Buccaneers nose tackle Vita Vea was performing freakish feats long before he returned to play in last month’s NFC Championship Game less than four months after suffering a gruesome broken ankle.
At Milpitas High School, Vea, who was 6-foot-3 and 260 pounds as a freshman, played running back, wildcat quarterback, middle linebacker, outside linebacker and defensive lineman.
At Washington, Vea played everywhere on the defensive front - yes, he was a 350-pound defensive end - and most memorably showed off his rare blend of weight and wheels in the 2017 Fiesta Bowl by sprinting downfield and making a tackle on punt coverage.
“Are you kidding me?” ESPN’s Greg McElroy said on the broadcast. “Vita Vea, what a play.”
Given that, those who know Vea well weren’t surprised when he played in the NFC title game 108 days after his lower right ankle collapsed. Vea played 33 snaps in a 31-26 win at Green Bay that sent the Buccaneers to Super Bowl LV, where they will face the Chiefs on Sunday in Tampa.
“Was I surprised that he came back?” said Ikaika Malloe, Vea’s position coach at Washington. “Not at all. He’s been a freak of a nature since I’ve known him … You just got used to the fact that the rules really don’t apply to him.”
Said Milpitas coach Kelly King: “His athletic talent is off the charts. But obviously he’s got also healing powers that are greater than most of us.”
For his next trick? Vea, the No. 12 pick in 2018 after he was the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, hopes to play a key role in what could be the most influential matchup in Sunday’s game: Tampa Bay’s formidable defensive front vs. Kansas City’s injury-riddled offensive line, which will be without both starting offensive tackles.
The defending-champion Chiefs have quarterback Patrick Mahomes, last year’s NFL MVP, and the league’s top-ranked offense. The Buccaneers have the NFL’s sixth-ranked defense, which had the fourth-most sacks (48) in the league.
If the Buccaneers, who are three-point underdogs, can harass Mahomes into a losing performance it would channel past defensive-led Super Bowl upsets.
The 2013 Broncos, who scored the most points (606) in NFL history with Peyton Manning, lost 43-8 to the Seahawks. And the 2007 Patriots, who scored the second-most points (589) in league history with now-Buccaneers QB Tom Brady, lost 17-14 to the Giants.
Vea, 6-4 and 347 pounds, wasn’t expected to be a part of this storyline.
He suffered his grisly broken ankle in a loss to the Bears on Oct. 8 when linebacker Devin White crashed into his lower right leg as they combined to tackle running back David Montgomery.
On the Fox broadcast, both play-by-play man Joe Buck and analyst Troy Aikman offered a squeamish, “Ow,” in unison when the replay showed how Vea was injured.
“Obviously, I was down and out that night,” Vea told reporters last week. “But that night I told myself, ‘If you just push through this, you push through rehab, you might have a chance.’ They told me I had a small chance to make it … I really took it to heart.”
Vea was encouraged by head coach Bruce Arians, who kept telling him the Buccaneers would make a deep playoff run that would allow him to return this season. Arians’ standard line: “If you keep working, we’ll keep winning.”
“I think that was our little thing to each other,” Vea said. “Every time we saw each other (I would say), ‘You keep winning, I’ll show up.’ And I showed up.”
King says Vea is held in high regard at Milpitas because he’s consistently showed up since graduating. Last year, the coronavirus pandemic kept Vea from making his annual visits to the school that have often been marked by talks with the team.
“We’re all so proud of him, he’s a guy that gives his time,” King said. “It’s like he never really left.”
Malloe, who was Vea’s position coach for his final two seasons at Washington, was among those who assumed Vea wouldn’t return this season. And he was initially surprised when he was saw reports last month that Vea could return at some point in the playoffs.
To confirm, Malloe went to the source and asked Vea, via a text.
“He said, ‘Coach, I’m practicing and I’ve got to prove that I can play,’” Malloe said. “And I said, ‘Unbelievable.’ But at the same time, if there’s somebody that could mentally and physically could do it, it would be him.
“For Vita, its par for the course. That guy just keeps defying what is possible.”
Eric Branch covers the 49ers for The San Francisco Chronicle. Email: ebranch@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Eric_Branch
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February 04, 2021 at 06:12AM
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Recovery complete, Bay Area’s Vita Vea an unlikely Super Bowl participant - San Francisco Chronicle
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