When the NFL Draft begins in April, Olaivavega Ioane is expected to be the first interior offensive lineman to come off the board following a glittering collegiate career at Penn State
12:58 ET, 28 Feb 2026
Olaivavega Ioane started his football career without the permission of his parents
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Olaivavega Ioane started his football career without the permission of his parents(Image: Getty Images)
Olaivavega Ioane is widely projected as one of the top prospects in the 2026 NFL Draft. If it were up to his parents, however, he wouldn’t be anywhere near Indianapolis.
When offensive lineman Ioane takes to the field at Lucas Oil Stadium for the Combine on Sunday, he should take a moment to reflect. Just over six years earlier, he had never set foot on a football field before - and now the Penn State product has one foot in the NFL.
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Ahead of the 2019 season, Ioane was a sophomore at Graham-Kapowsin High School in Washington. While his peers played football, Ioane stuck to school, as his family prioritized academics over sports; his sole interaction with sports was watching rugby as an ode to his Polynesian roots.
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“I wasn’t allowed to play until I got to high school,” Ioane told reporters, including The Mirror U.S., at the Combine. “I watched a lot of rugby growing up. My dad played rugby, and my brothers played rugby.”
Football had waited long enough. “[It was] really junior year of high school. I started playing in my sophomore year. In my junior year, I got into the game and really threw myself into run and pass blocking. I fell in love with the game mainly for that reason, and how this game can teach you a lot about life.”
Ioane has established himself as a premier offensive guard prospect in the upcoming NFL Draft. He received First-team All-American and First-team All-Big Ten honors in 2025, highlighting an astronomical rise for a
Asked why he didn’t get into football until his sophomore year, Vega outlined: “Oh, my parents. They were never into sports for me growing up. They wanted me to focus on school, but when sophomore year came around, I signed myself up. I was like sneaking away from home to play football on Friday nights.”
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Olaivavega Ioane is widely expected to be selected in the first round of the NFL Draft, and the first guard off the board
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Olaivavega Ioane is widely expected to be selected in the first round of the NFL Draft, and the first guard off the board(Image: Getty Images)
It didn’t take his parents long to discover that their son had been going against their wishes by playing football each Friday. “It took them like three games to figure it out,” Vega said with a smile.
“First Friday night, I didn’t show up at home. ‘Where’s he at? Hanging out with friends, probably.’ Second Friday night came around. ‘He’s not at dinner. What’s he doing?’
“Third Friday comes around. Finally, they got a little worried, called in, and I was like, ‘I’m playing a football game right now, it’s whatever.’”
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It was more than “whatever.” As a senior, Ioane helped his school to a 15–0 record and the state championship, and entered college ranked 18th among interior offensive linemen nationally. He may be the first interior lineman off the board in April, and his parents are right behind him.
“It worked out OK. Now they love the game.”