From the second the landed in Maui, embraced the highlight and offered sunshine vibes.
The star receiver, with a number of colourful leis draping his shoulders, turned heads upon arrival at a Monday night time luau.
The subsequent morning, flag soccer gamers excitedly buzzed “It’s Puka!” as he entered Battle Memorial Stadium for a Rams exercise and clinic. That afternoon, autograph seekers lined up 100-deep for an unique afternoon Puka-centric occasion at a crew pop-up retailer.
On Wednesday, a number of hundreds of followers confirmed as much as see the Rams’ public exercise, dozens of them carrying Nacua jerseys.
Nacua, who’s of Hawaiian, Samoan and Portuguese descent, welcomed the eye with open arms.
“These are individuals who have related backgrounds to me,” Nacua stated this week. “That is how I used to be raised — to name everyone Auntie and Uncle, and to be with them and provides hugs and kisses, and to eat loads of meals with them.
“This seems like house.”
Nacua, 24, is clearly comfy in his position.
He’s the most recent Polynesian NFL star, becoming a member of gamers similar to Detroit Lions offensive sort out and Philadelphia Eagles sort out .
Nacua burst onto the NFL scene in 2023 with a record-setting rookie season. His boundless enthusiasm, bodily type and daring athletic catches thrilled followers and confirmed Polynesian athletes that chance and success at a so-called talent place was of their grasp.
Linebacker , security and heart are Polynesian gamers enshrined within the Professional Soccer Corridor of Fame.
Nacua is respectful of the gamers who paved the best way for his alternative, citing , and Polamalu as only a few of the various that led the best way.
He goals to point out that chance exists past “the trenches” for aspiring Polynesian athletes.
“It makes it tremendous thrilling,” he stated, “as a result of the talent positions are coming.”
The affect of Polynesian professional gamers dates to the Forties, when offensive lineman Al Lolotai performed for Washington. Within the Nineteen Fifties, offensive lineman Charlie Ane twice made the Professional Bowl and gained two NFL championships with the Detroit Lions.
Ane returned to Hawaii and tutored a younger offensive lineman named . Chow performed at Utah and coached as an assistant at Brigham Younger, North Carolina State, USC, the NFL’s Tennessee Titans, UCLA and Utah earlier than Hawaii in 2011 made him the primary Asian American head coach at a significant school program.
Watching Nacua’s ascent has been gratifying for the Hawaiian-born Chow.
“It’s a cool deal,” Chow stated. “He’s a tricky man.”
Toughness was a trademark for Polynesian gamers similar to , an inside lineman on 4 San Francisco 49ers Tremendous Bowl-title groups. Sapolu was twice voted to the Professional Bowl throughout a profession that spanned from 1983 to 1997.
In these days, Sapolu stated a dearth of Polynesian gamers within the NFL led him to check the schedule every year and determine the groups that included Polynesians.
“I’d look 5 weeks down the road on the roster,” Sapolu stated, “and put it at the back of my thoughts, ‘I can’t watch for that week so I can say good day to that particular person.’”
Sapolu is the co-founder and chairman of the Hawaii-based . He has identified Nacua since 2019, when Nacua performed within the group’s annual highschool All-Star sport. As an envoy for the 49ers, Sapolu was on the sideline at Levi’s Stadium in 2023 when Nacua broke the NFL file for catches and receiving yards by a rookie.
“This era is this image with a broader lens,” Sapolu stated. “We nonetheless have the highest linemen … however now we’ve received the Puka Nacuas developing that Polynesian youngsters can say ‘Hey, you realize, not solely can I be large and powerful, I can be skinny and quick and go on the market and do issues that Puka is doing.’”
grew up in Hawaii. In 2009, he was one of the crucial extremely recruited gamers within the U.S. earlier than happening to star at linebacker for Notre Dame and enjoying eight NFL seasons.
Te’o, an NFL Community analyst, has a house in Utah. He recollects watching Nacua play at BYU, the place he displayed tenacity, physicality and fearlessness that harked to Smith-Schuster, the previous USC star who has performed eight NFL seasons. Nacua’s humility and the best way he represented his household and neighborhood additionally stood out, Te’o stated.
Nacua’s success might need helped pave the best way for former , chosen by the Carolina Panthers with the eighth choose within the 2025 draft.
“They’re beginning to consider that they are often extra than simply the standard O-lineman,” Te’o stated. “It’s good to see that transition and development.”
Mariota helped lay the groundwork. He grew up in Hawaii, starred at quarterback for Oregon, turned the primary Polynesian participant to win the Heisman Trophy and was chosen by the Tennessee Titans with the second choose within the 2015 draft.
Mariota, who will start his second season with the Washington Commanders, pointed to Jack “The Throwin’ Samoan” Thompson, Jason Gesser, Timmy Chang and Darnell Arceneaux as Samoan and Hawaiian-born quarterbacks who paved the best way for him.
“I actually worth a few of these guys that performed earlier than me, and what they have been capable of do, and what they went via to permit me to even have the possibility to play quarterback,” Mariota stated.
of the Miami Dolphins and Cleveland Browns rookie Dillon Gabriel adopted Mariota to play quarterback in school and the NFL.
Now, Nacua is exhibiting different Polynesian athletes that they don’t must be “loopholed” to play as a lineman or linebacker, Mariota stated.
“Guys like Puka and guys throughout the league are actually taking this Polynesian era to the subsequent stage,” Mariota stated. “So, it’s cool to see him, and I’m excited to see what’s subsequent as a result of that is only the start.”
This fall, is anticipated to start out at quarterback for USC, .
Maiava stated Mariota and Tagovailoa “set the instance and set the tone” for him as a quarterback.
Nacua’s instance as a Rams receiver additionally conjures up, he stated.
“Simply to get up and hit that customary he units each single day,” Maiava stated. “It’s one thing to look as much as and offers a younger child like me one thing to attempt for, and someday hope we are able to get there.”
The Rams returned to Hawaii for the primary time since 2019, after they performed a preseason sport in opposition to the Dallas Cowboys on Oahu.
In Maui, they opened a pop-up for 5 days in Wailea that featured merchandise designed by Aaron Kai, an Hawaiian artist who lives in Los Angeles.
Gross sales have been brisk, however the primary occasion was Nacua’s look.
Joshua Cabjuan, 21, of Oahu bought caps, a hoodie and different objects. He stated he met Nacua on the Polynesian Bowl a number of years in the past, so he introduced a duplicate of Nacua’s Orem (Utah) highschool jersey to be signed.
“He was actually excited, like, ‘Whoa, that is loopy — I haven’t seen this in so lengthy,’” Cabjuan stated.
Kristin Domingo of Maui had all the time been a Lakers and Dodgers fan. Changing into a Rams and Nacua fan, she stated, naturally adopted.
“We help anybody who comes from the islands or is of Hawaiian descent,” she stated after Nacua signed a jersey.
And what does she like about Nacua?
“He’s a wonderful huge receiver,” she stated. “He kicks ass on the sphere.”
Peyton Koerte, 12, and Kiara Nishimura, 14, from Kauai every emerged with a signed Nacua jersey.
Why Nacua?
“We picked him for our draft in fantasy soccer,” Peyton stated.
For many years the NFL’s Professional Bowl was performed in Hawaii.
Te’o remembers watching gamers similar to Rams stars Kurt Warner and Isaac Bruce in particular person.
“To see them play allowed me to dream large,” Te’o stated.
Nacua hopes the Rams’ go to to Maui has an analogous impact, and that it uplifts an island that was ravaged by the 2023 wildfire that .
In remarks on the Rams welcome luau, Maui County Mayor Richard T. Bissen Jr. famous that the crew donated greater than $260,000 in preliminary reduction and helped spur donations from different professional groups of $450,000 to the American Pink Cross.
He additionally recalled attending a soccer camp in Maui overseen by former Rams quarterback Roman Gabriel within the Seventies.
“Thanks for what you’re going to do for our youth within the subsequent couple of days, uplifting them and educating them,” he stated, including that maybe the subsequent Puka Nacua is perhaps among the many attendees.
Nacua was grateful to assist play a job in therapeutic.
“To know the help that you just wish to give to these people who find themselves going via that problem, and to see the way it can change and convey the neighborhood nearer collectively in that point, I feel our crew has felt that,” Nacua stated.
Nacua as soon as regarded as much as gamers similar to Mariota and Smith-Schuster. Now, younger gamers are trying as much as him.
“The self-discipline to have the consistency to go on the market and carry out very effectively, I really feel like these are issues which might be staples within the Polynesian neighborhood,” he stated.
Nacua will return to Los Angeles and start getting ready for coaching camp and a season of excessive expectations. The Rams are considered potential Tremendous Bowl contenders, with an offense that features star quarterback and new star receiver .
However Nacua won’t quickly overlook his time in Maui.
And he can have loads of reminders.
“I’m certain I’m going to have 50 leis by the point I’m going house,” he stated.
