Defensive lineman EJ Ane (ah-NAY) is back with the Bay Area Panthers in 2025. This will be Ane’s second year in the Indoor Football League, as the Portland State-product is eager to return to work at San Jose’s SAP Center.
In 2024, Ane made six appearances for Bay Area, collecting 2.5 TFL and one quarterback sack. Moving forward, Panthers Head Coach Rob Keefe believes Ane has high potential. “We are excited to have EJ back with us. He is a physical pass rusher who never quits and fires off the snap with aggression. (...) We look forward to seeing him grow in [2025],” professed Coach Keefe.
Ane—who now stands sturdy at 6-foot-2, 290 lbs—starred collegiately for the Portland State Vikings in 2022, making 42 tackles along with nine TFL, seven sacks and one forced fumble to eventually earn Third-Team All-Big Sky honors. He graduated in 2023 with a degree in Social Sciences.
Prior to his lone campaign at PSU, Ane played at nearby San Jose State University. He saw action in every season from 2018 to 2021 for the Spartans, winning a Mountain West championship in 2020. Ane was also named to the 2018 Academic All-Conference team as a freshman—a year wherein he played defense and offense.
In totality, Ane compiled 68 tackles, 10 TFL, 5.5 sacks and one recovered fumble throughout his time at SJSU.
Ane is a son to military parents and moved around quite frequently during his childhood. Born overseas in Germany, he started his prep career at Louisiana’s Leesville High School before transferring to Silver Valley High School in Yermo, CA.
An undisputed force for the Silver Valley Trojans on both sides of the ball, Ane registered 35 touchdowns to go with 98 tackles as a senior. Ane was also awarded the 2017 CIF Southern Section 13 Offensive Player of the Year. Immediately following, he competed in the 2018 Polynesian Bowl All-Star game in Honolulu.
Ane recently spoke to NBC Bay Area’s Anthony Flores, exclaiming, “I’m [with the Panthers] to show my talents the best that I can, show that I’m coachable and show that I can play football.” Naturally, that is the right attitude to bring to the IFL.
For Ane, football is in his blood. He comes from a sporting family and is related to former-NFL All-Pro offensive guard Mike Iupati, who was also a first-round draft pick of the San Francisco 49ers (by way of the University of Idaho) back in 2010.
Ane considers Killeen, TX to be his hometown. Away from the game, he is a proud father that enjoys baking and playing the ukulele. Look for him to wreak havoc on opponents’ backfields throughout 2025
