Quotes from Spring Practice Week 4 Day 3

About Graunke's injury, Siave Seti said:
"It was one of those situations where the motions were all fast. I was playing my drills. I was trying to get through. Unfortunately, my hand was up and it hit Graunke's hand. It was a freak thing. I really felt bad after I saw my picture in The Honolulu Advertiser the next day. Football accidents do happen. Unfortunately, this happened to one of our great players. I'm so sorry. I want to apologize to Graunke." (HA)

"It was just one of those plays, everything was going so fast. I just happened to put my hand up, I was doing the drill, and hit Tyler on the throwing arm. I really feel bad because he's a really good quarterback. I'm really sorry about that and I wanted to apologize to my whole team and apologize to Graunke." (HSB)

HSB Note: "He said defensive coordinator Greg McMackin and Brennan offered some words of encouragement, though he hadn't yet had a chance to talk to Graunke."


About reducing his weight from 320 to 280 when he moved to RB last season, Seti said:
"I did a lot of dieting and running." (HA)


Now up to 290 as a defensive left tackle, Seti said:
"I'm back to eating a lot of vegetables and meat." (HA)


About putting on a wristband with "Shana" marked in black ink to honor Shana Leaupepe, Seti said:
"That was my best friend." (HA)


About how Shana (a LB at NMSU) was killed last July, Seti said:
"He got shot down the street from my house. We used to live in the same area. He lived with my uncle. He was my best friend. He wasn't involved with any gang. It was just a random shooting. He was a humble guy, a hard worker. I think about him every day." (HA)


Considering Sauafea, Tuoti-Mariner, and Kia all to be #1 centers, JJ said:
"We'll go into the fall and sort it out." (HA)


About how he learned from Samson, Kia said:
"I worked a lot with Sam." (HA)


About how many UH offensive linemen work at center before being moved to other positions, Kia said:
"Everything is a lot smoother when you learn the center position. You know what everybody is supposed to do." (HA)


About Kia, JJ said:
"He's doing OK, but he has a way to go at center." (HA)


About the attention he's gotten ever since his big hit on Kepo'o last week, LB Joshua Rice said:
"Everybody has been coming up and saying, 'Good hit.' " But that's in the past." (HA)


About how he leads the crowd at UH softball games, with the football player contingent growing from 6 to 40 players cheering for the softball team, Funaki said:
"It was kind of mellow. We were like, 'Let's hoist this up.' I was trying to teach the guys some of the cheers we used to do back in Kahuku." (HA)


About being the top backup to Colt in practice now that Graunke is hurt, Funaki said:
"You always have to be ready, whether I'm two, three or four. Whenever they need me hopefully I can be ready. I feel I'm getting more comfortable, getting more used to seeing what the defense gives you and being able to react to it." (HSB)

"Just like Coach was saying, I just have to make sure I'm ready because that could happen at any time, in practice or in a game later on in the season. I just have to make sure I'm ready, or whoever is behind (Brennan), so things can keep rolling." (HSB)


About getting more reps in Spring Practice because Colt's workload has been cut back and Graunke is hurt, Funaki said:
"Experience is the best teacher. They're always teaching us stuff in the classroom, showing us video on what to do. But getting out there and making mistakes definitely helps you to learn how to not make the same mistakes. I'm learning and getting more experience. The longer I stay here, the more I see, and the more I see the more I'm able to anticipate things." (HSB)

HSB Note: "Graunke was injured during a drill late in Monday's practice when his throwing hand hit defensive lineman Siave Seti while following through on a pass. An MRI of Graunke's right hand showed there wasn't a break and he'll treat it by resting it for a few weeks."


About how Bess (a QB in high school) played QB for some passing drills, QB coach Dan Morrison said:
"He's been lobbying for a double pass the last two years. He's actually a pretty good thrower." (HSB)