By Mick McGrane, GoAztecs.com Senior Writer
(@MickOnTheMesa)
Wherever Kyahva Tezino went, so went the football. He slept with it, cradled it, lugged it from dawn til dusk, a 4-year-old playing flag football who routinely announced his intentions of one day playing in the NFL.
He was a good kid, one who as life progressed drew rave reviews from teachers and coaches alike, one who navigated the gauntlet of urban Los Angeles with the reputation of a budding star — and the voice of his mother in his ear.
"I've always implemented in my kids that they be a blessing to others," Kelly Tezino said. "When Kyahva had friends in high school who were having a tough time, he was always the one motivating them. He kept telling them never to give up. There was a time when he was in junior high school when one of his friends didn't have food to eat. Kyahva only had about $5 in his pocket, but he bought his friend some food. He's always giving, and that's something I've always tried to teach my kids: Don't just be for yourself. If you see someone on the street who's hungry, and you have something to give, give it to them, even if it's just a bottle of water. Don't just be for yourself."
Among the many characteristics defining Kyahva Tezino, selfishness couldn't find its way into his soul if it came incognito, disguised as benevolence and camouflaged as compassion. San Diego State's senior linebacker sports a smile that could steal the dazzle from a diamond and a drive fueled by an abhorrence of mediocrity, a player intent on playing for keeps.
In his wallet he carries a list of objectives, a list that includes turning skeptics into full-blown believers and silencing critics with each impending collision. If no one else thinks so, Tezino is determined to become one of the top linebackers selected in next spring's NFL draft. He also has aims on being named the Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year, an honor he was deprived of last season and one that left him "not really mad or not mad, but somewhere in the middle." For more than five years, the screen saver on his phone has been a picture of the Butkus Award, annually presented to the nation's top linebacker (he already has been named to the Butkus watch list, as well as to watch lists for the Bednarik Award and Bronko Nagurski Trophy).
Also on the list, and of greater importance to him than any of the aforementioned honors, is a league title, an accomplishment that would include the Aztecs finishing undefeated, no less.
"It all comes with a lot of expectations, but my expectation is not to fail," said Tezino, whose 127 tackles (70 solo), 14.5 tackles for loss and 8.5 sacks all led the Aztecs last season. "I want to win a conference championship. That's my goal. All of the accolades I've gotten, those are great things on the side, but that'll never be the main focus for me. The main goal is to win games with my teammates. I know I've gotten a lot of attention from what I've done, but I really can't begin to thank God enough and my teammates enough. It's always been my teammates who pushed me to get better everyday."
As has an enduring desire to repay his mother, who as a single parent has regularly worked two jobs while raising Kyahva and his sister, Kyahje, a high school senior. An interdisciplinary studies major, Kyahva will, in December, become the first member of his family to ever graduate from college. And while he has every intention of pursuing an NFL career, he also has plans on helping to revitalize his neighborhood, of starting franchises that will create jobs, freeing residents of financial burdens, and, in turn, perhaps giving them the opportunity to become first-time homebuyers.
"He wants to build a legacy in the community," Kelly Tezino said. "He knows football isn't a long career, and he wants to build a legacy for his family and for others, to be able to give back to the community. He's told me, 'Mama, I want to be a legend. I want to give back really big.' He wants to build, he wants to build up businesses. I'm pretty excited to see where this is going to go."
It's already come light years. Kelly Tezino recalls countless times when it was all she could do to hold on, to keep clear a path for her children's future in the midst of onerous financial strain. She is a religious woman tightly tethered to prayer, which has seen her through difficult times, and provided her son with character traits seldom seen in an age where narcissism has a stranglehold on society.
"My mom has worked so hard her whole life and she's always been there for me," Tezino said. "She's going to be pretty proud when I walk across that stage (at graduation). She's my backbone. I would never be the person I am today without her. I probably wouldn't even be in school. She's sacrificed so much for me to be here. She always taught us not to think about ourselves, but to take care of others, and I've always believed that's the best act you can do.
"I've always watched my family working for other people, working day to day to put enough food on the table. I want to be the one that surpasses that in my family. I want to create opportunities for the future, not just for myself but for the next generation of my family. I don't want to see them have to struggle to put food on the table."
Or struggle to keep a dream from shattering.
"Being a single mother, we've had to deal with a lot of adversity," Kelly Tezino said. "Kyahva could have given up so many times. There were so many reasons for him to give up. We weren't living in the worst of areas, but we weren't living in the best area, either. There were times when we struggled from one day to the next. There were things Kyahva needed, and I didn't have (the money). There were days he'd see me cry, when I was working two jobs because I was doing everything I could to make sure everything was taken care of.
"He's seen my strength. He knows what we've gone through and I know he's asked himself why his mom has had to deal with all of this. He could have given up so easily, but instead he used it to fuel him."
Which brings us back to that little list occupying a spot in Tezino's wallet. Despite putting together a 2018 season in which he was SDSU's only player to play every snap (884 plays), despite his 127 tackles being 24 more than the Aztecs' No. 2 tackler and an astounding 67 more than the team's No. 3, despite ranking first in the Mountain West and 29th in the nation in tackles per game (5.38), Tezino was forced to concede the league's Defensive Player of the Year honor to Fresno State linebacker Jeff Allison.
In keeping with the nonsensical notion that players whose teams win league titles are clearly more deserving of Player of the Year honors, Allison won the award despite having fewer total tackles, fewer tackles for loss, fewer sacks and averaging fewer tackles per game.
And while there are myriad reasons Tezino opted to stay at SDSU for his senior season, rather than cast his lot with the NFL, failure to be recognized as the league's top defensive player carried more than a little weight in his decision.
"I know it motivates him," Kelly Tezino said. "We discussed (him going to the NFL) and we prayed a lot about it. He felt like he didn't want to come out, because he hadn't accomplished everything he wanted to accomplish. At the top of his list is to win the conference championship and go undefeated, to be named the (Mountain West) Defensive Player of the Year and to win the Butkus Award.
"So, it was really a no-brainer for him. There were people who were trying to get him to come out, but we wanted to make it Kyahva's decision. I told him, you really have to think about this and make sure the timing is right. He told me he didn't think it was the right time yet, because he hadn't had enough playing time (after redshirting, Tezino didn't start until the eighth game of his sophomore season). He said he wanted to be seen more and be recognized, that maybe he could come out and be drafted in the sixth round or maybe higher, but that he didn't want that. He said, 'I'm going for the top, Mom; I want to go in the first round.' I told him if that was what he wanted and that was what he believed, then he could get it."
Said Tezino: "I think a lot of people expected me to leave (for the NFL), but I wanted to come back, because I still have a lot to prove, not only to myself but to my team. I never want to be remembered as this guy who left for personal reasons, because I'm not a selfish guy. I came back because I want this team to be able to leave a legacy.
"But I looked into (the NFL), and a lot went into my decision to stay. I took my time with it and really processed it in my head. I researched it, googled it, looked at all the different aspects of doing it. My family and I talked for a long time about it. We come from an area in Los Angeles where there isn't a lot of opportunity, so, obviously, you want to look into it and decide what's best. Coach Long talked to me and told me just to make my decision wisely. He didn't push me one way or the other. I have all the respect in the world for him, and he told me things that I needed to hear.
"It just wasn't time for me to leave. I came back because I still have a lot to prove. I came back because my teammates need me and I need them. If we win a conference championship, then we'll have left a legacy. We want to make this year a special year."
And, in the process, make a mother awfully proud.
"If I do reach my dream of playing in the NFL, I'll always keep my family close to me," he said. "I'll never turn my back on them. I just want to be able to get my family out of what we've been through and give them a better life. Right now, I'm just happy I can bring a little excitement and joy to them on Saturdays when they come see me play. It brings a lot of happiness to my heart."