Position change newest mission for UNLV’s Vea

ELY -- Traveling in the Bahamas was great, and being in Jamaica would have been just as much fun if William Vea had spent most of his time in the tourist areas.

But this was no vacation.

Vea was in Kingston, Jamaica, as part of a two-year Mormon mission, and he mostly worked in areas tourists don't dare enter.

"I had to be cautious of everything I said," explained Vea, a redshirt freshman fullback at UNLV. "Over there, everybody hates the CIA and FBI, so we were taught to never talk about politics, never talk about stuff that would lead people to suspect you."

Most people were receptive to the message that Vea and his fellow missionary delivered, but others taunted them and called them names.

Then there were the more serious moments, such as the time Vea was inside a building where someone was fatally shot. Another night, an intoxicated man pulled a knife on the two missionaries. The knife wielder quickly fled when another man approached.

"It didn't really shake me up," Vea said. "I was more just staring at the knife."

Vea, a 22-year-old native of Pago Pago, American Samoa, signed with UNLV in 2007 before leaving on his mission.

He and his traveling partner would go door to door, but they quickly learned it wasn't the custom to knock on doors. Instead, Vea often called out "Ello!" and hoped the resident would open the door so they could share their religious message.

He lost 30 pounds and much of his strength during the mission.

Vea returned last year and redshirted at UNLV.

When he was cleared to begin practicing with the Rebels in 2010, the team already was in Ely for training camp. He had trouble breathing for two days as he tried to adjust to the 6,400-foot altitude, but he eventually settled in and worked on his game.

Over the past year, Vea (6 feet, 220 pounds) has regained his weight and is even stronger than before he left on his mission.

He began this training camp at linebacker, but switched to fullback this week and is competing for a starting job.

"We're kind of short-handed there," coach Bobby Hauck said. "I felt like the depth at the will (weakside) linebacker spot where he was playing was pretty solid. It wasn't that he wasn't playing well. In fact, he was playing his best football of his time here. We didn't feel like we were getting it done at fullback.

"It fits. He's good at it."

Vea played eight-man football at Pahranagat Valley High School in Alamo. In the eight-man game, the field is 10 yards narrower, and all positions are the same except a linebacker, a slot receiver and two tackles on each side are missing.

Vea downplayed the difficulty of adjusting to playing more traditional football, but he said he's glad he had last year's redshirt season to get used to it and learn the system under Hauck.

"Coming into this year, I know what 11-man's about," Vea said. "So it really benefited me in a major way. It was a struggle to come back."

Now there's the matter of learning a new position. It's not completely different from linebacker because fullback also is an aggressive, physical position.

"There are different techniques I have to learn," Vea said. "But it's a lot like linebacker -- I go out and hit somebody."

Contact reporter Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914. Follow him on Twitter: @markanderson65.