FEATURED: Casey McDermott Vai
9/2/2018 2:50:00 PM | Football
By Kennedy Harvey - TCU Athletics Communications Intern
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Offensive guard Casey McDermott Vai is entering his senior year as a member of the Horned Frogs, and he is expected to make a difference both on and off the field this season.
Although Texas is a place he now considers home after moving here in 2014 for his freshman year, McDermott Vai's story began in Auckland, New
Zealand.
"I'm originally a Kiwi," said Vai. He and his family moved to the United States in 2008. One of the hardest transitions for him was leaving behind the sport he grew up loving and playing — rugby.
"I started playing rugby at the age of 5," he said. "It's the most common sport in New Zealand, you have no choice, you have to play it."
McDermott Vai quickly learned that the U.S. is not a place that lives on rugby games, but one that spends its time on a 100-yard field, under stadium lights. There is nothing more American than the game of football.
"I wanted to continue playing rugby when I got here to the states, but it isn't big out here," said McDermott. "When I started middle school, football was the only sport."
Looking to burn off energy and keep the physical level of play, McDermott Vai decided to try out for his middle school football team.
"I just blended in until I got good at it," he said. It took some time to transition from his rugby mindset to the complicated game of football, but his friends helped him learn the ins and outs of the game.
"I had a difficult time learning the game of football because I didn't understand the rules or how the game flows," said McDermott Vai. "I started to watch NFL games and played more with friends until I got used to it, but it was very hard at first."
One part of rugby he has held on to throughout his football career is a man he looks up to, all-star rugby player Sonny Bill Williams.
"I watch how he approaches practice, and how he approaches game days and just his life outside of the game, and it is very similar to other athletes," said McDermott Vai. "He is just like a regular person. He is one of my role models, he is a physical player on the field and off the field. He is always working out hard, trying to learn from his mistakes, always watching film. I want to be like him."
Going into his senior year, there is a lot more pressure on him, and he can use Williams' lifestyle to help him be a good leader.
"I think there will be a lot of pressure," said McDermott Vai. "It's just different because it is our turn to takeover, it is our turn to step up and be leaders, and when things go wrong we have to figure out how we are going to approach that, how we are going to deal with that, because we won't have the seniors from last year there to tell us it is going to be fine. It's our turn to step up."
TCU football players over the years can often be heard expressing sentiments such as "Do it for the seniors." Each season is dedicated to the players who will take the field for the final time in Horned Frogs purple and white.
"You want your other teammates that are seniors to have a good season, and you want to leave TCU remembering our senior year as the team that left a mark here," he said.
