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On Friday, he showed he’s still full of surprises.

De Laura returned to Tucson this weekend as the starting quarterback for the Vegas Knight Hawks, who were set to face the Green Bay Blizzard in the IFL Championship Game Saturday night at Tucson Arena.

Asked to sum up his journey as a football player — which has been filled with ups and downs on and off the field — de Laura compared it to “The Wizard of Oz.�

“You go through crazy stuff on the road, but sooner or later you’re gonna get there,� de Laura said. “You run into some crazy things. You meet some crazy friends. But the friends you meet along the way? You can take them with you to the end.�

De Laura is following the yellow brick road to redemption. Or at least self-improvement.

After transferring out of ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥, signing with and withdrawing from Texas State, turning pro and getting released by the UFL’s San Antonio Brahmas, de Laura spent about a year away from football. He clicked his cleats together three times and went back home to Hawaii.

De Laura spent much of that time reconnecting with his family. He trained younger brother Jaysen, a one-time college wide receiver who’s plotting a comeback. He coached youngest brother Jayxen’s middle-school basketball team.

Jayden also hung out with his nieces and his “little cousins.�

“We’d go out, go to the park, mess around, go to the beach,� de Laura said. “I’m pretty much the one that throws everybody in the car and tells them, ‘Let’s go do something today.’�

It sounds idyllic. It was undoubtedly therapeutic. But de Laura couldn’t completely escape his former life as a high-profile college quarterback.

“There’s always pressure,� he said. “That question of, ‘What are you doing? What’s next? Why are you home?’ I heard that so much.�

De Laura would respond candidly.

“I don’t know what’s next,� he’d say. “I wish I had the answer.�

Returning to football

De Laura came to realize that, at the very least, he couldn’t “go back there again — into that mental state.�

The state of football limbo de Laura found himself in during the spring of 2024 was “rough,� he said. He “shut down� after being let go by the Brahmas. He felt compelled to step away.

De Laura said he had an opportunity to play for the Tucson Sugar Skulls last year. The Knight Hawks were interested as well — after de Laura’s coach and advocate at ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥, Jedd Fisch, reached out to Vegas general manager/head coach Mike Davis.

De Laura didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life at that point. He also didn’t want to join a team in the middle of a season.

So Hawaii it was. The park. The beach. Family time.

Introspection, too.

De Laura missed the game — but more so the people.

“That locker-room relationship, you can’t remake that anywhere,� he said. “You meet guys from all over the world. We’ve got a kicker (Ben Derby) that’s never played football before. Just the relationships, the bonds we create, it’s unmatchable.�

De Laura’s girlfriend urged him to give football another shot.

“You still got years to play,� she said, per de Laura, “so you might as well play until you can’t play no more.�

Younger brother Jaysen told him: “Don’t come back home until you finish what has to be done.�

De Laura talked to Davis again. Even though Vegas had the in Ja’Rome Johnson, Davis wanted to add de Laura to the QB room. De Laura was ready to return.

Reckoning with his past

Signing de Laura wasn’t a standard transaction. He had a checkered past that needed to be investigated.

De Laura was arrested on a DUI charge while at Washington State and was suspended from the team. .

In May 2023, between his first and second seasons at ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥, de Laura’s name surfaced in the settlement of a sexual-assault case in 2018. He was accused of assaulting a 17-year-old girl while he was in high school.

I don’t wish in any way to diminish the seriousness of that situation, which always will be part of de Laura’s story. It resurfaced when he signed with Texas State, and led to his departure from the school just a week later.

“Everybody deserves a second chance,� said Davis, who insists that he vetted de Laura thoroughly.

“I’m putting my neck on the line to help these guys get to the CFL and the UFL. If I don’t know the background and somebody asks me about it, I don’t want to be blindsided.

“We talked, and he was very forthcoming (about) everything.�

I covered de Laura for two seasons. We talked to him for about 15 minutes Friday afternoon. I can’t tell you whether he’s a good person or a bad person. Those terms are too black and white anyway.

De Laura did seem sincere when discussing his personal growth. He’s striving to be a better person.

He remains friends with one of the best dudes on the planet, Noah Fifita, with whom de Laura swapped roles during the 2023 season. By all accounts, de Laura handled that situation like a pro, casting his ego aside while Fifita led the ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ to a season-ending seven-game winning streak.

“He’s always been a kind of big brother to me,â€� said Fifita, who met up with de Laura during ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥â€™s practice Thursday night. “He’s always been a mentor for me when I was his backup. And when I was playing, he was right there behind me, helping me every step of the way.â€�

Fifita couldn’t attend the IFL Championship because ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ had a mock game scheduled for Saturday night. De Laura entered the contest with a 34-3 touchdown-to-interception ratio. He could get another shot at the UFL, or maybe the CFL.

Ultimately, though, de Laura wants to become a coach. He felt like one while serving as Fifita’s backup. De Laura views that vocation as his calling — his chance to give back.

The mistakes he’s made might give a college athletic director or high school principal pause. They also enable him to empathize with a kid or young adult who’s going through their own troubles.

“I feel like I can help with a lot of life lessons, not just with football,� de Laura said. “Off-the-field stuff and things that are not being taught in school, that should be taught.

“I’m an open book. If people want to have a conversation with me, a deep conversation, we can sit down and have a deep conversation.�

De Laura’s desired destination — his version of Oz — could be years away. He just turned 24.

For now, the journey continues.