Vai Sikahema facts for kids
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| No. 36, 45, 22 | |||||||||||||
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| Position: | Running back Return specialist |
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| Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Born: | August 29, 1962 Nuku'alofa, Tonga |
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| Height: | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | ||||||||||||
| Weight: | 181 lb (82 kg) | ||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||
| High school: | Mesa (Mesa, Arizona) | ||||||||||||
| College: | BYU | ||||||||||||
| NFL Draft: | 1986 / Round: 10 / Pick: 254 | ||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||
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| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||
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| General Authority Seventy | |
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| April 3, 2021 | |
| Called by | Russell M. Nelson |
| Personal details | |
| Children | 4 |
Vai Sikahema was born on August 29, 1962. He is a famous person from Tonga who worked as a broadcaster. Before that, he was a professional American football player. He played as a running back and a return specialist in the National Football League (NFL). Since April 2021, he has also served as a general authority seventy for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Vai Sikahema led his high school team in Arizona to the state championship game in 1979. He played college football for the Brigham Young University (BYU) Cougars. The St. Louis Cardinals picked him in the 1986 NFL draft. He also played for the Green Bay Packers and Philadelphia Eagles. He retired after the 1993 season. Vai Sikahema was the first Tongan to play in the NFL. He played for eight seasons from 1986 to 1993. After his football career, he worked as a sports director for NBC 10 in Philadelphia from 1994 to 2020.
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Early Life and Moving to the U.S.
Vai Sikahema was born in Nukuʻalofa, which is the capital city of Tonga. In 1967, when he was five years old, his family traveled to New Zealand. They went there to be sealed in the New Zealand Temple. This is an important ordinance in the LDS Church. They stayed in New Zealand for three months. His father worked hard shearing sheep to earn enough money for them to return to Tonga.
Later, his parents went to the Church College of Hawai'i. This school is now called Brigham Young University–Hawaii. Vai and his brothers and sisters stayed with relatives in Tonga. After a year, his parents worked at the Polynesian Cultural Center. They earned enough money to bring Vai to join them. His family then moved to Arizona in the U.S. They settled in Mesa, a town near Phoenix. Here, they got legal resident status. This allowed them to bring his other siblings to join them. Vai Sikahema went to Mesa High School. He played football there. He was named an all-state player twice. He also led his team to the 1979 high school state championship game.
College Football Career at BYU
In 1980, Vai Sikahema started at BYU and played for their football team. As a freshman, he became a favorite among fans. He returned a punt for a touchdown in a big game. BYU won that game 46–45 against SMU in the 1980 Holiday Bowl. He played one more season in 1981, mostly as a return specialist. Then, he left school for two years. He served as an LDS Church missionary in South Dakota.
Vai Sikahema came back to BYU in 1984. That season, the Cougars had a perfect record, winning all 13 games. They became college football's national champions. By the end of his senior year in 1985, he set an NCAA record. He had the most punt returns in a career, with 153. In 1985, the Washington Post newspaper wrote about him. They said Sikahema "single-handedly swinging the momentum BYU's way" in a game. BYU upset the undefeated Air Force team.
Playing in the NFL
The St. Louis Cardinals picked Vai Sikahema in the tenth round of the 1986 NFL Draft. This made him the first Tongan to ever play in the NFL.
He was a great special teams player for several teams. These included the St. Louis/Phoenix Cardinals, Green Bay Packers, and Philadelphia Eagles. He played in 118 games over eight seasons, from 1986 to 1994. He returned a total of 527 kickoffs or punts. He gained 8,102 yards from these returns. Sikahema was chosen for the Pro Bowl twice, in 1986 and 1987. While playing for the Eagles, he did a famous "goalpost punching" celebration. This happened after he scored an 87-yard punt return touchdown in a 1992 game. The game was against the New York Giants at Giants Stadium.
Life After Football: Broadcasting
After retiring from football in 1994, Vai Sikahema started a new career. He was hired by WCAU, a television station in Philadelphia. He began by doing weekend sports news. The station was later sold to NBC, but Sikahema stayed. He moved to weekday news and became the station's sports director. He worked there for 26 years, retiring in 2020.
In March 2010, Sikahema also hosted a radio show. He joined sports writer John Gonzalez on the Early Midday Show. This show was on Philadelphia radio station WPEN-FM 97.5 the Fanatic.
Vai Sikahema was honored for his broadcasting work. He was inducted into the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia Hall of Fame on November 22, 2013. He also wrote columns for the Deseret News, often about religion.
Family and Other Activities
Vai Sikahema has many family connections in sports. He is an older cousin of Deuce Lutui, who also played in the NFL. Deuce Lutui was a guard for the Arizona Cardinals. Another cousin, Reno Mahe, played for the Philadelphia Eagles too. Vai Sikahema's nephew by marriage is Jon Heder, a famous actor. Jon Heder starred in movies like Napoleon Dynamite and Blades of Glory.
In May 2008, Vai Sikahema accepted a challenge from former baseball player Jose Canseco. Canseco wanted to fight him in a celebrity boxing match. Canseco said he had black belts in different martial arts. Sikahema had wanted to be a boxer when he was younger. He had fought in 80 amateur boxing matches. The fight, called The War at The Shore, happened on July 12, 2008. It was in Atlantic City at the Bernie Robbins Stadium. Sikahema won the fight by knockout in the first round. He donated the $5,000 prize money to the family of a police officer. The officer, Sergeant Stephen Liczbinski, was from the Philadelphia Police Department. He had died while on duty.
Vai Sikahema is a member of the LDS Church. He lives in Mount Laurel Township, New Jersey with his wife, Keala Heder, and their four children. He served as an area seventy in the LDS Church for a year. Then, in April 2021, he became a general authority seventy. Before that, he was a stake president from 2014 to 2019. He also served as a bishop and a counselor in the Cherry Hill Stake Presidency. He played an important role in getting approval for the Philadelphia Pennsylvania Temple. He was a personal friend of Mayor Michael Nutter.
Honors and Awards
Vai Sikahema has received special honors.
- National honors
Order of Queen Sālote Tupou III, Member (July 31, 2008).
