Former BYU defensive end Corbin Kaufusi will be taking the field as a New Orleans Saint during the 2019 NFL season.
Corbin comes from a long family line of BYU athletes. His father, Steve Kaufusi, played for the Philadelphia Eagles from 1988-90. His brother, Bronson, is currently signed with the New York Jets while his younger brother, Devin, is still playing football at BYU. His sisters Alexis and Daryl both played soccer for BYU, Alexis in Provo and Daryl in Hawaii. Mayor Michelle Kaufusi, Corbin’s mother, is currently the mayor of Provo.
Corbin has been on the football team since 2016 and played in every game that his health permitted him to play. Prior to his football career at BYU, Corbin also played three years of BYU basketball from 2014-17.
Corbin’s basketball highs include a game-high 17 points along with 33 minutes played against Long Beach State on November 16, 2015, and a career-high 10 rebounds which happened twice in February of 2016. During his final year of basketball, however, Corbin only played the latter half of the hoops season so he could focus on football.
His stats improved each year on the gridiron. During his senior season, Corbin had 9.5 tackles for loss, 8.5 sacks and 56 total tackles. Playing in only 11 games during the 2018 season due to lingering injuries, Corbin showed his heroics in his team’s final game of the season against Utah. Putting off season-ending surgeries so he could play against the Utes one final time, Kaufusi made 6 solo tackles and 7 total tackles.
The athlete that is never seen without a smile also brings size to the Saints, standing 6-foot-9 and weighing in at 275 pounds. Aside from the size and quickness he attained during his collegiate basketball career, Corbin brings intangibles that can’t be taught. With only three years of football on his resume, the native of Provo, Utah, is a quick learner. Corbin is a humble athlete, telling the BYU Athletes Journal that he learned humility from his father.
The defensive multipurpose tool also knows how to deal with adversity. In addition to defeating the odds as a late bloomer in terms of when he began playing sports, Corbin also faced difficulty when his sister Alexis was diagnosed with cancer, which she later beat, during his upperclassman years of high school.
Corbin is a well-rounded athlete and looks to add to a Saints defensive unit that was ranked as a top-5 defense in the league during the 2018 season. Corbin and the Saints will begin their preseason schedule on Aug. 9 against the Minnesota Vikings.
