'That was super sweet': With family watching, Puka Nacua sets NFL rookie record

AROUND THE SHIELD — The moment Puka Nacua hauled in his NFL record-setting 105th catch of his rookie season in the second half of the Los Angeles Rams' 21-20 win over the San Francisco 49ers in Sunday's Week 18 slate, there was only one person he wanted to see.

Well, maybe two people. But we'll get to that in a moment.

Almost as soon as backup quarterback Carson Wentz found the fifth-round draft pick out of BYU with a 6-yard pass over the middle at the 11:59 mark of the third quarter, the 22-year-old receiver took off his helmet, unsheathed his long flowing locks, and ran to the sideline. There, he found his family, including brothers Isaiah and recent BYU signee Tei Nacua, and wrapped his arms around his mother Penina.

With 105 catches for 1,486 yards, Nacua authored the most prolific regular season by a rookie wide receiver in NFL history, breaking Houston Oilers receiver Bill Groman's 63-year-old record for receiving yards and catches by a rookie set in 1960.

His 105 receptions beat the previous record of 104 set by Miami's Jaylen Waddle in 2021. Nacua is also tied for second with seven 100-yard games by a rookie with Harlon Hill (1954), Odell Beckham Jr. (2014) and Justin Jefferson (2020). Only Groman, who had nine in 1960, topped the century mark in more games in a year — again, in 1960.

And there was no one Nacua wanted to share his moment of history with more than his mother, the one who moved the family to Utah from Las Vegas after Nacua's late father Lionel passed away from complications due to diabetes in 2012.

She raised five boys and a girl practically by herself, and responded with strength as she lost her own mother to a cancer battle waged while Puka and his older brother Samson made joint decisions to transfer from Washington and Utah back home to BYU three years ago.

"That was super sweet," Nacua said after the game, standing at the press podium with his hair pulled back and a "Hellstar" T-shirt in a look that embodies Nacua's carefree attitude almost as much as his constant smile and laugh. "I saw her at the beginning of the game, and we were able to have a moment.

"I think the last time we were here, my older brother Kai was with the 49ers, and it was a moment that hit me earlier in the game. It was a full circle moment, and I'm glad my family was able to be here to experience it with me."

Family is important to Nacua, even everything. Makea Nacua earned the nickname "Puka" — Samoan for chubby — by his grandmother due to his size when he was a baby, but he also ran around constantly as the human tackling dummy, while Kai, Isaiah and Samson tried to get better at football.

So for his mother to be on the sideline, for him to give her the game ball — which she'll likely put with all the other family football mementos from the career of the former UHSAA record-setting receiver at Orem High, from PeeWee leagues on up in their room downstairs with plenty of collectables from Kai Nacua's seven-year NFL career — meant everything to Puka Nacua.

"Hopefully, I'm somewhere up there on that wall," he said with a laugh.

There was also one person that Nacua hoped could've been there, but of course, that wasn't possible: his father. Before the game, Nacua found some old photos of Lionel, dressed in Green Bay Packers gear and coaching some of his brothers in a Las Vegas Little League game, which likely sparked his original interest as a Packers fan.

During the whirlwind of a rookie campaign that included new LA Dodgers ace Shohei Ohtani jokingly pointing to their matching No. 17 jerseys at a Rams game and getting social-media shoutouts from LA Lakers star LeBron James, Nacua admitted one of the few things that could've made it better would have been if Lionel Nacua was by his side each step.

Nacua had a lot of people to thank for Sunday's culmination of a season-long honor, from his mother, brothers and sister to quarterback Matthew Stafford and close friend Cooper Kupp to the offensive line that makes each play happen. But just as important as any of them was his father, who introduced Nacua to the game of football.

On Sunday afternoon at Levi's Stadium, though, he was there. Dad was on the field with the Pro Bowl-bound receiver; Nacua could feel it, he said.

"I just wish my dad could be here to watch this moment and this game, knowing that my family would be out here. But I felt a calmness and a peace, knowing that he was up there watching with my grandma," Nacua said. "I don't know if they get to watch every game, but they were out there enjoying this one with me. There was a peace and calmness throughout the game that I was able to feel that was different from other ones. I know they were out there with me."

Nacua's sixth touchdown catch of the season came on a 19-yard strike from Wentz, tying the rookie receiving record in the first quarter. But the former Deseret News Mr. Football who committed to Washington on live television in the middle of a snowstorm didn't have another catch for the remainder of the half as San Francisco locked him down.

But setting the record was a priority for the Rams, who have paired Nacua with veteran receiver Kupp for one of the top tandems in the NFL.

"Don't do anything dumb," Wentz said when asked about his role in the move. "We just thought it should come naturally; it was pretty sweet to get that first touchdown. I had never played before with him, but as soon as we got that record, I felt like a big weight was lifted off my shoulders. He's a pretty impressive kid, and a pretty impressive record."

Shortly before Wentz threw back-to-back short passes to Nacua for the record, the 49ers (12-5) pushed their lead to 20-7 at halftime on Sam Darnold's 5-yard touchdown strike to Ronnie Bell.

But with the record secured, Wentz scored two second-half touchdowns, including a 12-yard run and accompanying 2-point conversion with 4:56 remaining that turned out to be the game-winner, and the Rams' defense shut out San Francisco in the second half to collect their first win over the in-state rivals in five tries.

Both teams were locked into the playoffs, but the win clinched the No. 6 seed in the NFC and a first-round trip to Detroit for the Rams.

That's right; Makea Nacua's first playoff game will take the Rams against former quarterback Jared Goff and the Lions, led, of course, by Los Angeles signal caller Matthew Stafford.

Like Nacua, the Rams aren't done yet.

"It's just the Rams," Nacua said. "That's the culture that coach McVay has built, and the confidence that our leaders have been able to brew within this team. … We're hitting our stride, and we're just getting started."

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