HENDERSON, Nev. — Nine years ago, roaming the halls of Centennial High School in Northwest Las Vegas, a much younger Jonah Laulu was more likely to be thinking about heading to Canes Chicken Fingers after a Friday night game with the Bulldogs than where life was taking him after graduating.

He certainly never imagined he’d be in the NFL, let alone returning to his hometown to play professional football.

After all, Las Vegas didn’t have an NFL team at the time.

Which is why Laulu couldn’t help but wear an ear-to-ear grin earlier this week, standing at a lectern while addressing reporters and emitting nothing less than appreciation for the opportunity he’s been afforded.

“It means everything to me,” Laulu said. “A lot of the time, I’m not really thinking about it, but there will be a lot of times where I’m walking through the facility and I look at the logo. … This is a dream come true. It means so much to me to be able to represent this organization in my hometown, in my city, and with my family so close to me.”

The 25-year-old beamed with pride when talking about having his mother helping him on the home front while he works diligently to earn a starting role, or when discussing his friends who attended open practices at the team’s headquarters.

His overwhelming gratitude came as no surprise to his former high school coach at Centennial, Dustin Forshee.

“Jonah was always a great kid,” Forshee said. “He always wanted people around him to do better and be better. I think he appreciates (all this) because I think he did come from humble beginnings in Las Vegas, and I don’t think having an expectation necessarily of playing in the NFL. I think that’s always the goal. I think he just appreciates everything that everybody’s done.”

Forshee said he fondly remembers Laulu coming back to speak to Centennial players about school and not taking their grades for granted, never losing sight of what it took to become eligible to attend Hawai’i, and later Oklahoma.

“I think he has really good self-reflection when it comes to that,” Forshee said. “He’s very good at understanding and not taking things for granted. It’s one of those things where you’re extremely happy to see a kid like him go through and be successful where he’s at.

“He looks out and he cares about people who care about him. And unfortunately, I don’t think that happens enough. He’s one that I know will do anything for the people who are close to him. He cares extremely deeply for them. I’m sure that’s not changed from high school to college to the NFL.”

“Huge thanks to @Jonah_laulu for giving back to the city that raised him – and for shouting out our amazing community relations team! Proud to have a hometown hero repping the Silver & Black,” wrote Raiders president Sandra Douglass Morgan, quoting a video post on “X” on Laulu speaking about giving back to the community.

Whether it’s been returning to Centennial to speak to players, as Forshee mentioned, holding a football camp at his former high school, or doing things in and around the community as a member of the Raiders, Laulu said it will remain important for him to be accessible.

“I tell them all the time, whenever you need me, I’m going to be there for any community event,” he said. “And then vice versa, like I asked for them to provide some drawstring backpacks for when I had my kids camp out here in my high school.

“It’s really cool to be able to pour into the community because when I was that age, we didn’t have a team here. And now that we have the team here, being able to go show those kids that I’m a Vegas kid, I was in your guys’ shoes.”

Laulu said his mother reinforced to him that kids are now looking up to him, even if he thinks of himself as a “regular old me” and not someone going into his second year as an NFL player.

Laulu recalled when Las Vegas products and former NFL players Brandon Marshall and DJ Campbell, now the coach at Centennial, came to speak to players. 

The impact they left on Laulu is the same one he wants to have across the valley.

“It meant the world to me,” he said. “I’ll remember that interaction for the rest of my life. I thought it was super cool being able to see people that I thought were cool. … To be able to see them in person, hear them talk to us, it just shows that it’s possible.

“And for me to be able to do that, it means so much to me, and it’s super cool. I’m going to continue to do things for the community. If y’all got any community things out here that you want me to do, I’ll come do it and show face because Vegas is my family and this is where I’m from.”

Laulu, who appeared in all 17 games for Las Vegas last season and started seven of them after former Raider Christian Wilkins broke his foot in Week 5, has found himself working with the starting defensive line during the opening weeks of training camp.

Defensive coordinator Patrick Graham recalled his first encounter with Laulu, during the Raiders’ pro day for locals.

“I just saw a raw player with a lot of the physical traits that you want at the position,” Graham said. “When you have those traits, and then you combine that with the work ethic he has, and I would say, the coaching he’s getting from the position coaches, the coaching he’s getting from the players, the examples like Maxx (Crosby), like Adam Butler, he’s trending the right way.”

Trending, in that he’s lined up with Butler on the interior of the starting defensive line that is bookended by Crosby, one of the top edge rushers in the league, and Malcolm Koonce.

His football IQ is matched with a style of play that fits a Raiders mold from yesteryear, where grit and physicality wreak havoc on offensive lines.

Laulu, who registered a mere three tackles for loss and one sack last season, has also caught the attention of coach Pete Carroll.

“He shows all of the traits,” Carroll said. “He’s really long, plays really aggressive, he’s really good technique-wise, he’s a little bit quicker than you might think for a big guy, and he uses it well.

“His resolve about coming from the offseason all the way through to camp is really clear. He’s really on it. He’s playing day after day after day. He’s doing things right, and he’s playing really hard, and he’s really tuned in. He’s playing tough, so he’s making a great pitch for you, and he needs to be out there a lot, so it’s good.”