LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- Growing up in rugby-crazed New Zealand, Paul Lasike dreamed one day of sharing a stadium with the country's powerhouse national team, the All Blacks.
"In New Zealand, man, the All Blacks -- that's the team," Lasike said. "You see those guys on buses, on the television news, at the train stations -- you see their pictures everywhere. They are the idols that everyone looks up to."
Lasike, 26, finally gets to fulfill his lifelong quest, albeit in roundabout fashion, when the All Blacks travel to Chicago for a match versus Ireland on Saturday.
A one-time star rugby player at Brigham Young University, Lasike made the switch to American football while in college, a decision that proved wise.
Lasike (pronounced luh-SEE-kay), a native of Auckland, is currently a fullback on the Chicago Bears' practice squad. He recently completed a stretch on Chicago's active roster, but the team had to make room for a defensive player coming back from injury prior to the Bears' Oct. 20 game.
As luck would have it, the All Blacks will be in Chicago the same week the Bears have their bye. So Lasike plans to be front and center for the match at Soldier Field, the Bears' home stadium.
"I was so pumped to find out the All Blacks were playing in Chicago, man," Lasike said. "My dad is coming out [from Brisbane, Australia] for the All Blacks game. He is so excited. I got box tickets, so he and I are going there. It's going to be a blast.
"I brought the family over for a game last year when I was on the Bears' practice squad. It was their first football game. They had no idea what was going on, but they enjoyed the American culture, like the big lights and the fireworks. It's America's game, you know. So they enjoyed that experience."
But for the Lasikes -- Paul is the ninth of 10 children in a Kiwi-Tongan household -- playing in the NFL isn't the ultimate accomplishment.
"My family would be more impressed if I was an All Black," Lasike said with a grin.
"They grew up with rugby. When I made the NFL for the first couple of weeks, I Skyped my parents, and they were like, 'Oh, that's great.' It wasn't like they went, "Wow, that's crazy.' I don't think they realize how big of a deal it is. If I was an All Black, they would be blown away."
Still, Lasike was no slouch on the rugby pitch. BYU rugby coach David Smyth called Lasike the hardest-working player he has ever coached. Smyth first laid eyes on Lasike after he left New Zealand to enroll as an exchange student at Highland High School, a U.S. rugby powerhouse in Salt Lake City, for his senior year.
"He's a phenomenal rugby player," said Smyth, who has guided BYU to five national championships. "He has natural ability and a great skill set. On top of that, he's as hard a worker as we've ever had at BYU. When you add work ethic to the natural ability and skill set he already had, that equals success.
"There's no doubt in my mind he could have played professional rugby somewhere. He's a fairly humble kid, but he's going to work and work and work. ... Trust me when I tell you that Paul is one of the nicest and most humble kids off the field, but on the field he will rip your head off if you are standing between him and what he wants."
Lasike's path toward the NFL started when Jay Omer, then the BYU football strength and conditioning coach, approached Lasike in the Cougars' weight room.
Omer felt Lasike possessed the tools to play football, but Lasike was skeptical.
"I was nervous to play football at first," Lasike said. "Football is like an ego sport ... so I was kind of nervous to meet the football players. It was a little scary at first. The culture is a lot different in rugby. It's a lot less hype in rugby. It's weird, man. It's a totally different type of camaraderie."
Lasike used the movie "Remember the Titans" to explain.
"When we watched it growing up in New Zealand, we were like, 'Wow, the coaches yell at their players to get them going.' I never had a rugby coach yell at me. They would just explain things. If you fumble the ball in football, it's a huge deal. If you fumble the ball in rugby, it's not such a big deal. Getting after players and coaching style are the big differences. And, of course, the conditioning. I'm a lot heavier now than when I played rugby."
When Lasike returned from serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints after his freshman year, Smyth and Omer brought him to meet Bronco Mendenhall, BYU's head coach at the time. "Paul came out for the team and he was just impressive in his size and his speed," said Mendenhall, who is now head coach at Virginia. "It appeared that since he was already used to carrying the football the running back position would be a good spot for him.
"He was a scout-team player to begin with when we were teaching him the rules. We were first, second or third in every defensive category that year, and our defensive players did not want to tackle him or hit him because he was wreaking havoc on them as he was so tough."
Lasike found a role on BYU's offense in a matter of weeks.
"Here's the thing about Paul," Mendenhall said. "He's an amazing piano player as well. We used to have devotionals before the games, home or away, and he would play the piano beautifully by ear. He is so kind, and with that English accent, he is the absolute gentleman. But when he is on the field, he is just ferocious."
Lasike ended his BYU career with 843 rushing yards in 38 games (19 starts). He went undrafted in 2015 but signed with the Arizona Cardinals before joining the Bears, where he patiently awaits his next opportunity.
"I never try to take how far I've come for granted," Lasike said. "I know it can be cut off at any time. I always approach every day in the NFL like it is my last, because I know how huge it is. Not many people get to be in this situation. I have friends and stuff who I grew up playing rugby with, and they're like, 'Bro, I can't believe you are there and I'm here.' So it kind of makes me realize this is a cool deal."