When your grandfather and uncle played football for USC and your father was a Michigan State defensive back, X’s and O’s are part of your DNA.

“Growing up,” said Noa Kamana, a safety for the University of Hawaii football team, “football was in our blood. It was part of our family view.”

That meant family watch parties on Thanksgiving, New Year’s Day and every Sunday through the Super Bowl.

That also meant the Kamana family’s backyards became the playing grounds for cousins and neighborhood kids.

“Growing up in Kaneohe, we had a pretty big yard,” Kamana said. “We played on as big a field as we could play. When we moved to town, our yards were a little bit smaller. Having smaller spaces makes it more contact, harder for the game, but you find a way. You use your imagination. You always find a way to have fun.”

For Kamana, happiness was tackling. “My dad played corner and my older brother played safety,” Kamana said. “It just kind of pushed me to be on the defensive side and hit guys instead of getting hit.”

Kamana remembered the first time he donned full pads for a youth-league game. Even at 7, he recalled thinking , the pads “become a part of you. It’s not like putting on a piece of gear. It’s another piece of you, an extension of your body.”

That day, Kamana made his first tackle, stopping a Hawaii Kai Dolphin. It sparked his passion for defense. His favorite team was the Baltimore Ravens with linebacker Ray Lewis, safety Ed Reed and nose tackle Haloti Ngata. “Best defense that ever played,” he said.

“I’ve always been more of an aggressive guy, Kamana added. “I’ve always wanted to be the one putting guys on the ground. … To me, that’s football.”

That physical play transcended to backyard games. “It could get a little aggressive, but at the end of the day, it’s all about love,” said Kamana, who often competed against his brothers. “You might go to sleep hating on each other because somebody knocks you down, but that’s the way it was. Brotherly love.”

Kamana, who did not receive any Division I offers as a Punahou School senior, attended Pacific University in Oregon as a freshman in 2018. While he liked the program, he missed Hawaii. He transferred to UH, then asked the Rainbow Warriors coaches if he could join as a walk-on. “Thankfully, they gave me a chance,” Kamana said.

His first three UH seasons, he played in 36 of 37 games. He was the guard on punt protection, a rusher or hold-up guard on punt returns, an inside gunner on kickoffs, and a guard/tackle on kick returns. “You’re moving backward when guys are coming at you full-speed,” Kamana said of his role on kick returns. “You’ve got to block ’em, get your body in front of ’em. You’re putting your body on the line for the team, for the returner.”

Kamana’s special-teams play was acknowledged when he was awarded a scholarship last year. He also moved from linebacker to boundary safety. When Jacob Yoro was promoted to defensive coordinator in January, he implemented a scheme that matched Kamana’s toughness, change-of-direction quickness and play recognition.

Kamana, who is 6 feet 1, dropped 10 pounds — he weighs 195 — and increased his speed. He reached his goal of clocking under a second in the “flying 10,” which times the final 10 yards of a 40-yard sprint. He was timed at 0.98 and 0.99. This training camp, Kamana and Leonard Lee have been practicing as the starting safeties.

“Right now, it’s our position to lose,” Kamana said. “There’s still open competition, and these young guys are challenging us. But I believe in my talents, and I believe in the hard work I put in, and I believe the coaches trust me to get the job done. It’s up to me to keep my spot. If I lose it, I lose it. It’s all in my hands if I don’t mess up and just do my job.”