Puka Nacua spent the offseason learning more about himself and how he can’t avoid conflict, despite the fact he’s made a career of embracing contact and stiff-arming defenders on the football field. 

On the eve of the Los Angeles Rams’ season opener against the San Francisco 49ers in Melbourne, Nacua opened up about his struggles with alcohol, therapy and the holistic rehabilitation program he entered following a turbulent offseason that pushed one of the NFL’s brightest young stars into unfamiliar territory.

In a revealing pregame interview with Netflix’s Elle Duncan, Nacua acknowledged using alcohol as an escape from mounting pressures in his personal and professional life.

“Alcohol was definitely a thing for me,” Nacua said. “Just, kind of, drowning myself so that the issues and the stress that I was feeling never had the opportunity to be addressed.”

For Nacua, the pressure of becoming an NFL star, coupled with drama in his personal life accumulated quietly. 

Nacua went from a fifth-round draft pick hoping to make the 53-man roster into a celebrity quicker than it takes to warm the cold side of the pillow following his record-breaking rookie season. 

Nacua admitted that the instant fame, the demands of consistently performing at an All-Pro level, and becoming a father while navigating the complicated reality of co-parenting took its toll on him.

Thankfully, therapy forced him to recognize a pattern underneath it all. 

“I learned that I am very avoidant of conflict and avoidant of the things that were causing me stress,” he said.

Instead of asking for help, Nacua said he isolated himself.

“I was never one to share my fears and my worries,” he said. “I was always finding different ways to escape from that tension and that stress.”

Those coping mechanisms collided with an offseason filled with troubling allegations and legal problems. Nacua has been accused of biting a woman on the shoulder and making an antisemitic remark during an alleged drunken encounter on New Year’s Eve. His former girlfriend, Hallie Aiono, has also publicly accused him of “extreme betrayal, abuse and complete neglect.” Nacua could still face discipline from the NFL, but was allowed to play in Australia in Week 1 on Thursday. 

Against that backdrop, he entered a holistic rehabilitation facility, where he said therapy and candid conversations finally forced him to deal with issues he had spent years avoiding.

“When I entered the rehabilitation center, I was able to have open and honest conversations,” Nacua said. “These are the darkest times that I’ve had in my life,”

Nacua said he now journals on a daily basis and enters his fourth NFL season with high expectations. He led the league in receptions with 129 last season, and finished second with 1,715 receiving yards. This season is the final year of his rookie contract and he is expected to become the highest-paid wide receiver in NFL history if he’s able to mitigate his off the field issues. 

His motivation now is intensely personal. Someday, he wants to explain his mistakes to his son, Kingston, and what he learned from them.

“I want to be able to go to any environment that he might be a part of and have him say: ‘This is my dad.’”

For a player accustomed to measuring progress in catches and yards, Nacua entered Melbourne measuring it differently. 

With emotional maturity and growth.

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