"Watch Puka Nacua on the sideline before each offensive possession, and you'll see the Los Angeles receiver ask a teammate to hit his pads. Hard. Players from tight end Tyler Higbee to left guard Steve Avila, tackle AJ Arcuri and former Rams center Brian Allen have participated in the ritual over Nacua's three years in the league. Nacua said he has a "mixture of guys" who have done it, but he's picky: "I want somebody who's got a good slap in them," Nacua said. "I don't want them to baby me, for sure.""
""The first one is always like, 'Oh, go out there. Good job, buddy'" Nacua said. "I'm like, 'No, no, no, that's not at all what I want from you guys.' The first one normally ends up being six slaps because the first three, they're like, 'I don't want to hurt you.' I'm like, 'All right, come on. I didn't ask you to give me a little pat on the back.'""
""Being in the car with them and the music, the tone, the intensity and definitely getting hit [by them while getting] out of the car as I was running out there for the football field, a part of that takes me back," Nacua said. "I think it's always nice to get a little wake up on the sideline before you officially get hit by somebody else.""
Puka Nacua asks teammates to slap his pads hard on the sideline before each offensive possession. Multiple Rams players, including Tyler Higbee, Steve Avila, AJ Arcuri and Brian Allen, have taken part in the ritual over his three-year NFL career. Nacua prefers forceful slaps rather than light pats and often instructs teammates to stop holding back during the first attempts. The ritual evokes childhood memories of older brothers creating intensity on the way to big games. Nacua sustained a game hit in Week 4 against the Indianapolis Colts that prompted X-rays for a left-thumb injury.
Read at ESPN.com
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