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Who,
What, Where and Vai
by
Kelly L. Martinez
Photo credit: NBC-10 file photo |
Two years ago,
at a banquet in the Philadelphia area, a man approached former All-Pro
NFL player Vai Sikahema and struck up a conversation. Sikahema
introduced the man to Andy Reid, head coach of the Philadelphia
Eagles, who was a speaker at the banquet. In time, the conversation
turned to the connection Reid and Sikahema shared with BYU.
The man had
been in an auto accident prior to that day and shared an experience
he had as a result of that crash. While in his car, drifting in
and out of consciousness, he had a dream in which he received the
impression that he would meet two people who would change his life.
He didn’t know what to make of it.
Two days prior
to the banquet, the man and his wife answered a knock on the door
at their home to find two LDS missionaries standing on their porch.
Sikahema and Reid encouraged the man to get in touch with the missionaries
again.
For the past
year, Phil Orsi has served as ward clerk in the ward that
Sikahema was the bishop of in New Jersey. Orsi was recently sealed
to his wife and family for eternity. “Having served a full-time
mission,” says Sikahema, “I know that not everyone that is taught
the Gospel is going to be baptized. But this experience with Phil
and his family was a really special one.”
A change
in plans
Vai had no intention of ever serving a mission before he got
to BYU. He was eager to see how far his football skills would take
him when he arrived in Provo prior to the 1980 season. There were
plenty of LDS players that had played football at BYU that hadn’t
served missions, so he thought he would be able to find comfort
and justification in his decision.
What he didn’t
expect, however, was the influence the equipment manager would have
on his resistance to heed the call to serve. “Floyd Johnson had
been at BYU for a very long time,” Vai remembers. “Because he wasn’t
a coach, he was in a unique situation to earn athletes’ trust because
they weren’t threatened by him. He wasn’t connected to the coaches
in any way. It was easy to go and sit with Floyd in the equipment
room and pour out your feelings to him.”
During those
visits in the equipment room, Vai had a change of heart and served
a full-time mission in South Dakota from 1982-83. “Floyd had a big
impact on my decision to serve a mission,” he admits.
So what did
Floyd say that encouraged such an about-face attitude?
“Floyd would
always encourage me to ask myself what I wanted to be in five or
ten years,” Vai remembers. “He would encourage me to talk to the
guys that chose to play football instead of serving. Then he told
me to talk to the ones that did serve. He then told me to decide
what type of person I wanted to be and to go do what it took to
become that person.”
As it turned
out, Vai realized that what he wanted most was to be obedient to
the counsel of the prophets and to share the gospel.
Breaking
the Mold
In 1980, so far as LDS football players were concerned, the
state of college football was that if you served a mission, you
would never play in the NFL. In so far as Vai was aware, Bart
Oates was the only exception to the rule. It was a challenge
for players to go on a mission, then play at the collegiate level
when they returned. It was generally accepted that a mission equaled
the end of an athlete’s chances of ever making the NFL.
Vai was a tenth
round draft pick by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1986 NFL Draft.
His football career spanned nine seasons, playing for St. Louis/Arizona
(1986-90), Green Bay (1991) and Philadelphia (1992-94) before his
retirement in 1994. Pro Bowl selections in 1987 and 1988 proved
that he belonged in the NFL. In fact, he still holds the Cardinals’
records in career punt return yardage (2,152), season return yardage
(550) and single game return yardage (145).
Family, Work
and Unfinished Business
Residents of New Jersey, Vai and his wife, Keala, were
married in the Mesa Arizona Temple in 1984 and have four children:
Landon, 16, L.J., 14, Trey, 12, and Lana,
8.
Vai was recently
released as bishop of his ward in Cherry Hills, N.J. Prior to serving
as bishop, he served as Young Men’s president, which was the only
other church calling that he had ever held. “While I was in the
NFL,” he says, “I was never around long enough to hold a regular
calling. My first official calling didn’t come until after I retired
from pro football.”
Presently, Vai
is the chief TV sportscaster at NBC 10 in Philadelphia. He began
his broadcasting career at KSAZ-TV in Phoenix. While with the Packers,
he worked at WFRV-TV in Green Bay.
Last month,
16 years after he left BYU, Vai took part in a BYU commencement
as a recipient of a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism.
He intends to begin working on a master’s degree in the fall.
The Blue
Since March of 2001, Vai has been a regular contributor to CougarBlue.com.
His column, “The Sikahema Chronicles,” is an entertaining series
in which Vai shares behind-the-scenes stories about a variety of
topics, ranging from BYU football players’ interactions with the
LDS General Authorities to little-known experiences about legendary
bad boy Jim McMahon to deciding whether to serve a mission or not.
Vai’s warmth and friendly attitude is evident in each of his columns.
The Greatest
of Examples
Vai considers Muhammad Ali as one of the most influential role
models in his life. He admires Ali’s religious conviction in the
face of much adversity. “I remember how Ali’s stand about not going
to Vietnam was so controversial,” he says. “What I’ve come to learn
about Ali is that he was never going to have to go to the front
lines and fight. The government was going to use him like it did
Joe Louis during World War II as a public relations tool. He was
going to spend his time doing exhibition fights and boosting the
troops’ morale. He knew this, but he held fast to his religious
convictions anyway. I think there’s a great lesson to be learned
there.”
Sabbath Day
and the NFL
Like many LDS athletes that have gone on to the professional
level, Vai chose to play on Sundays. “It’s a tough decision,” he
admits. “But the bottom line is that it’s a commandment and, if
it’s broken, you will not reap the blessings of properly
observing the Sabbath day. You just can’t. There aren’t any exceptions.
Even for doctors and those types of professions; there are no exceptions
for anybody.”
During his nine
seasons in the NFL, Vai would not see the inside of a church from
the beginning of training camp until the end of the season. “I realize
now that when you’re not in church every Sunday and not partaking
of the sacrament, you don’t have the full blessings that come with
living the Gospel.” He found the ramifications to be subtle until
eventually he became painfully aware of the void that was created
by not going to church.
Vai has found
the Lord to be merciful in spite of his decision to play football
on Sundays blessing him with the opportunity to play in the NFL,
which helped him to get the type of job that has allowed him to
serve as a bishop. “This fact doesn’t dismiss me from my responsibility
to observe the Sabbath,” he admits. “I missed out on those blessings
while I played in the NFL. Even now, there are times I am required
to work on Sunday. I work in the sports industry and I’m the top
sports guy at my station, so my employer has certain expectations.”
As a bishop,
Vai would counsel members of his ward to do the best they could
in observing the Sabbath day and if it was within their power, to
not work on Sundays.
“I admire people
like Eli Herring and Aleisha Cramer,” he says. “They
will reap the blessings for their valiant decisions.”
Note: Vai
Sikahema’s “The Sikahema Chronicles” can be accessed at http://www.cougarblue.com.
Go to the archive section and type in ‘Sikahema.’ An archive of
his submissions will then appear.
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