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Nearly 3,000 miles away, Vai Sikahema's excitement, passion and raw emotion come through the telephone line loud and clear.

Sikahema, the former BYU football star, will be inducted into the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame on Saturday along with Charles Teetai Jr., Rockne Freitas, Troy Polamalu and Albert Lolotai.

Of course, Polamalu is the big name of the group, and is probably ticketed for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, as well. But Sikahema also had a fine NFL career after playing on BYU's 1984 national championship team.

Born on Aug. 29, 1962 in Nuki'alofa, Tonga, Sikahema played in the NFL for eight seasons for the Arizona Cardinals, Green Bay Packers and Philadelphia Eagles.

I caught up to Sikahema, who is in Oahu, Hawaii, for Saturday's ceremony, on Friday afternoon.

To say he's overwhelmed with happiness over the enshrinement would be an understatement.

"I am elated, of course, and deeply humbled," Sikahema said.

He said when he got the news last year that he would enter the Polynesian Hall, he immediately thought of former BYU coach LaVell Edwards and his first encounter with the legendary coach.

"I thought of how he recruited me and brought me to BYU and the way he cared for and loved all his Polynesian players," Sikahema said. "I was the first Tongan he recruited … My family was among the first wave of Tongan coming to the United States, and LaVell called me in his office and asked me if more Tongans would be interested in playing football. Of course, I said yes."

That conversation took place in January of 1980.

Sikahema marvels now that, 36 years later, BYU has hired the first Tongan head coach in major college football, Kalani Sitake.

Sikahema said he will mention Sitake's hiring in his induction speech, which he warns will go far longer than the 4-5 minutes organizers are suggesting it should.

Heck, the few lines of Tongan, which he will open his speech with, could do longer than four minutes.

Sikahema said he will express "deep and sincere gratitude" to the coaches and teachers who have helped him throughout his football and professional career — he's a television news anchor in Philadelphia — and also pay homage to his parents for having the courage to come to the U.S. with little or no education or belongings.

He will also pay respect to his wife, the former Keala Heder, and his four children, and credit his membership in the Mormon Church and talk about how his faith has shaped his life and prepared him for challenges along the way.

He will make note of how far Tongans have come in the game of football.

"The impact we have made as Polynesians is well-noted among NFL teams," he said.

Sikahema said having a Polynesian Football Hall of Fame is important because young Polynesians don't know about or understand their culture's history with the game of football.

"With no disrespect to BYU or USC or the college hall of fames that we are in, to a man, this has a different feel, and a different meaning to us, because it represents our culture, and because we are so closely connected and tied to our culture," Sikahema said. "We are all proud of our alma maters. We are all proud of where we come from, but I think there is something unique and different [about induction into this hall of fame]. It has to do with our culture. Part of it is there are so few of us. There are less than 100,000 people in Tonga."