squad. He was then promoted to the active roster after Travis Taylor was released. He played in 13 games in the 2007 season for the Raiders, recording 8 tackles and 1 forced fumble. On March 27, 2008, Alston was re-signed as an exclusive rights free agent by the Raiders for the 2008 season. After linebacker Robert Thomas was waived/injured on September 2, Alston switched from No. 94 to Thomas' No. 55. Thomas was then re-signed by the Raiders weeks later. On October 19, 2008, in a game against the New York Jets, the Raiders were forced to punt on a 3 and out. However, longsnapper Jon Condo directly snapped the ball to Alston, who ran it for 22 yards on a fake punt play. In 2008, Alston led the Raiders in special teams tackles with 20 despite missing two games and starting 4 games at OLB. He ended the season with 34 total tackles and 1 pass defensed. Against the Chargers, Alston garnered a career-high of 11 total tackles including 9 on defense and 2 on special teams. Alston suffered a concussion and was placed on Injured Reserve on November 25, 2009. Tampa Bay Buccaneers On March 12, 2010, Alston signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Alston retired from the sport in 2011. Film career Alston's first film, Red Butterfly was independently produced. Alston cites the works of Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell as influences on the film. Red Butterfly is a postmodern romantic tragedy in the style of Baz Luhrmann's Romeo and Juliet and Darren Aronofsky's Requiem for a Dream. Alston's sophomore film, Augustus, won the Directorial Discovery Grand Prize at the Rhode Island International Film Festival in addition to being awarded the distinction of Best Director at multiple festivals in 2020. Awards and nominations Film Screenwriting Alston's first feature-length screenplay, based on an eponymous Oscar nominated short-doc, was one of three selections to win the Atlanta Film Festival Screenplay Competition in 2022. Prior to this, he and his co-writer won the Missouri Stories Scriptwriting fellowship in 2020. His first hour-long pilot was a finalist in 11 screenwriting competitions between 2021-2022. Festivals include ScreenCraft TV Pilot Script Competition, PAGE International Screenwriting Awards Competition, Launch Pad Pilot Competition and HollyShorts Screenwriting Competition among others. The project is also listed in the top 1% of Discoverable Projects on Coverfly. External links Oakland Raiders bio Stanford Cardinal bio The Wrap Variety References