PROVO — Life isn't so much about what happens to a person, but what that person chooses to do with the things that do happen. For BYU senior Kai Nacua, he's experienced more public happenings, for both good and bad, than most collegiate athletes over his four-year stretch playing for the Cougars.
Sure, BYU's starting safety has pulled down an inordinate share of game-changing interceptions while making other great plays, but he's also been the focus of a couple of instances he'd rather move on from.
According to Nacua's mother, Penina, her eldest son has largely learned not only to move on, but learn from his challenges and mistakes made over his four years at BYU.
"He's been through a lot and he's learned so much during his time there," Penina said. "I think most of all he's learned how to handle things better and grow from those things. It's seriously amazing to me how he's grown, and I couldn't be more proud."
Case in point would be back in early September, during BYU's 20-19 loss to Utah. Toward the end of the third quarter, Kai was flagged with a targeting penalty and subsequently ejected from the game.
BYU coach Kalani Sitake erupted at the percieved misjustice, with Penina describing herself as at least as upset. She immediately left her seat to go attend to her son, expecting him to be furious and in need of some serious consoling.
A look at the targeting sequence on BYU defenders Kai Nacua and Austin McChesney in the third quarter #BYUvsUtah pic.twitter.com/HrF2m3gZrK
— Brandon Judd (@brandonljudd) September 11, 2016
What she did find, however, all but shocked her.
"He was the one calming me down, which I could hardly believe," Penina recalled. "I was so mad that they threw him out of the game, but he just put his arm around me and said, 'Mom, it happened. It's over with and there's nothing I can do about it but move on and hope for the best.'"
Hoping for the best is exactly where former BYU defensive coordinator Nick Howell found himself back in 2014 when BYU was taking on Central Florida. With starting safety Craig Bills going down with injury, Howell was forced to play Nacua, who had spent the entire week of practices playing quarterback with the scout team.
"I almost forgot all our defensive calls, but the game came, Craig went down and so he threw me in," Nacua recalled. "So I was just like, 'Okay, it's time to do my thing', play ball and remember what I could."
The result of Nacua 'doing his thing' was him logging seven tackles, a pass breakup, and the first of his 13 career interceptions. He's become a fixture in the Cougar secondary ever since, rising to the point where he's one of the five finalists for Polynesian College Football Player of the Year this season.
"I guess it all worked out," Nacua said.
Nacua's superb play on the field has at least been equaled off it, according to Penina, who has been forced to move on, along with her sons, from one of the worst things that could happen to any family. Back in 2012, as Kai was about to enter his senior year at Liberty High School in Las Vegas, his father, Lionel Nacua, passed away.
The death of their father affected each son profoundly, with all four of them experiencing plenty of challenges, as a result.
"It hasn't been easy for any of them, but that's where Kai has helped so much," Penina said. "Over the last two years especially, he's really become more involved attending their games and really works to keep them in check and gets after them when they mess up."
The impetus of Kai's increased involvement with his brothers over the last two years may very well be due to what transpired almost exactly two years ago to the date.
After BYU's 55-48 loss to Memphis in the Miami Beach Bowl, played in December of 2014, there was a big postgame fight between the two teams where Kai was shown prominently taking a swing at a Memphis player. He incurred a lot of infamy as a result, along with a team suspension.
Since the occurrence he addressed it, briefly, informing the public that he'd learned his lesson and was ready to move on. His actions since have indicated that he's done as much, becoming a better player and person for it.
"He's really matured and one of the biggest things is that he isn't as quick-tempered, like he used to be," Penina observed. "It's great because he's become such an example to my other boys. They see what he's done at BYU, what he's become, and they've really gotten behind him and you love to see that, as their mother."
His teammates have gotten behind him as well — voting him in as one of the four team captains prior to his senior season.
"He's had a huge impact," said BYU defensive coordinator Ilaisa Tuiaki. "He's a playmaker, but also an emotional leader — a vocal leader. Everything that he's done in the past for this team, as well as this year — he's just a huge part of who we are."
Kai will play his final game at home this Saturday when BYU takes on Utah State, and will do so being thankful for everyone who has joined him on his four-year journey.
"I just look around and I'm just grateful for the guys I've been around for four years," he said. "We're all seniors now and we're all just moving on to do whatever we are with our lives. But it's just cool how we've grown together."