TAMPA, Fla. - Tampa Bay Buccaneers Pro Bowl defensive tackle Gerald McCoy has one modest request of rookie defensive tackle Vita Vea, whom the Bucs selected with the 11th overall pick in this year's draft: He has to go by "Maui" from the Disney film "Moana."
"I told him he has to tell my children that he is Maui from Moana," McCoy said. "When he introduces himself to my kids -- this is the only rookie duty I'm going to give him, ain't no dinner, none of that -- make sure that when you introduce yourself to my kids, you introduce yourself as Maui. No questions asked."
Typically at Bucs camp, rookies are expected to carry veterans' pads and may also be responsible for footing the bill at an expensive team dinner.
McCoy said that teammates who have young children have also started calling Vea that nickname too. At 347 pounds with long, curly black hair, he does bear a striking resemblance to Maui, a legendary demigod in Hawaiian, Mangarevan, Tahitian, Tongan, Samoan, and Polynesian mythology.
Vea's parents -- Sione and Fipe -- are from Tonga and while he himself is a mortal, he did achieve notoriety for a rare rock-lifting feat on a visit to Tahiti back in college.
Demigod or not, McCoy said the nickname will stand.
"He doesn't have an option," McCoy said. "You have to accept your role. You are a Buccaneer and you are now 'Maui.' I'm sorry if you don't like it, but whatever. You've got too many kids around here. You're gonna go work parties. You're going to do birthday parties and all that."
"Everybody has a job to do outside the building. Everybody has to do things in the community. We have a great team that does great things in the community. Vita just has to be Maui. That's just what he's gotta do."