Kaimana Nacua (born March 3, 1995) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

free safety for the New York Jets of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He played college football at

BYU Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day S ...

Professional career

Cleveland Browns

Nacua was signed by the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (A ...

as an undrafted free agent on May 4, 2017. Throughout training camp, he competed for a roster spot against Justin Currie and Trey Caldwell. On September 3, 2017, the Browns waived Nacau and signed him to their practice squad the next day. On September 8, 2017, Nacua was promoted to the active roster. Head coach

Hue Jackson Hue Jackson (born October 22, 1965) is an American football coach who is the head football coach at Grambling State University. An offensive assistant at both the collegiate and professional levels, he held coordinator positions in the Nation ...

named Nacua the backup strong safety behind Derrick Kindred to start the regular season. He made his professional regular season debut in the Cleveland Browns' season-opening 21-18 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. On December 3, 2017, Nacua made his first career tackle during a 19-10 loss at the

Los Angeles Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division, and ...

. In Week 14, Nacua earned his first career start after Derrick Kindred suffered a wrist injury the week prior. Nacua recorded a season-high five solo tackles during the Browns' 27-21 loss to the Green Bay Packers. He finished the season with 14 combined tackles (12 solo) in 16 games and three starts. Nacua was waived by the Browns on April 30, 2018.

Baltimore Ravens

On May 1, 2018, Nacua was claimed off waivers by the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays it ...

. He was waived on August 31, 2018. He was re-signed to the practice squad on September 15, 2018. He was released on October 15, 2018.

Carolina Panthers

On December 5, 2018, Nacua was signed to the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. ...

practice squad. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Panthers on December 31, 2018. He was waived on August 4, 2019.

Indianapolis Colts

On August 19, 2019, Nacua signed with the Indianapolis Colts. He was waived/injured on August 31, 2019 and was placed on injured reserve.

San Francisco 49ers

On November 24, 2020, Nacua was signed to the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster on December 2, 2020. On February 11, 2021, Nacua signed a one-year contract extension with the 49ers. He was released on August 27, 2021. He re-signed to the practice squad on September 10, 2021.

New York Jets

On December 23, 2021, Nacua was signed by the New York Jets off the 49ers practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster on December 25, 2021. On August 23, 2022, Nacua was released. On November 29, 2022, he was re-signed to the Jets practice squad.

NFL career statistics

Personal life

Nacua has two younger brothers, Puka and Samson. Puka Nacua plays wide receiver at

, while Samson Nacua is a member of the Pittsburgh Maulers in the USFL. Samson also played at

after transferring from

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

and Puka (sophomore) transferred from

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

References

External links

BYU Cougars bioCleveland Browns bioBaltimore Ravens bioSan Francisco 49erss bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nacua, Kai Living people 1995 births People from Henderson, Nevada American sportspeople of Samoan descent Players of American football from Nevada Sportspeople from Las Vegas American football defensive backs BYU Cougars football players Cleveland Browns players Baltimore Ravens players Carolina Panthers players Indianapolis Colts players San Francisco 49ers players New York Jets players