his phase of leaving his hometown was undoubtedly difficult. While speaking in a podcast earlier at The Ravens Lounge, Daniel Faalele explained, “It definitely wasn’t an easy decision, especially for my mom because growing up was just me and my mom and my brother so we really close-knit, tight-knit, and yeah, it was a difficult decision, but at the end of the day, I just wanted to give myself an opportunity to explore football and see where that could take me. And yeah, I wouldn’t say it was a bad one.”

To pursue football, Daniel Faalele went to Florida to play high school football for two years. But if you ask whether he knew the sport earlier due to a different nationality, the answer to this probably will be no. So, how come he got interested in the sport? Well, it was when in 2015, he was discovered by a University of Hawaii recruiter at a gym near Melbourne. Then his popularity and massive potential spread fast in the football world, which led him to join a satellite camp at the University of Michigan. Hence, his interest in football developed, leading him to move forward to Florida to join the IMG Academy.

So, his decision to become a footballer went pretty well, and for this, he is always grateful to his brother and single mother, Ruth, who belongs to a different ethnicity.

What is Daniel Faalele’s ethnicity?

Daniel Faalele is of both Samoan and Tongan descent. His father is actually Samoan, while his mother, Ruth, is Tongan. However, as per reports, Faalele was brought by his single mother, as nothing much is known about his dad. Nevertheless, Faalele is a proud son of his mom, who also shares another son, making it a family of three.

Apart from his family, fans are also eager to know about Daniel Faalele’s religion. But unfortunately, not much is available about the athlete’s religion on the internet. However, if we consider his ethnicity, it seems he and his family follow Christianity. Why? Well, it’s because both Samoan and Tongan people predominantly are Christians.

So, all in all, Daniel Faalele is making both his communities proud of him, as he now has been named an AFC Pro Bowl alternate this year.