Rams rookie WR Puka Nacua's journey to NFL stardom - ESPN

AS PENINA NACUA thought about the challenges preventing her from making it to her son Puka Nacua's first NFL game, she began to pray.

The Los Angeles Rams rookie wide receiver is the second youngest of six children, and his younger brother, Tei, plays high school football in Utah. Penina, a single mother since her husband, Lionel, died in 2012, couldn't figure out a way for Tei to be able to play in his game on Friday and go to practice on Saturday as well as not miss her work shift on Monday if she traveled to see Puka's game on that second Sunday in September.

«My heart was broken because he was playing in his first NFL game,» Penina said. «How does a mom miss that opportunity?»

Penina prayed to Lionel and her mother, Fa'aTamali'i S. Tafua, asking them to «please be there with Puka. I can't make it out.»

Lionel died from complications of diabetes 15 days before Puka turned 11. Puka's grandmother died from ovarian cancer in 2021.

«There was no doubt in my mind, they were there,» Penina said. «Because he was balling. So, I just literally knew. I was like, 'See, your angels are there.'»

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Puka caught 10 passes for 119 yards that day at Lumen Field in Seattle, setting the Rams' franchise record for receiving yards in a first career game. Doing it in front of The 12s — the Seahawks' nickname for their fans — also held a special meaning for the wideout.

Twelve is his «family number,» the one he wore in high school and college, and the one most of his siblings have worn.

«I remember telling [Cooper Kupp], 'Man, I know they mentioned it's going to be loud, and it's