Puka Nacua was Deseret News’ ‘Mr. Football’ in 2018. Here’s what his loved ones said about him then
Before Puka Nacua was a record-breaking NFL rookie, he was a star at Utah’s Orem High.
He set single-season state records for receptions, yards and touchdowns during his senior year, on his way to becoming the top receiver in the country. Those achievements help explain why he was named “Mr. Football 2018” by the Deseret News.
Like other Mr. Footballs before and after him, Nacua was profiled by the Deseret News at the end of his big season. Reporter Amy Donaldson spoke with his loved ones and coaches about what made then-17-year-old Nacua special — and what type of player he was destined to become.
“He’s such a good kid, quick-witted with a great sense of humor, loves life, loves to practice, and he’s a kid who is going to remain in your heart forever as one of your favorite kids you’ve ever coached,” said Nacua’s high school coach, Jeremy Hill, to the Deseret News in 2018.
Hill admitted to Donaldson that Nacua’s skills weren’t obvious during the first summer they practiced together. But once fall arrived, and he started having his players run drills in pads, the young receiver’s talent became impossible to deny.
“The way he moved, how he always knew where he was and what was going on, the intellect he had, even at that young age, that’s when I knew he was going to be playing on Sundays. I definitely knew he was special,” Hill said.
Who is Puka Nacua?
Five years on from when Hill gave that quote, Nacua is indeed playing on Sundays as a wide receiver for the Los Angeles Rams.
He was drafted in the fifth round of the 2023 NFL Draft and then surprised the league when he emerged as quarterback Matthew Stafford’s most reliable target in the absence of injured receiver Cooper Kupp.
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Through the first three weeks of the 2023-24 NFL season, Nacua has 338 yards off 30 receptions, according to ESPN. He’s averaging 11.3 yards per catch.
Nacua made it to the NFL spotlight after spending two years in Provo playing for BYU. Although he started his college career with Washington, he finished it with the Cougars, ultimately scoring 10 touchdowns for BYU during his final college season.
By transferring to BYU, Nacua was able to play with his brother Samson on the same field where their older brothers Kai and Isaiah had played before.
“We were just talking ... and something in the conversation brought us to never having the opportunity to play with each other,” said Nacua to KSL in 2021 about his and Samson’s decision to transfer to BYU at the same time. “That was what kind of sparked the conversation that BYU would be the place to do it, to come back home and play in front of mom.”
Samson Nacua later signed with the Indianapolis Colts as an undrafted free agent and played for the team during the 2022 preseason. Kai Nacua has spent time on multiple NFL teams but now plays for the Michigan Panthers in the USFL.
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It’s fair to say that, after just three games, Puka Nacua already has a bigger NFL profile than his older brothers. His late father, Lionel, predicted it would turn out that way before he died in May 2012, according to Nacua’s mother, Penina, who spoke to the Deseret News about her family in 2018.
“Puka is going to be the best one,” she recalled her husband saying. “Out of all my boys, he’ll be the best football player.”
What Puka Nacua’s mom and coach said about his high school play
One reason why Lionel Nacua felt that way about Puka is that Puka always took sports very seriously, even as a young boy, Penina Nacua said.
She told the Deseret News that he was already watching ESPN when other kids his age were still obsessed with cartoons.
“He would watch ESPN, he’d watch all the football and basketball highlights because my husband planted the seeds already with Puka,” Penina Nacua told Donaldson.
That film study paid off, shaping Nacua into a player that his high school coach will never forget.
“I tell college coaches the reason you want to fight for this kid, obviously you can see what he’s done on the field, but his personality is so infectious,” Hill said in 2018.
In her own interview for the “Mr. Football” story, Penina Nacua agreed that Puka’s personality would take him far.
“He is a great leader,” she said. “He’s a great person. I always tell my boys, ‘Football doesn’t define you.’ It’s been a means to help them get through college, help them get through life. … But I’m just living this out for my husband. It’s humbling to see Puka have all of this success.”
