The reinvention of Vita Vea began over lunch at The RAM Restaurant at University Village. It was one afternoon in early January, about a week before the deadline for underclassmen to declare for the NFL draft. Vea ordered a burger. His position coach, Ikaika Malloe, ordered the same.
Malloe had set up the lunch to talk about the future — the short- and long-term future — of one of the strongest, most athletic defensive linemen to ever play for the Washington Huskies. The question of Vea’s immediate future was the most pressing one: Was he going to enter the NFL draft this year?