Tag: Puka Nacua

Puka Nacua signs multi-year endorsement deal with Jordan Brand

Puka Nacua is the latest Jordan Brand athlete, signing a multi-year endorsement deal after a historic rookie season

This time last year, Puka Nacua was a lesser-known draft prospect out of BYU who was just looking for an opportunity to make an NFL roster. The Rams scooped him up in the fifth round at No. 177 overall and he immediately put together the best rookie season ever by a wide receiver.

Now, he’s landing endorsement deals with one of the biggest brands in sports. According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, Nacua has signed a multi-year endorsement deal with Jordan Brand. He and Maxx Crosby are the latest additions to Jordan Brand’s decorated roster of athletes, which includes Dak Prescott, Jalen Hurts, Bobby Wagner and Deebo Samuel.

Below is the official announcement from the Jordan Brand account on Instagram, welcoming Nacua and Crosby to the family.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C6L-DEXLLRH/

Nacua teased the announcement last week with a post on Instagram, though he didn’t reveal at the time that he signed an endorsement deal.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C563wXXOyXc/?img_index=1

Rome Odunze knew Puka Nacua was special from their time at Washington

Rome Odunze knew Puka Nacua was special from their one year together at Washington, heaping praise on the now-Rams receiver

Before Puka Nacua became a household name with the Los Angeles Rams, he was a lesser-known wide receiver prospect out of BYU. And before he played for the Cougars, he spent two years at Washington with the Huskies.

During his time at Washington, Nacua was teammates with incoming rookie Rome Odunze, a projected top-10 pick. They crossed over in 2020, though Nacua was limited to only three games that year due to injury.

Their time in the same offense wasn’t very long, but Odunze knew Nacua was special just based on the way he beat corners consistently in practice. Odunze also said it was Nacua who was encouraging his fellow receivers to lay blocks on defensive ends in the running game.

“Oh yeah, we knew Puka was like that because he was going he was going against Trent McDuffie and Kyler Gordon – who, I mean, Trent McDuffie, in my opinion might be the best corner in the league,” Odunze told Ryan Clark on “The Pivot” podcast. “So he was going against them and he would win. He would win a lot so when we came in, it was hard for us to first come in and really get jiggy on Trent and Kyler. We developed and started to get better, but when we came in, he was doing people left and right, catching this, catching that. He’s a dog. He was the one that taught us to go smack a D-end or go block a linebacker. So we knew he was him.”

Odunze noted that Nacua dealt with injuries in college but when he was healthy, he was a playmaker who would consistently go up and take the ball out of the air – something he did regularly with the Rams last season.

The Rams have shown interest in Odunze leading up to the draft, meeting with him at the combine as a potential trade-up target in Round 1. Adding him to a receiving corps alongside Nacua and Cooper Kupp would give the Rams one of the best trios in the league.

Puka Nacua threw up on Cooper Kupp’s lawn every day for a week while training together

Cooper Kupp’s conditioning drills had Puka Nacua throwing up every day for a week … on Kupp’s lawn

Puka Nacua is in his first full offseason as a member of the Los Angeles Rams and he didn’t take much time off after the 2023 season ended. He linked up with Cooper Kupp and worked out at the receiver’s house, staying in shape and shedding some weight in advance of his second NFL season.

Kupp has one of the best work ethics of any player in the league so Nacua picked the right teammate to train with. Kupp didn’t go easy on Puka, either. He put the second-year receiver through some serious workouts, to the point where Nacua was puking every day for a week.

During the first day of the Rams’ offseason program Monday, Nacua told reporters that he threw up on Kupp’s lawn repeatedly while going through conditioning training.

Kupp, understandably, was none too thrilled with his training partner.

“A lot of top-end speed that we’re working on,” Nacua said Monday. “His conditioning days were some of the tougher ones. I remember the first week I came back, I think I threw up every day of the week and he wasn’t a fan of that because it was all on his lawn.”

“‘You’re throwing up in my bushes, Puka. Thanks.’ But it was super fun and to come back today, I feel like I didn’t miss a beat. There was kind of an idea, like, I don’t know what I’m going to do for the offseason but following Coop’s plan made it super easy and is sending me the right way.”

More like Puke-a Nacua, am I right?

Kupp and Nacua became close during the 2023 season, with Nacua even joining the “Breakfast Club” to watch film alongside Kupp and Matthew Stafford. Nacua couldn’t have a better mentor to learn from in Los Angeles than Kupp, a former Triple Crown and Offensive Player of the Year winner in the NFL.

Nacua said he’s already slimmed down about 10 pounds this offseason, dropping from the 220 pounds he played at last year to around 210 now. Knowing how hard Kupp’s workouts are, it’s easy to see how he lost that much weight so quickly.

Look: Cooper Kupp, Puka Nacua were at Lakers game for Kobie Turner’s National Anthem

Kobie Turner sang the National Anthem at the Lakers game on Tuesday night and both Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp were in attendance

The stars were out at the Los Angeles Lakers game on Tuesday night, with three members of the Rams represented at Crypto.com Arena. It was a particularly special night for Kobie Turner, who had the opportunity to sing the National Anthem before tip-off.

Turner predictably nailed his rendition of the anthem, and both Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua were in attendance in Los Angeles. Nacua and Turner even took a few photos in custom Lakers jerseys before the game, rocking their Rams numbers in purple and gold.

Kupp got a custom jersey from the Lakers, too, with his No. 10 and name on the back.

But what you really came here for is Turner’s singing of the National Anthem, because it was truly impressive. Check out the video shared by the Rams below.

It’s awesome to see how close-knit the Rams are as a team, which speaks to the culture Sean McVay has built in Los Angeles.

Puka Nacua is hosting two football camps this offseason

Puka Nacua announced he’s hosting two football camps this summer, including one with Vikings QB Jaren Hall

Puka Nacua became a fan favorite in 2023 during his breakout season, setting rookie records for the most receptions and receiving yards. Though the Rams have plenty of promising players on their roster, Nacua is near the top of the list as one of the most exciting members of the team.

Now that he’s settled in as an NFL player, he’s giving back to the community. Nacua announced he’ll be hosting two football camps this offseason.

The first will be on May 18 at Simi Valley High School in Los Angeles, and the second will be hosted alongside his former BYU teammate and current Vikings quarterback, Jaren Hall. That one will be back in Utah at Orem High School, which is where Nacua went to school.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C5YuvjiOev2/?igsh=MXNnZGo4M2N5czAwNA==

Nacua is one of the best young players in the league so every young player should be excited to work with him if given the chance this summer.

Aaron Donald: Puka Nacua has potential to ‘do some things that have never been done’

Aaron Donald sees greatness in Puka Nacua’s future if he continues to put in the work

Puka Nacua may not have won Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2023, but there’s no question he had one of the best seasons ever by a rookie receiver. He set rookie records with 105 catches and 1,486 yards, also scoring six touchdowns in his first season – including the game-winner in overtime against the Colts.

It’s even more impressive considering he was a fifth-round pick, so no one expected him to have the type of season he had right away.

Aaron Donald, for one, was impressed by Nacua in training camp, but he wanted to see him carry that over into the games. Obviously, he did just that, getting better as the season went on and nearly helping the Rams upset the Lions in the wild-card round.

Donald was blown away by Nacua’s rookie season and says it’s one of the best rookie years by any player that he’s ever witnessed.

“He’s a football player, that type of player you want on your team. A tough guy that plays hard, plays tough,” Donald said on the “Green Light Podcast” with Chris Long. “From the first game, he was just consistent. Then the Colts game, we ended up going into overtime, he ended up making the game-winning touchdown for us. He’s just been a consistent player since Day 1 and then he just got better and better and better. It’s like, god, I didn’t expect him to be the player he was this year but in my opinion, to be honest with you, for any position, me personally watching, that’s probably one of the best rookie performances from any position that I got the opportunity to watch.”

As good as Nacua was in his first season, he still has room to grow. That’s terrifying for opposing defenses and exciting for the Rams, knowing he could be even better in 2024.

Having seen the work Nacua puts in, Donald believes he can accomplish some things in the NFL that have never been done before.

“You see young guys that play and they fall off a little bit, but for him to stay as poised as he did for the whole season as far as, like, he became a household name as a rookie and he didn’t change,” Donald continued. “He stayed the same person, he kept doing the same things every single week and it’s like, if he stays like that and he stays hungry and if he wants to be great, in my opinion, I think he can do some things that have never been done in this league. But he’s just got to keep working, but he was fun to watch. I really enjoyed watching him, all the awards he was able to surpass, records he was able to break as a rookie.”

Donald knows greatness when he sees it and he believes Nacua can be one of the best to do it if he stays on the path he’s currently on.

Puka Nacua ranks his top 5 WRs in the NFL, which includes Cooper Kupp

Puka Nacua ranked the top 5 WRs in the NFL and Cooper Kupp made the cut, but where did he land?

There’s a remarkable amount of wide receiver talent in the NFL right now, making it incredibly difficult to discern the best from the rest. The Rams have two of the more talented receivers in football right now in Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp, but many people wouldn’t even put them in the top five.

While on Maxx Crosby’s podcast this week, Nacua was tasked with ranking the five best receivers in the league. He didn’t include himself, but Kupp did make the cut. He also included Tyreek Hill, Davante Adams, Justin Jefferson and Ja’Marr Chase.

Here’s the order he put those five in.

  1. Justin Jefferson, Vikings
  2. Ja’Marr Chase, Bengals
  3. Tyreek Hill, Dolphins
  4. Davante Adams, Raiders
  5. Cooper Kupp, Rams

There’s little question that Jefferson is the best in the league currently. He had 68 catches and 1,074 yards in only 10 games last season, some of which were without Kirk Cousins at quarterback.

After Jefferson, there’s a case to be made for several receivers as being the second-best. Hill led all players with 1,799 yards in 16 games, while CeeDee Lamb was second with 1,749 yards – and he didn’t even make Nacua’s list.

Neither did Amon-Ra St. Brown, who had a stellar season as a first-team All-Pro in 2023.

When healthy Kupp is up there as a top receiver, and so is Adams when he gets steady play from his quarterback. It’s hard to fault Nacua for his top five because it is a great list, but it’s just an example of how much talent there is at the position.

Puka Nacua: Cooper Kupp is ‘on a revenge tour’ in 2024

Puka Nacua has been training with Cooper Kupp this offseason and says the veteran WR is “on a revenge tour” in 2024

Since his triple crown season in 2021, Cooper Kupp’s game has been trending in the wrong direction. Granted, no one expected him to put up those numbers again, but he’s been far less productive in the last two seasons due to injury.

He had just 812 yards in 2022 (nine games) and 737 yards last season (12 games), which combined is still less than his yardage total from 2021 (1,947). He had a season-ending ankle injury in 2022 and was hampered by a hamstring injury last year, but he’s now healthy and ready for a bounce-back year in 2024.

Puka Nacua has been training with Kupp this offseason and he can see the veteran’s motivation to get back to his All-Pro ways. Nacua said on Maxx Crosby’s podcast this week that Kupp is “on a revenge tour,” which should excite every Rams fan.

“I’ve been training with Coop so it’s been good. He’s on a revenge tour. He’s been able to get a healthy offseason and stuff so he’s back at it,” he said.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C5JpQI5P9Pf/

Kupp puts in as much time as anyone in the NFL when it comes to training and staying fit, which made last year’s injury limitations even more disappointing for him and the Rams. He still showed flashes of being a top-tier receiver last season with four 100-yard games, but he also had eight games with fewer than 55 yards.

When healthy, he and Nacua are one of the best receiving tandems in football.

Puka Nacua has already slimmed down 10 pounds this offseason: ‘I feel a lot better’

Puka Nacua has already slimmed down 10 pounds from last season and feels “a lot better”

It may be the offseason and the Rams don’t report for their spring workout program for another two weeks, but Puka Nacua has been hard at work since the end of his rookie year. Even after setting all kinds of records in 2023, Nacua wants to be even better next season, something that’s very possible as he continues to get a better feel for the NFL game.

He and Cooper Kupp have been training together this offseason and as a result, Nacua has slimmed down a bit. He said on Maxx Crosby’s podcast recently that after playing at around 220 pounds last season, he’s already down about 10 pounds this offseason.

“I’ve slimmed down a little bit from what I was. I was pretty heavy,” Nacua said. “The game was physical, I definitely feel like I played the game physical but I feel like I could maybe lose a couple pounds. Last season, I was close to like 220 for most of the season. I was up there. I’m probably around 210 right now. I feel a lot better.”

One of his goals is to be better at beating press coverage off the line, and he can achieve that by improving his lateral quickness thanks to a lighter frame, so that’s the reason he’s trying to shed some weight before Year 2.

Nacua plays a physical style of football and takes a ton of contact with all of the jet sweeps and in-breaking routes he runs, so it’s understandable that he was bulked up as a rookie. But if he can improve his speed and quickness, that could put him over the top as one of the best receivers in football.

Look: Puka Nacua rocked a Cooper Kupp T-shirt while training with Cooper Kupp

Puka Nacua rocked a T-shirt with Cooper Kupp on it while training with the Rams receiver 😂

Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp have become extremely close over the last year, not only working in tandem on the field, but training off it, too. They’ve spent time this offseason preparing for the 2024 campaign, which will benefit both Rams receivers as they gear up for Year 2 as teammates.

Trainer Ryan Sorensen recently shared a video of the two working out together, doing everything from cardio to core strength training. One thing stood out in the video (besides Kupp’s ripped physique): Nacua’s T-shirt.

While Kupp went shirtless, Nacua wore a shirt with Kupp on it, because of course he did.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C5JpQI5P9Pf/?hl=en

It’s not as funny as Andrew Whitworth’s Super Bowl parade shirt with Kupp’s picture on it, but you can’t help but love Nacua’s workout attire.