Isaac Asiata took the phone call from the Miami Dolphins with a mix of hope and dread that not many people can understand.
“The GM (Chris Grier) called me and said, ‘Hey, have you got many calls today?’” he said, about three hours after being drafted in the fifth round (No. 164 overall) by Miami.
The two-time all-conference guard didn’t even try to play coy.
“I said, ‘I haven’t heard from a single team,’” Asiata laughed. “And he said, ‘Well, we’re excited to give you a call because we traded up to get you; we just submitted our card, and we’re going to get you back down here to Miami. How do you feel?’ And I just cried my eyes out.”
Asiata put his hands over his eyes and wept as he said, “Thanks, man. Thank you. Thank you.” His family, including his wife, Angel, watched silently, as he wiped his eyes and repeated thanks first to Grier, the Dolphins’ owner, head coach, director of player personnel and then his offensive line coach.
https://twitter.com/MiamiDolphins/status/858478532061679616It was, he said, the end of a three-day ride that is difficult to put into words.
“I can’t really think of anything,” he said. “It’s a really unique experience; it’s crazy.”
Asiata usually loves to watch the draft, something the Spanish Fork native has been doing since he was in junior high. He watched on Thursday to see what happened with his teammate and fellow lineman Garett Bolles, who was drafted No. 20 in the first round by Denver. Thursday was a mixture of anticipation and excitement, while Friday was agonizing and disappointing.
“The past couple of days of the draft have been super stressful,” he said. “I tried not to watch it, but then I did. It was more just trying to figure out who was going where. I was hoping more offensive linemen would go in the first round.” Before the second round, he and his wife spent three of four hours driving around trying to stay busy, including a picnic, playing at a park with their dog, Shadow, and “just trying to get away from it.”
But their families had gathered at Angel’s parents’ home in Provo, and so the couple eventually joined them for the third round. Asiata had been told both Seattle and Miami were interested, and the Dolphins even flew him down for a tour earlier this month.
“I fell in love,” he said. “I told my wife how much I loved the coaching staff, the owners, the support staff, the players. Honestly, it felt similar to the feeling I had when I went to Utah.”
That feeling created a desire and expectation that made waiting almost unbearable. Asiata was projected to be a third of fourth round pick, so when the Dolphins passed on him in the third round, it was a blow.
“I knew they didn’t have a fourth round pick, so I was disappointed because I thought someone was going to pick me up in the fourth round,” he said.
But that didn’t happen.
At one point, he was so distraught that his dream of playing in the NFL might be slipping away, he locked himself in a bedroom. His wife, whom he said was the calm throughout the emotional storm, picked the lock and “kept me positive.”
He even called fellow Utah offensive lineman J.J. Dielman, who lost his senior year to an injury but was drafted by the Bengals in the same round (No. 176 overall). The two men were extremely close, even joking about competing for who might be drafted first before Dielman was injured last fall.
“I called him last night because I was losing it,” Asiata laughed. “He calmed the storm. I’m so excited he was drafted in the same round as me.”
Asiata said being drafted was a validation for all of the hard work and sacrifices he and his family have made.
"That's a surreal feeling," he said of living a reality he's been dreaming of most of his life. "It's nice after all the hard work you put in to kind of take a breath, sit back and be happy. It's the end of that chapter in my life. I'm excited to start a new one."
There were other local high school products drafted this year. Utah outside linebacker and Timpview High’s Pita Taumoepenu was drafted by the 49ers in the sixth round (No. 202 overall) and USC defensive lineman and East High’s Stevie Tu’ikolovatu was drafted in the seventh round by the Buccaneers (No. 223 overall).
Taumoepenu, who only played one year of high school football after moving to Utah from Tonga, hadn't given a public interview Saturday afternoon. He told the Deseret News last year that when he was a boy growing up on a farm in Tonga, the grandfather for whom he was named talked to him about how he'd someday earn a living in the NFL playing a game he knew nothing about.
Tu’ikolovatu played for Utah until last year when he graduated with one year of eligibility and decided to transfer to USC where he thought he could earn more playing time. He quickly became an anchor and leader for the Trojans' defensive line, earning him high praise from coaches and scouts.
In a teleconference after being drafted, Tu’ikolovatu said Tampa Bay interviewed him at the NFL Combine.
“They were my only formal interview at the Combine,” he said. “The interview went pretty good. I felt like we got off on the right foot. I knew they were interested when that happened.”
Several other local players signed undrafted free agent contracts, including Syracuse and Utah defensive end Hunter Dimick, who signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars; Bingham and BYU’s Harvey Langi, who signed with the New England Patriots; Lone Peak and BYU’s Sae Tautu, who signed with the New Orleans Saints; Layton High and Hawaii’s Marcus Kemp, who signed with Kansas City; Utah kicker and Winter Sports School alum Andy Phillips, who signed with Chicago; Herriman High and Idaho’s Tueni Lupeamanu, who signed with Jacksonville; and Highland High and Kansas’ Fish Smithson, who signed with Washington. Juan Diego High and New Mexico’s Dakota Cox was invited to Minnesota Vikings minicamp on a tryout basis.