It's not often that an NFL player's voicemail starts out off with "Aloha" and ends with "Mahalo," but it shouldn't be surprising in the case of Corey Paredes.
He is one of two former University of Hawaii linebackers who have signed with the Vikings since the start of the calendar year.
When the Vikings drafted USC's Rhett Ellison in the fourth round, he and Matt Kalil became the first of what would be a trend of college teammates following each other to the Vikings over draft weekend. Six picks after the Ellison selection, Greg Childs joined Jarius Wright as Arkansas receivers ready to become Vikings. The teammates theme continued with Minnesota's fifth-round pick, Robert Blanton. He joined first-round safety Harrison Smith as defensive backs from Notre Dame switching the Golden Dome for the purple and gold.
But once the seven-round draft was done, the Vikings' draft weekend reunions weren't quite finished. Within hours of the completion of the draft, Paredes had agreed to terms with Minnesota, where he would join fellow former Rainbow Warrior Solomon Elimimian. The latter isn't a rookie in the truest form, having played in two preseason games with the Buffalo Bills in 2009 before his release from the Bills and NFL and eventual journey through the Canadian Football League.
"It's really cool how that kind of stuff works. It just shows how small the world is and where this business can take you. It's cool," Paredes said. "Solomon was a senior when I was over there at the University of Hawaii. I was his locker buddy. I came in and had a locker right next to him and was kind of his backup. He's a good football player. He did his thing up in Canada. I think he had two years in a row as defensive MVP. It's pretty cool playing for the University of Hawaii and making the next level and then having him right there next to me."
Elimimian made the most of his time in the CFL, leading the BC Lions with 77 tackles, was second on the team with five sacks and earned the CFL Hardest Hitter Award and CFL Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2010. Last year was essentially a repeat, earning the Hardest Hitter Award once again, leading the Lions with 98 tackles (second in the CFL) and helping them to the Grey Cup Championship with six tackles in the title game.
"He's a quick, agile guy," Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier said. "He has that short, stocky build, but he packs a punch and he was one of the top tacklers in the Canadian Football League. His quickness and ability to dissect plays got our attention."
Paredes also credited Elimimian's instincts as one of his strong suits on the field. Elimimian, a strong Christian, said every player is blessed with different gifts. His instincts are a combination of natural intuition and a desire to get better through film work.
But his path to NFL took a sharp detour north and it wasn't something he was initially thrilled about.
"Going to the CFL was one of the hardest things that I had to do, but I would say the most beneficial thing that I did in terms of maturing me – in terms of a man. Living in a different country, it was tough. It had its different challenges," Elimimian said. "Also, football-wise, just expanding your football knowledge, learning different things about football. It's the same game, but also a different game. That matured me, but also and most importantly, I would say spiritually. I've always been a man of faith, but definitely those years in Canada and playing in the CFL, my faith has increased. Just overall my faith in Christ increased, just knowing that he had a plan for my life.
"A lot of time, being in America, you want to play in the National Football League and that's your mindset. Going to Canada it was tough because, in a sense, I wanted to play in the NFL and I didn't want to go to Canada. But realizing this was what God had for me and this was part of my journey, I had to go and I went and it was awesome. It was one of the best two years of my life. … The game was fun. I had a great time playing up there. I definitely matured my football knowledge. It's a bigger field. It's still physical also."
With a lack of experienced depth at linebacker in Minnesota, Elimimian could have a chance to earn a role on the team's defense. He was the first-team weakside linebacker in the Vikings' rookie minicamp and is expected in training camp to get work at strongside linebacker and at weakside linebacker behind Erin Henderson, who had his first season as a starter in 2011 and is on a one-year contract with the Vikings.
After conducting a workout with him, the Vikings were convinced he would have a chance to help them and signed him to a two-year deal. Other teams were showing interest, but Elimimian and his agent saw opportunity to carve out a career in Minnesota.
"Our scouts were the ones that really talked to us about him, and then of course we brought him in and worked him out. Our coaches thought he had a chance to give us a good chance in training camp," Frazier said. "We will see how he does, but what he did in the workout is what impressed us.
In his senior season at Hawaii, Elimimian was named the Western Athletic Conference co-Defensive Player of the Year, and the Vikings found good success with one of the other two former Rainbow Warriors to earn that honor – Al Noga, a star defensive lineman for Minnesota in the 1980s.
Elimimian finished his career at Hawaii as the school's all-time leading tackler with 434. Paredes finished his career at Hawaii three years later and was seventh on the Rainbow Warriors' all-time tackles list.
Where Elimimian led Hawaii with 121 tackles in his senior season (2009) and 145 as a junior (2008), Paredes led the team with 107 as a senior (2011) and 151 as junior (2010), the second-highest single-season total in school history. Between the two of them, the Vikings now have Hawaii's leading tackler in four of the last five seasons.
"I didn't even think about that. That is pretty strange and pretty cool how that worked out," Paredes said. "The leading tacklers end up on the same team. That's a testimony to the Vikings coaches. I guess they like swarming defensive players that try and make plays on the ball and I think it shows how hard Sollie and I have worked in the past to help our teams win."
There are differences between the two of them. Elimimian is about 2 inches taller, three years older and faster. Paredes is expected to be more of a middle linebacker prospect while Elimimian is more an outside option with football bloodlines. His brother Abraham played in NFL Europe and had two NFL offseasons with the San Diego Chargers and Chicago Bears before working as a graduate assistant at SMU and now Washington State.
What they have in common, though, is tackling production and prowess in Hawaii's system, despite both of them being a bit undersized by NFL linebacker standards.
"Being undersized, there are guys that do great. That's just the mentality you've got to have," Paredes said. "You can't let a measurable hold you back from what you want to do if you want to do it bad enough, no matter what your limitations are."
The coming months will determine further differences between them for Vikings coaches, but, though it's unlikely they will both make the final roster, there could be a chance one of them is saying "Aloha" to a Vikings uniform on opening weekend.
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