[MUSIC PLAYING]

SHAWN BROWN (VOICEOVER): Virginia Tech linebacker Andrew

Motuapuaka is one of the anchors for the Hokies defense,

and shows promise of a future in the NFL.

But a couple of years ago, he was

in danger of squandering away his football career.

ANDREW MOTUAPUAKA: You know, messing

with girls left and right, drinking every weekend.

I started smoking.

Everything was just feeling good at the time.

SHAWN BROWN (VOICEOVER): Andrew and his family

are originally from Tonga, a small island in the South

Pacific.

His father was military and moved the family

to Virginia Beach, Virginia, where he attended high school.

Though raised with Christian values,

he had never accepted Christ into his heart.

But his parents stressed the importance of prayer.

ANDREW MOTUAPUAKA: That's all I remember

as a little kid growing up just from my parents

to my aunts, my uncles, remember to say your prayers.

SHAWN BROWN (VOICEOVER): But saying his prayers

was all but forgotten when he came to Virginia Tech

on a football scholarship.

He quickly fell to the woes of the college party scene

and being a college athlete.

ANDREW MOTUAPUAKA: My sophomore year, I'm

the backup mike linebacker.

Me and my boys, you know, we're drinking,

smoking, doing all this stuff.

And I don't see anything wrong with it.

SHAWN BROWN: Did you feel like you were getting everything

that you needed from that?

ANDREW MOTUAPUAKA: Oh, definitely not.

I mean, well at the time-- at the time,

I felt like, man, this feels good, but never really

internally felt satisfied.

SHAWN BROWN (VOICEOVER): In the middle of the 2015 season,

Andrew was given a starting linebacker position

when his teammate was injured.

He felt on top of the world, until his roommate

told him something that would haunt him for months.

ANDREW MOTUAPUAKA: He had told me

that he had a dream that me and one of my other teammates

had gotten into an accident, like a really bad car accident.

And every time I would smoke, I would just

think of these things.

Like for some reason I would always

have these thoughts that I'm going to get into this big car

accident.

SHAWN BROWN (VOICEOVER): Andrew became fearful

that he could lose everything he'd worked for, and possibly

his life.

While on winter break that year, he and his brother

were getting ready to drive to nearby Richmond,

Virginia to see their sister play volleyball.

But Andrew was afraid to get in the car.

ANDREW MOTUAPUAKA: I started crying, and telling my brother

to come inside.

I'm like, "Man, I'm not going."

I was crying my eyes out, just telling them like, "Man, I

haven't been living right.

You know, I don't-- I don't even pray.

I don't remember the last time I prayed."

He tells me, "Oh, we should pray about it."

So I was like, "All right, let's pray."

SHAWN BROWN (VOICEOVER): After praying with his brother,

Andrew says he felt like something had changed,

but didn't know what to do about it.

So when he returned to school, he went back to his old habits.

But this time, it was different.

ANDREW MOTUAPUAKA: I smoked two times.

The second time I literally thought

I was going to have a heart attack, like I

was going to die.

So I was like, man, I'm done with this.

SHAWN BROWN (VOICEOVER): So he went to see Dave Gittings,

the sports chaplain at Virginia Tech.

SHAWN BROWN: What did he say?

ANDREW MOTUAPUAKA: He was like man, God's grace

is bigger than all that.

SHAWN BROWN (VOICEOVER): Still seeking answers,

Andrew went to a Bible study in connection

with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes called Cross Training.

And one of the speakers was talking

about having eternal life through Jesus Christ.

ANDREW MOTUAPUAKA: He prayed a prayer.

And he's like, "If you don't know

if you're going to heaven or hell,

you know, please come up and talk to me afterwards."

And I didn't-- you know, I didn't know.

SHAWN BROWN (VOICEOVER): Afterwards, he

talked to the speaker who asked Andrew directly

if he knew he was going to heaven.

ANDREW MOTUAPUAKA: I'm like, I mean,

I think-- I think I'm going to heaven.

He's like, "No, do you know for sure

that you're going to heaven?"

And I'm like, "Man, I don't know."

SHAWN BROWN (VOICEOVER): It was then

that Andrew realized what he needed to do.

So he decided to give his life to the Lord.

ANDREW MOTUAPUAKA: That's the day

where I say, yeah, like I confess with my mouth

and believe in my heart.

SHAWN BROWN (VOICEOVER): Andrew now understands

that defense can go far beyond the football field.

Because while he's covering an offense,

God has him covered both on the field and off of it.

ANDREW MOTUAPUAKA: I, mean Ephesians 6,

you know, I wear this bracelet on my hand,

every day solder, E6.

And this kind of just reminds me every day,

really just putting on the forearm of God.

You know, it's kind of going out on the football field

and not having your helmet on or going to a game, no left cleat,

or like missing knee pads, thigh pads, or whatever it is.

You just wouldn't feel the same on the field

if you were missing these things.

And so kind of just reminds me every day man

to put on the armor and just to get ready.