Florida State, who initially offered Hepi a scholarship in June, are one of the most prestigious programmes in the sport, having won three national championships and producing over 300 NFL players. <\/p>\n
Hepi will play as an offensive tackle, the same position as his idol Mailata and wear the same No 68.<\/p>\n
Other schools to offer Hepi a scholarship include South Florida, the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Sacramento State.<\/p>\n
Some Australians are already trying to claim him as one of their own, but Hepi is a self-proclaimed proud Northlander, having spent his formative years in Northland towns K\u0101eo and Kait\u0101ia before his family moved to Perth and later Queensland.<\/p>\n
Hepi had been looking at a future working in the trades, something he wasn\u2019t fond of, so when the chance to join the NFL Academy came up, he took it with both hands.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never followed the sport growing up,\u201d Hepi told the Herald.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t even know what college football was. I didn\u2019t know there was that level to it. I\u2019d heard of the NFL, but I was never fond of it at all.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it was the opportunity of what my future could hold instead of getting stuck in the cycle and being a worker in the trades and doing that for the rest of my life.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t really want that. I wanted something different and I saw this academy would give me a good crack at that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nikau Hepi: “I never followed the sport growing up.” Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
Perfect mentor<\/p>\n
Reaching the NFL is a long shot. <\/p>\n
Only 1.6% of college football players make it to the professional level. In the 2023 NFL Draft, 259 players were selected from about 17,150 draft-eligible college athletes.<\/p>\n
Each of the NFL\u2019s 32 teams have 53 players on their active roster, totalling 1696 players.<\/p>\n
There have been numerous players with New Zealand links in the NFL \u2013 such as current Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Michael Wilson, who has a Kiwi mother \u2013 but only five who were born in Aotearoa, the most notable being David Dixon and three-time Super Bowl champion Riki Ellison.<\/p>\n
While making the NFL will be tough, Hepi has the perfect mentor by his side helping him chase his dream in Will Bryce, who runs the academy.<\/p>\n
Bryce has a keen eye for talent. He discovered tape of Mailata while sitting in the carpark of a London football field in 2017, and invited him to the NFL\u2019s International Player Pathway programme in Florida.<\/p>\n
That success led to an academy being established in London to cater for European talent, and now the Asia-Pacific programme, which Bryce views as crucial given the Polynesian influence in the sport, with about 200 NFL players having family roots in the Pacific.<\/p>\n
Bryce, who has worked with the NFL for 11 years, recalls encountering Hepi for the first time when he rocked up in a singlet and rugby league shorts to try some drills. It was immediately evident, he said, that Hepi was \u201cgenetically born to play this sport\u201d.<\/p>\n
Will Bryce runs the NFL Asia-Pacific Academy. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
\u201cFor someone who didn\u2019t know what they were getting into, to open Pandora\u2019s box and get thrown right into the deep end, it\u2019s pretty crazy how he\u2019s managed it all,\u201d Bryce told the Herald.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe started asking him to do these weird movements he\u2019d never done in his life. He had no idea what we were evaluating.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we\u2019re looking for is those outliers. There\u2019s a long way to go for him, but he\u2019s light years ahead of where he was a year ago, both as a person and as a football player.\u201d<\/p>\n
There are no guarantees the academy will produce NFL players, but it has opened doors for athletes from the region, giving them a more realistic pathway towards elite American football.<\/p>\n
Based at A.B. Paterson College on Australia\u2019s Gold Coast, the elite development programme offers students the opportunity to combine fulltime education alongside intensive training in American football \u2013 under the guidance of qualified coaches.<\/p>\n
There are several others in the programme with New Zealand links trying to follow in Hepi\u2019s footsteps, including Hamza El-Ghobashy, who is of Kiwi and Egyptian heritage and was playing basketball when Bryce scouted him.<\/p>\n
Because Hepi has finished high school, his schedule differs from the others at the academy.<\/p>\n
He trains every morning from 6.30am for about 90 minutes before doing work to prepare for his move to Florida State. That is followed by a gym session and more on-field training in the afternoon.<\/p>\n
Nikau Hepi is a self-proclaimed proud Northlander. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
The other athletes attend school from 8.30am to 3.30pm, and some are only beginning high school.<\/p>\n
Role model<\/p>\n
Hepi doesn\u2019t see himself as a trailblazer \u2013 his goal is simply to make his wh\u0101nau proud.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like it gave myself and these other boys here the exposure they needed to create more opportunities for them to get more D1 scholarships,\u201d Hepi said. <\/p>\n
\u201cTrailblazing or not, I think it was a good start and it provides good exposure for this programme. <\/p>\n
\u201cI just want to represent my country in the best way possible and this academy, to show where I\u2019ve come from and that anybody can do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Regardless of what he thinks, Bryce believes Hepi is a role model for others in the programme.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot to manage as a young person and he\u2019s growing as a person,\u201d Bryce said. \u201dThe boys look up to him as well because he\u2019s the oldest one.<\/p>\n
Philadelphia Eagles superstar Jordan Mailata. Photo \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n
Hepi is now putting plans in place before his move to Tallahassee, where he will hope to follow in the footsteps of Mailata.<\/p>\n
The pair got the chance to meet in April when the Eagles superstar visited the academy and Hepi described it as one of the most enjoyable parts of his journey so far.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was great to have him around,\u201d Hepi said. \u201dHe\u2019s like that big brother that everybody dreams of.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe way he coaches you up and shows you what you\u2019re doing wrong, he taught me a few things while he was here and I\u2019m grateful to have him as a mentor.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the sport grows in New Zealand and Australia, Bryce hopes Hepi\u2019s journey will spark something in kids who might never have considered American football as an option.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter 11 years of doing this, I know there are outliers, kids like Nikau, whose parents might read this and think, \u201cMy son fits that profile\u2019,\u201d Bryce said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome kids grow out of league, union or basketball as the game speeds up, but their bodies are built for football.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd it\u2019s never been easier to get involved in the game. You\u2019ve never had a programme like this that\u2019s trying to help those kinds of kids.\u201d<\/p>\n