Kristjan Sokoli

Sokoli's father, Gjon, fled from Shkodër, Albania[4] to the United States seeking political asylum around the time of the Albanian Rebellion of 1997 when Kristjan was five years old. During the period of economic instability in Albania, Gjon worked in monetary exchange.[5] When Gjon first arrived in the United States, he made $45 per day as a maintenance worker in an apartment complex, and lived in the complex's basement with other workers.[4] Kristan's mother, Gjyste, fled to America two years after Gjon and Kristjan and his younger brother, Mark, were not able to join their parents until another two years had passed. None of the family could speak English upon arriving. Although the Sokolis are now American citizens,[4] Kristjan still listens to Albanian music, displays an Albanian flag and speaks Albanian with his family. Edmir Sokoli, Kristjan's cousin who had come to the United States five years before Kristjan, introduced Sokoli to football when the latter was thirteen years old. Kristjan saw Edmir as a role model and looked up to him growing up.

Sokoli, known as "Moose" by his high school coach,[5] was a three-year letterwinner in football at Bloomfield High School in Bloomfield, New Jersey where he played defensive end, left tackle, tight end, punter and placekicker. He suffered fractures on his wrist before junior and senior year of high school, which set him back a bit.[5] He led Bloomfield to consecutive playoff berths and was named an All-Conference player. He also started for Bloomfield's basketball team and finished eighth in the state in his junior year as a discus thrower and sixth in the state his senior year.[6] He signed a National Letter of Intent to play at the University at Buffalo in early February of his senior year.[7]

At Buffalo, Sokoli moved to the defensive line full-time. When he committed to Buffalo, he stood at 6'5" and weighed 220 pounds. By his junior year, he weighed 300 pounds. He credited this to a diet of 7,000 calories per day.[8] He redshirted during his freshman year. By his junior year, he had become a starter on the line and was an integral part of a Buffalo pass rush which was led by future first-round draft pick linebacker Khalil Mack. Sokoli would help Buffalo to the 2013 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl that season, its second bowl appearance ever and first since the 2008 season.[6] During his senior year, he played in the 2015 Medal of Honor Bowl. He majored in Business Administration and said that he would like to work on the New York Stock Exchange if he could not make a living playing football.[5]