Kamu Grugier-Hill was going to play football at Eastern whether he liked it or not.

When Grugier-Hill and his mom first arrived on campus, he immediately wanted to go home.

Grugier-Hill and his mom, Elina Grugier-Bell, were very excited, yet concerned. Grugier-Hill had never been to the Midwest before, and Eastern is far from the beach and his family in Hawaii.

“She told me that she only had one ticket to go back home to Hawaii and it was for her, so I had to stay,” Grugier-Hill said. “To this day, it is one of the best things she’s done for me.”

Grugier-Hill now plays in the NFL as a linebacker for the Philadelphia Eagles.

The former Eastern linebacker (2012-2016) had the type of determination that was perfect for the Panthers. During his senior year of high school, Grugier-Hill impressed Eastern’s former head coach Dino Babers on the field. Babers offered Grugier-Hill an opportunity to play for the Panthers 5,000 miles away from his home in Hawaii.

From an early age, Grugier-Hill played all different kinds of sports, including soccer, baseball, basketball and outdoor skate hockey. Elina Grugier-Bell said how competitive he could be.

“He was driven from an early age to do what he had plans to do,” Elina Grugier-Bell said. “Kamu did not like to lose; he hated to lose.”

Grugier-Hill grew up in Hawaii and attended Kamehameha School on Oahu. He started playing volleyball his freshman year, and again, was driven to do his very best.

“This was not pretty,” Elina Grugier-Bell said. “He had a linebacker mentality on the volleyball court.”

It was not until Grugier-Hill’s junior year of high school when he started playing football. Grugier-Hill wanted to master every position he was in, his mom said.

“There seem to be no boundaries that Kamu placed on himself,” Elina Grugier-Bell said. “He would badger the coach to put him in.”

Elina Grugier-Bell had to remind her son that it is a team sport.

Grugier-Hill came to Eastern and continued to have a successful four years playing linebacker for the Panthers. He even had his best friend Pono Choy from high school by his side, which helped make his transition a little easier.

But right in the middle of his college career, Babers and his coaching staff left Eastern.

“The coaching change for the first couple months was very hard,” Grugier-Hill said. “I was close to Coach Babers and his staff.”

But Grugier-Hill assured it was a blessing in disguise. He became close with his new head coach, Kim Dameron, and said the two still keep in touch to this day.

Grugier-Hill’s last college football game was in the playoffs against the University of Northern Iowa. The Panthers lost, but Grugier-Hill ended his college career with 136 solo tackles, nine sacks, and six interceptions. Elina Grugier-Bell said Grugier-Hill was afraid that it was his last game for his football journey.

“We were crying and so emotional of the outcome,” Elina Grugier-Bell said.

But Grugier-Hill’s defensive coach, Mike Hodges, approached the player’s mom and reassured her that it was not his last football game.

After Grugier-Hill graduated in 2016, he was drafted to the New England Patriots.

“When I got that call on draft day, it was like a feeling I can’t even explain,” Grugier-Hill said. “It was a mixture of pure happiness and relief, with a little bit of anxiety.

Grugier-Hill was reunited with an old Eastern teammate, Jimmy Garoppolo. Garoppolo played quarterback for the Panthers from 2010-2013.

“Playing with Jimmy at the Patriots really helped me with the first part of my rookie season,” Grugier-Hill said.

Garoppolo helped Grugier-Hill with the schedules and coaches. He even helped Grugier-Hill get closer with some of the teammates who he still talks to today.

But just when Grugier-Hill thought everything was getting easier, he was off to the Philadelphia Eagles after being cut by the Patriots. Grugier-Hill said he moved to a completely new city where he didn’t know a single person.

But that didn’t stop Grugier-Hill.

“I am even closer with some of my teammates here, and I have made huge strides in my life since being in Philly,” Grugier-Hill said.

Grugier-Hill gives partial credit to his senior year internship for helping him get prepared for the NFL.

After Grugier-Hill’s last football season at Eastern, he interned at EFT Sports Performance. EFT is a sports training facility in Chicago. Grugier-Hill created schedules and workouts for athletes of all age groups.

Grugier-Hill said many current NFL athletes worked at EFT.

“I worked out there and trained for the NFL at the same time,” Grugier-Hill said. “I got to talk to the players that already had the experience and it helped me to prepare myself.”

Grugier-Hill has come a long way since living in Hawaii.

“My biggest challenge was being able to adjust and adapt to new places … without complaining or feeling sorry for myself,” Grugier-Hill said. “Going somewhere where you don’t know anyone is tough.”

But he admits that he would not be where he is today without the support of his mom.

“She works so hard her entire life,” Grugier-Hill said. “She’d do anything to make sure that I was happy and never in a bad situation. It helped me really push through football.”

Maddie Bounds can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected]