Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua joined Sports Illustrated from Radio Row ahead of Super Bowl 58. The rookie sensation says he tried to model his game after future hall of fame wideout Julio Jones.
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00:00 Ladies and gentlemen, I have the rookie sensation. I have Puka Nakua with me right now.
00:06 We are with Sports Illustrated, so check this out.
00:09 You set an NFL record for most receptions and receiving yards as a rookie.
00:16 Last year, this time, when you were training, getting ready for the draft,
00:21 what did you have envisioned this moment?
00:23 No, I feel like you always dream of the sweet moments you dream of yourselves having so much success,
00:29 but I could never imagine it like this.
00:31 Okay, so we were talking a little bit off camera, talking about how your body feels going through your first season,
00:37 going from college, playing 11, maybe 12 games, to going to the league, doing OTAs,
00:43 doing the extra rookie mini camp, doing training camp, and then playing 17 games now.
00:49 How does the body feel and how did you manage that?
00:51 The body is actually together, luckily. I'm all in one piece, so I'm blessed.
00:56 18 weeks seemed like it couldn't go by any slower, each week going through it.
01:01 The sauna, the cold tub, and then hydration, we realized that when you go out there and practice,
01:06 the soft tissue stuff, trying to avoid some of the things that you can control, and then sleep.
01:13 Those four things were probably stained to the front of my brain.
01:19 As soon as Sunday is over, sauna, cold tub, sleep, and hydrate. Rinse and repeat.
01:25 As a receiver, myself, looking at your game, super smooth, great routes, good footwork, catch the ball with your hands.
01:33 Who was a guy that you modeled your game after as you were coming up?
01:37 I love watching Julio Jones. I didn't really grow until later in my high school years,
01:43 but somebody who had that size and could break down like a little guy and could run every route,
01:48 and had the ability to draw the defense.
01:51 I was a little young when Matthew Stafford was slinging it to Calvin Johnson,
01:55 and they had three guys lined up on him, but watching Julio Jones was one of my favorite things to do.
02:00 Let's talk about that for a minute. You talked about how you were much younger when Matthew Stafford got into the league.
02:06 How was that for you as a rookie? I remember me, my first preseason game, we played against the Dallas Cowboys,
02:12 I was playing for the Raiders, Tony Romo walks out of the locker room at the same time I walked out,
02:17 and I was like, "Oh, shoot, this is really here." So talk about that.
02:21 It was surreal. I got a text right after OTAs, like, "Hey, Matthew wants you to come throw routes,"
02:29 and I just remember like, "Wait, for real? For real? He wants me to be out there? No coaches?
02:34 No, he asked for me to just come out there?" I just remember thinking, like, "Don't mess up. Don't drop no ball.
02:41 You better run your best routes today." I must have worked out because the connection started from that day on
02:47 and that confidence and that relationship being able to grow. He's a lot funnier than people might know.
02:52 He's pretty quiet, not too big on social media, but he's one of the top funny guys on our team for sure.
02:58 About Matt, he's been around for a while. What kind of advice did he give you this year getting through the season?
03:03 To find a way to maintain your confidence. I think any Sunday you can go out there
03:09 and every team is a great team, so you never know how it's going to play out on Sunday.
03:13 But finding a way to, I guess in your routine, to keep that confidence going because it's hard.
03:19 Guys lose their confidence and everything kind of starts to go the way, but when you're confident,
03:23 just sticking to that process allows you to kind of succeed.
03:26 All right, tell us about your partnership with Pepsi Zero Sugar.
03:29 Pepsi got me with the Wild Chair and you see me dripped up in the gear over here.
03:33 I've been waiting to hopefully, the Rams fans have been voting for your boy,
03:38 but everybody who's voting for the Pepsi award, I got four of those little rookie belts that they handed out during the year.
03:42 I don't know if anybody else has one of those. I know CJ does it, that's for sure.
03:45 But hopefully I could add a new little trophy at the top of those four belts. So we'll see.
03:50 Who you got winning the Super Bowl? I got the Chiefs winning the Super Bowl.
03:52 You know I couldn't go for the 49ers. I can't go, we can't go Niners.
03:55 We don't rock with the Niners. Puka, Nicole, appreciate it.
03:57 Keep doing your thing, bro. Appreciate you.
03:59 [WHOOSH]