Stephen Paea

Stephen Paea didn't start playing football until he was a junior in high school, after moving to the United States from Tonga.

(John Kuntz, cleveland.com)

BEREA, Ohio -- Stephen Paea thought his wife, Susannah, was joking when she told him they were having triplets. It was three years ago, while he was still playing for the Bears.

"You find out you have kids, you're excited about it,'' he said. "When you find out you have triplets, that's crazy."

Paea, a twin himself, and Susannah already had a daughter. Now there were three more on the way. It just adds to the long list of people he's playing for as his path through the NFL brings him to Cleveland.

"I do it for my kids, my mom, everyone that first came here, but playing this game of football is bigger than just me,'' he said. "I can't come out here and start complaining about things that don't go my way, because, at the end of the day, it's bigger than me."

It's bigger because it took more than his ability, his drive, his freakish strength to get here. It took a mother who never wavered. A mother willing to take a leap of faith.

"Our focus when we came here, we had a goal, just pursue the American dream," Paea said, "and we never forgot that when we moved here. I'll never forget that."

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Ana Paea had been to the United States before. She and her husband, Ben, met in New Zealand in the 1970s. They decided they wanted to start a life somewhere new, so they moved to American Samoa. From there, they were invited to Hawaii for what is now known as Samoan Flag Day and ended up staying there. That's where Ben Jr., the oldest son, was born.

The family returned to Tonga in 1982 to be closer to Ana's mother, who was living there alone.

Stephen (left) with his twin brother William (center) and youngest brother, Pora.

Stephen is a twin. He and brother William were born in 1988. He's quick to point out that he's the oldest. They were actually born in New Zealand, the reason being that the family was considering returning to where Ana and Ben Sr. met. It never happened. A year later, Pora, the youngest brother was born.

"Stephen and his younger twin, William, and Pora, they were almost like triplets," Ana said. "Pora was growing so fast. He's taller than Stephen and bigger and everything and so they grew up like triplets and they're very, very close."

Stephen was a rugby player, because that's what boys in Tonga play. He played in high school -- that starts in seventh grade in Tonga -- and thought there might be a future in the sport for him.

"I thought it would work out for me growing up, playing the game, I love the game," he said. "It's a lot of running but, back then I was like 220, 230."

That is until his cousin, Chris, came to visit and told Stephen and his brothers about football.

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Chris Maumalanga spent the '90s bouncing around the NFL. He was drafted by the Giants out of the University of Kansas in 1994 and spent time on various NFL rosters, including the Browns, but never made it to the regular season.

Chris was visiting Tonga and he and his friends saw Stephen and his brothers compete during an inter-high school rugby competition, Ana said.

"(Chris and his friends) saw that my boys, they brought home a lot of trophies and medals and they were so impressed that they told Stephen and William that if you come to America, there may be a good chance for you guys to play football," Ana said.

"He said something like all you (have to) do is try to get to the quarterback and get paid," Stephen said.

The problem is, they didn't know anything about football. So they turned to the first place a teenage boy would look.

"Video games,'' Ana said.

The football education was underway. Next came the biggest hurdle.

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Getting the boys to America took some work. Ana had lived here and Ben Jr. had gone to school here and was working in Kansas. The other boys had not. She needed to get them set up in the United States and acquire visas.

First, though, a deal was made.

"Do well in school and I will get you to America," she said.

The boys held up their end of the bargain, so Ana had to hold up hers. She moved to the United States first and took a job in California as a live-in caregiver for the elderly.

She decided, once they arrived, that all four of her sons should be together. She set up an apartment for them in Kansas with Ben Jr., 10 years Stephen's senior, as their guardian.

"Just imagine four brothers living in a house in high school," Stephen said. "No curfews, things like that, if I want to go with my friends, I just go."

Between Ben Jr., Ana and the boys' father, who still supported them even though he was wary of the plan and stayed in Tonga, the boys weren't left wanting.

"We don't have to come home and starve," Stephen said. "Come home, there's always food there. We go to practices, things like that, we come home, there'd be stuff there."

And, of course, there was football. Stephen started playing his junior year in Kansas.

"Chris made football sound easy," Paea said with a laugh, "but it's not. It's not easy to get to the quarterback."

Things weren't easy for Ana, either.

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Ana was alone in California, trying to find ways to make things work four states away from her boys. It was good when she was caring for a client in-home -- she had a bed and a bathroom -- but there were times when she was between clients and didn't have anywhere to sleep. That's when her Dodge Caravan came in handy.

"She couldn't afford to have her own house (in California)," Stephen said. "She had a Caravan. That's her house. She'd pull out the seats and stuff. She sleeps there six hours that she has breaks from work and after that she goes back to work."

Ana worked during the days at a group care facility. It was nights that were a problem.

"I didn't have anywhere to go at night," Ana said. "While I was looking for a job to fill in my night shift, I slept in the parking under the building. I'd go downstairs with my Caravan. I already had a blanket and a little sleeping bag and my pillow and everything in there."

She showered at work and would go into the building at night to use the restroom in the lobby.

Ana almost speaks fondly of the van.

"All the stuff that I owned, I put it in storage, and that's my home, my Dodge Caravan," she said. "I'll never forget. I loved it."

The boys came to visit her once when she was sleeping in the van. They stayed in a motel near where she worked and she explained to them, simply, "Look, this is what I do."

"When I don't have anywhere to sleep, my car is my apartment," she said.

"Those are some sacrifices, things like that that I will never forget," Stephen said. "That's what she did for us, did for me."

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The thing that stands out about Stephen is his strength. During the 2011 NFL Scouting Combine, he set a record with 49 bench press reps at 225 pounds.

Ana believes part of the reason Stephen got into weightlifting was to make up for his lack of football experience.

"It was for his strength to be so outstanding so the coaches will use his strength instead of his experience," she said.

Stephen and Ana in Provo, Utah.

Stephen had his eyes on the combine as early as the end of his senior year in high school. The boys moved to Provo, Utah that year and Stephen played at Timpview High School.

"There was a coach in high school," Stephen said. "That's who was training me coming out of high school. He kept telling me about running the 40-yard dash, 225 (bench press), those are the stuff they're going to test you at the combine. Obviously, I haven't made a scholarship to any schools yet. In the back of my mind, I'm ready for whatever. If I have to take the hard road, I'll take it."

That hard road started at Snow Community College in Ephraim, Utah. Paea redshirted his first year and wasn't even a starter his second year. He was still considered incredibly raw.

"I didn't know what raw means," Ana said. "All I know is raw meat. I didn't know what raw meant regarding football."

Stephen's break came when the coaching staff at Oregon State had their eyes on another player at Snow -- one of the players starting over Stephen. A friend of Stephen's, who had previously transferred from Snow to Oregon State, helped him get noticed.

"Stephen's friend on the team told the coaches, 'Oh no, you've got to watch Paea,'" Ana said.

"We looked at the tape and six plays, that's all it took," Joe Seumalo, then Oregon State's defensive line coach, said in a story on Oregon Live. "Six plays and that was it. He was raw, but we saw that explosiveness. Six plays, and I handed the tape to (defensive coordinator) Mark Banker."

Paea finished his associate degree and transferred to Oregon State in time for the 2008 season. He immediately went from not starting at Snow to starting for the Beavers.

"(Coach) loved my get-off the ball, my skills so he just pretty much (said), 'Here, get off the ball, do that, I'll take care of you,'" Paea said.

His development as a football player continued, too. Ana credits perfectionist tendencies, dating back to his childhood. She noticed the work he was putting in when she visited him in college.

"When I went to Oregon State, he had the playbook, he had little stickers, even in the bathroom, in the doorway, beside his bed, on the head board, everywhere you look, there's plays from their playbook, things that he wants to memorize and learn," she said.

Stephen again benefitted from the opportunity to shine in the shadows of other players. Scouts who were there to watch seniors Victor Butler and Slade Norris, couldn't help but notice Stephen.

"A lot of scouts were watching them," Stephen said. "They keep watching and they see me, my number keeps popping up. When they start seeing that, that's when they start asking Coach about me."

Over three seasons at Oregon State, Paea registered 14 sacks and 29.5 tackles for loss. He was the winner of the Morris Trophy, awarded to the best offensive and defensive lineman in the Pac-12, in 2009 and 2010.

All of it added up to the Bears taking him in the second round of the 2011 draft, 53rd overall.

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The night Stephen got drafted, he was with his mom, his brothers, his new wife, Susannah, and their daughter, Leimana.

"When his name was called and Stephen got up and looked at me with tears in his eyes and he grabbed me and just hugged me, nothing was safe," Ana said. "His brothers were all coming together and we hugged.

"He forgot his wife was sitting there with there with their daughter and he grabbed his wife and their daughter and we all stood there and cried," Ana said.

Then Ana called her adopted brother in Tonga, who called for updates throughout the night.

"As soon as I called him and told him, he jumped up and ran outside and was screaming," she said. "That was awesome. That was really, really awesome."

Stephen spent the first four years of his career in Chicago, totaling 12 sacks and 56 tackles playing mostly nose tackle. He signed with Washington during the 2015 off-season, and things never really took off for him there.

"I felt like they never gave me a fair chance to go out there and prove myself," he said.

His lone season in Washington ended after 11 games when they unexpectedly placed him on injured reserve.

"I thought I was going to be out for one or two weeks and then come back and help the team, knowing we were shooting for the playoffs and stuff," he said.

The Redskins waived him on August 30. Of course, the first person he turned to was Ana.

"I said, 'Good. If you're not playing, why are they keeping you?'" she said.

"I said, Stephen, wherever you go, we came here and I told you that we took a step of faith and God is still leading us," she said. "There's got to be another team, there will be another team that will let you play."

That team was the Cleveland Browns. They signed Paea three days later. Defensive coordinator Ray Horton cited his versatility and, of course, his strength as one of the reasons the Browns liked him.

The day he signed, he tweeted a photo with the caption, "One man's trash is another man's treasure. God is good."

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Ana was actually the first to find out about the triplets.

"(Susannah) texted me from the doctor's office and she said, 'We are having twins.'"

She responded that "she knew it" and was "so excited." And then the next text came.

"She said, 'Uh, I mean triplets.'"

"Part of me is like I've always wanted a big family and I guess my prayers are answered," Stephen said.

The triplets were born while Stephen was still in Chicago and are now three years old. There were two boys, Daniel and Stephen Jr., and a girl, Aulola. His oldest daughter is now six.

Stephen and Ana in February 2016.

"I am so happy with the triplets," Ana said. "They are wonderful kids."

Aulola was named after Stephen's grandmother -- Ana's mother -- who passed away earlier this year. Stephen remembers her for how she always prayed, always gave "the best advice."

"Part of that advice that (my grandmother) always tells me, 'Nothing lasts forever,'" Stephen said. "If you're going through a tough time, just know that it's going to be over soon."

Tough times, like when a mother sleeps in a van trying to support her family, giving them a shot to live their dreams.

"I knew that if your heart is set to do something and you take a step of faith," Ana said, "that's the thing that I told the boys. We came here. We took a step of faith and I prayed and asked God, if this is not going to work, we're going to go back, but if it's his will, I'm sure it's going to work."

She paused on the other end of the phone.

"And it worked."

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