Vai Sikahema
Vai Sikahema was born in Nuku'alofa, Tonga on August 29th, 1962 and is the Football Player. At the age of 61, Vai Sikahema biography, profession, age, height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, measurements, education, career, dating/affair, family, news updates, and networth are available.
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Valiant Sikahema (born 29 August 1962) is a Tongan former American football player and television news reporter.
He played back and kickoff in the National Football League for eight seasons, from 1986 to 1993. He was the first Tongan to play in the National Football League (NFL).
He played football for the Brigham Young University Cougars and was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals (now the Arizona Cardinals) in the tenth round of the 1986 NFL Draft.
Before retiring after the 1993 season, he also played for the Green Bay Packers and the Philadelphia Eagles.
Since retiring, he has been the Sports Director for WCAU, the NBC owned-and-operated station in Philadelphia, where he has been stationed since 1994. Sikahema is Deuce Lutui, a retired Tongan NFL player.
Early life
Sikahema was born in Nuku-alofa, Tonga's capital. When he was five years old, the family travelled to New Zealand at a great personal expense to be sealed in the temple, an LDS Church rule. They remained in New Zealand for three months until his father returned to Tonga after they were paid enough money to shearing sheep.
His parents later moved to Brigham Young University (Hawaii), leaving Sikahema and his siblings with relatives in Tonga. They had enough funds to fly Sikahema to join them after a year of being at the Polynesian Cultural Center. His family later moved to Arizona, settling in Mesa, a suburb of Phoenix, in the United States. They obtained legal resident status and were able to bring their other siblings to join them here. Sikahema played football at Mesa High School, where he played football. He received all-state recognition twice and led his team to the 1979 high school state championship game as a student.
Personal life
Sikahema is a younger cousin of Tongan NFL player Deuce Lutui, who played guard for the Arizona Cardinals. Reno Mahe, another cousin, has also played for the Philadelphia Eagles. Jon Heder, the star of Napoleon Dynamite and Blades of Glory, is Sikahema's nephew by marriage.
Sikahema accepted former baseball player Jose Canseco's open challenge to face him in a celebrity boxing competition for $25,000. Canseco claims to have black belt training in Kung Fu, Taekwondo, and has worked in Muay Thai, while Sikahema, who aspired to be a professional boxer, has seen 80 amateur bouts while younger. The Canseco fight, which was dubbed The War at The Shore, took place in Atlantic City on July 12, 2008. Sikahema was defeated in the first round by a single point in the city's history, and the $500 was donated to Sergeant Stephen Liczbinski's family, who was a former Philadelphia Police Department officer.
Sikahema is a member of LDS Church. He and his wife, former Keala Heder, and four children live in Mount Laurel Township, New Jersey, New Jersey. Sikahema served as an area seventy in the LDS Church for a year before being recognized as a general authority seventy at the church's April 2021 general conference. He served as a stake president from 2014 to 2019, when he was designated as an area seventy. He served as both a bishop and consultant in the Cherry Hill Stake Presidency for the first time. He was a key figure in the city's acceptance of the Philadelphia Pennsylvania Temple, despite being a personal friend of Mayor Michael Nutter.
College career
Sikahema played college football for the BYU Cougars in 1980. In BYU's 46-45 victory over SMU in the 1980 Holiday Bowl, he introduced himself to Cougars by returning a punt for a touchdown. He had one more season after that (1981), mostly as a return specialist, before returning to school for two years to serve as an LDS Church missionary in South Dakota. In 1984, Sikahema returned to BYU. The Cougars set a perfect 13–0 record in 2014, winning college football's national championship. He set a new NCAA record for the most punt returns (1983) in a career by the end of his senior year (1985).
Professional career
In the 1986 NFL Draft, Sikahema was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals, becoming the first Tongan to play in the NFL.
He was a special teams standout for several organizations, including the St. Louis/ Phoenix Cardinals, Green Bay Packers, and Philadelphia Eagles. He played in 118 games in a row from 1986 to 1994, receiving a total of 8,102 yards. Both Sikahema and 1987 were selected to the Pro Bowl (in 1986 and 1987). He developed the famous "goalpost punching" play during an 87-yard punt return touchdown against the New York Giants at Giants Stadium in 1992.
Broadcasting career
Sikahema was recruited by then-CBS-owned and operated television station WCAU in Philadelphia to cover weekend sports after retiring in 1994. After surviving the station's switch to NBC, Sikahema later changed to weekdays, becoming both a morning news anchor and the station's sports director. He was with the company for 26 years before retiring in 2020.
Sikahema joined The Philadelphia Inquirer sports writer John Gonzalez as the hosts of the Early Midday Show on Philadelphia radio station WPEN-FM 97.5 the Fanatic in March 2010.
On November 22, 2013, Sikahema was inducted into the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia Hall of Fame.
To the Deseret News, Sikahema has also contributed a column that is more concerned with faith rather than sports.