Since his spectacular rookie season with the Los Angeles Rams ended on Jan. 14 with a heartbreaking 24-23 loss to the Detroit Lions in an NFC wildcard game, former BYU standout Puka Nacua has played up his newfound fame and fortune to the hilt.
The receiver has hung out with celebrities at the Super Bowl, played in the Pro Bowl, driven a Zamboni at an NHL game, put on his own camp in the Los Angeles area, attended plenty of Lakers games, and signed a multiyear endorsement deal with the Jordan Brand.
The former four-star recruit has definitely hit the big time, aided by his dynamite smile, contagious personality and, of course, meteoric rise in the world of professional football after the Rams took him with the No. 177 overall pick in the fifth round of the 2023 NFL draft.
Doing all that in the shadows of Hollywood hasn’t hurt, either.
How Puka Nacua is spending the offseason
The offseason spotlight has followed Nacua around for months, and he hasn’t shied away from it. He’s been featured on plenty of national sports platforms, including ESPN.com.
But the rising second-year player who caught 105 passes for 1,486 yards and six touchdowns for the Rams last season felt most at home when he was at home — last week at Orem High conducting a Football ProCamp with fellow BYU great Jaren Hall.
“Just to be back in the community I grew up in, it makes me super happy,” Nacua told the Deseret News during a break at the camp last week. “I love to see everybody playing football here and this community still going strong. I wanted to come back to where I am from.”
Nacua actually spent the first part of his life in Las Vegas, but after his father passed away the family moved to the Provo-Orem area, and they’ve been a big part of the Utah County sports scene ever since.
“Yeah, it has been a huge blessing, especially to see all the people that I knew as Cougar fans,” he said. “I feel like the majority of them have been able to come and be Rams fans. I know there are guys from BYU spread all over the league (that they follow). But I would say I definitely felt the love during the journey that I was on this year, and I really appreciate everybody tuning in to the story.”
That journey included breaking the rookie receiving record and Jaylen Waddle’s record for catches by a rookie, 104 in 2021.
“It is something that I never prepared for, and what it would be like,” Nacua said of his record-breaking debut. “It has made every moment just that much sweeter. … I never knew at the beginning of the season last year that I would be in this situation.”
Puka Nacua partners with Jaren Hall
At BYU, Nacua caught 91 passes for 1,430 yards and 11 touchdowns in two seasons (2021, 2022) as he and Hall — who just completed his rookie season with the Minnesota Vikings — formed one of the most prolific quarterback-receiver tandems in BYU history.
At the camp last week, Hall sported a royal blue Puka Nacua T-shirt, while Nacua was decked out in a black Jaren Hall T-shirt. Training camps for both BYU products begin this week.
Nacua said the plan is for the friends to conduct a camp every year in Utah County for the foreseeable future, generally a week or two before they report.
“Last year we went to Jaren’s alma mater, Maple Mountain, and stuff like that,” Nacua said. “But I wanted to be able to come back to where I grew up. When I first moved here from Las Vegas, I came to the Orem youth football camp.
I am not sure if they are still doing one, but the ability to do my own football camp, and obviously to be able to do it with somebody that I know and I have stayed in contact with (is fun).”
Of course, a lot of the questions Hall fielded from reporters were about his situation in Minnesota after the Vikings added a fourth quarterback to their roster, former Michigan star J.J. McCarthy.
For Nacua, locals want to know if, and how, he can replicate his rookie season and avoid a sophomore slump.
He said, for starters, he has been training vigorously with fellow Rams receiver Cooper Kupp at Kupp’s house, focusing on eating better, and transforming his body. He said he’s turned fat into muscle and dropped between 10 and 15 pounds.
“I just want to be there every week for my team,” Nacua said. “That was one of the goals I set for myself last year, is just be out there for every game possible. Injuries and stuff are part of the game of football. But I will try to minimize those the best way I can and try to be out there on Sundays.”
People also want to know what his life is like now that he’s an NFL star. While welcoming the attention, he said it is almost impossible to go out in public without being recognized, even in Los Angeles.
“Obviously with the change of market and stuff, I thought I could go to stuff and not be recognized, with the long hair and growing out my beard,” he said. “There were things that made people think, ‘Wait a minute, I kinda recognize that guy.’ So being recognized out in LA, I think is some of the stuff (that has changed). Especially when I am not wearing Rams gear, people come up and say, no way, you are like, No. 17. It is definitely something different.”
More rookie recollections
Like Hall, Nacua says he doesn’t regret forgoing his final year of college eligibility for the NFL. Why would he? He’s been successful beyond his wildest dreams.
Here are more of Nacua’s comments on his first season in the NFL. Some of the answers have been edited for clarification and content.
On what kind of questions he was asked about BYU:
“Some of the guys who were in the Big 12, they were saying, ‘Hey, are we playing against 30-year-old guys who are at BYU?’ I was like, ‘No, the ages have changed a little bit,’ and stuff like that. I feel like our team is pretty young, but everybody’s got (older players), like with COVID and stuff, I feel like there are guys in college for 12 years now.
“So the age question, everybody always asks that. And, is it true, they didn’t know that we don’t have dorms together and stuff like that. So, some of those questions about dorms and the honor code have been the questions everybody is most interested about.”
On his connection with Rams QB Matthew Stafford:
“I think Matthew is one of the best quarterbacks out there. He is tough as nails and he can really put the ball anywhere he wants on the football field. So as a receiver, that is everybody’s dream. You want that to happen every time you step out there.
“And we are on the same page, so it made everything really easy for me to understand where he wanted me to be, and for me to understand where he is going to put the ball.”
On the partnership with the Jordan Brand:
“I was told right before the Lions (playoff) game. So I attribute that great performance to being able to say I am a Jordan Brand athlete. Obviously, going in the fifth round, there weren’t too many people trying to offer up deals. And as the season went on, I just waited for opportunities to be able to sign one of the best deals out there.”
On whether his offseason was busier this year:
“Yes, 100% (busier), compared to last year. But I have been able to follow Cooper Kupp. He has been my mentor since I got to the Rams. He’s been great keeping me on my toes. I have been at his house at 6 a.m. every day.”
On goals for him and the Rams this coming season:
“We got a lot of young guys. Once again, we come back this year feeling a little bit younger than we did last year. But we plan to be there in February. That’s our goal every year. We got a little taste of the playoffs last year, and it keeps everybody hungry. So I know this offseason has been fun, but we got one goal in mind.”
On what BYU fans should know about his brother Tei Nacua, a BYU football signee:
“He is a goofball. He is the baby of us all, so there is a little bit of that Chihuahua that he has got in him. That is the dog I would give him. I am excited for him to keep learning and keep growing.”
On buying a car for his mother and if he got anything for himself:
“Luckily I have been able to do a deal with Toyota, so I got a Toyota Supra. A nice little two-seater right now that I take down Malibu Canyon and stuff like that. I drive pretty fast. But that has been my gift to myself. Nobody else is riding with me, just me and my girlfriend.”