Kamalei Correa’s path to this week’s National Football League Draft is an album of images.

There was the scene in 2001, when 6-year-old Correa followed his older brother La‘anui Correa, a University of Hawaii defensive end, into the Aloha Stadium locker room after a game. He exited with a handful of memories.

“Here comes Kamalei into the parking lot with all the boys’ dirty towels and their sweatbands,” said his mother, Lani. “He’d say, ‘Look, Mom, I’ve got (linebacker) Pisa Tinoisamoa’s towel. He was so thrilled to be around all those football players. And now there are people who look up to him.”

There was the gloomy time of 2006, when divorce left Lani to raise her two youngest sons, Haku‘ole and Kamalei, as a single mom. “There were times I thought, ‘Where would I put a roof over my kids’ heads?’” Lani recalled. “It was tough.”

Lani worked two custodial jobs — one to pay for food and rent on a two-bedroom apartment; the other for her sons’ private-school tuition and expenses. Her three older sons attended private schools, and “I wasn’t going to take that away from the younger boys because I went through a divorce,” Lani said. “They were going to get the same type of education. I was going to do everything in my power to make sure that happened to them.”

There was Feb. 6, 2013, when Kamalei, a Saint Louis School senior, signed with Boise State.

“It was a hard thing for me to let him go away,” Lani said. “It turned out to be the best thing for him.”

There was the scene last December, when Kamalei received what turned into a cherished Christmas present. A panel of NFL experts projected Kamalei as a second-round prospect for the NFL Draft. Kamalei, who never redshirted at Boise State, had the option of returning for his senior season. After a family meeting, it was decided he would enter the 2016 NFL Draft.

“We all had this consensus: You might not get this opportunity again,” Lani said. “He had the blessings of his family. We know football is not going to last forever. But you can always go back to school. Not many kids get this opportunity.”

Lani credited La‘anui, who has served as Kamalei’s football mentor.

“They were always close,” Lani said. “They always had this special bond. To this day, they’re like that.”

At the NFL Scouting Combine in February, Kamalei, who was not available to be interviewed for this article, had these numbers: 4.69 seconds in the 40-yard dash, 4.18 seconds in the short shuttle, 6.96 seconds in the 3-cone drill, 21 reps of 225 pounds in the bench press, and 33-inch vertical.

At 6 feet 3 and 243 pounds, he was told he could play outside ’backer in a 3-4, stand-up rusher in a 4-3, and, possibly, middle linebacker, according to agent Kenny Zuckerman.

Zuckerman said 30 NFL teams interviewed Kamalei at the combine.

“He’s a workaholic,” Zuckerman said. “He loves the game. That’s his major. His dream is to do football all day.”

Zuckerman said Kamalei projects to be picked between No. 25 and No. 45 overall. Last year’s 45th pick, inside linebacker Eric Kendricks by the Minnesota Vikings, signed a four-year contract totaling $5,155,920, including a signing bonus of $2,009,760.

Lani said Kamalei made two proposals to her. The first was for her to retire. She said she would consider working just one job.

Lani added: “He said, ‘Mom, I want you to start looking for a place already. I’m tired of you hanging clothes. I want you to have a washer and dryer.’ It’s the simple things that bother him about his mom.”