Quotes from 12/24

About how they are not too tight, GM said:
"One thing's sure. We're not too tight." (HSB)

About their fun final home practice, Colt said:
"I felt like we all came out here pretty sharp. I thought we looked great and the team has a great vibe to it right now. It was a great way to end the week." (HSB)

About the unusual schedule with 7 straight practice days, JJ said:
"It's a little bit different. I was a little worried if we'd keep the focus going for seven days in a row with a high level of practice. But we had good practices all seven days. They really did a nice job." (HSB)

HSB Note: "Offensive lineman Aaron Kia, linebacker Brad Kalilimoku and defensive lineman David Veikune were minus pads yesterday, but all are expected back in New Orleans. Safety Keao Monteilh's situation is iffy. He hasn't had any live-fire exercise since his shoulder blade fracture forced him to the sideline the last four games of the season. Slotbacks Ryan Grice-Mullins (ribs) and Davone Bess (shin) ramped up their participation."

About the craziness at their Saturday signing event, JJ said:
"It was still a positive. You can't make everybody happy." (HSB)

About how he has to pick his agent soon, Colt said:
"The wheels are already turning and I'm already trying to meet with people and figure out what I'm going to do after that last game. I'm coming back to Hawaii after the game, but I have to get ready for the next step. That's a lot of pressure and a lot of things to think about right now. You just have to focus on what's right in front of you and that's the bowl game. And I'm looking forward to come back to the island with a victory." (HSB)

About how some of their less experienced players did really well with the practice time they got this past week, Colt said:
"I like (receivers) Mike Washington and Greg Salas and, well, Aaron Bain, I think of more as a veteran guy, he's played a lot. Those guys had a great week of practice. Tremendous week of practice. Mike Washington really stands out. He just came out and killed it all week. It's neat to watch him grow. Those three guys really stepped in and did a great job this week. On the defensive side (this past week), I think of guys like (safety) Erik Robinson. (End) John Fonoti, but he's always been a baller." (HSB)

HSB Note: "UH athletic director Herman Frazier said "no one will be displaced," when asked earlier in the week if any players, other team personnel, band members, cheerleaders or dancers would be bumped from the trip for other people who won't be working. Five players aren't going at UH's expense, due to NCAA eligibility rules. They are transfers sitting out the required year.

Frazier said there had been consideration given to a plan that would mean a total of seven people from the band and cheer and dance squads would be left back, but that plan was scrapped and none of those support groups would be hit. Also, information had surfaced that friends of athletic department staff and their children would be making the trip, at the university's expense. Frazier said there are some significant others and children of staff on the manifest at UH's expense. He said that is normal bowl game procedure. Frazier has a news conference scheduled today to address this subject, as well as questions about the Sugar Bowl finances."


About their final home practice of the year, GM (who was wearing slippers, something probably no mainland coach wears during practice in December!) said:
"Nobody does what this team does. It's a loose, fun group. But then they get their game faces on, and then they go to battle." (HA)

HA Note: "It started with an enthusiastic rendition of "We Wish You A Merry Christmas," proceeded to a battle of chants and, two hours later, finished with a relay race. The final home practice of the year was befitting of a unique Hawai'i football team."

HA Note: "In the final practice period, a challenge was set up between the offense and defense. Three players were picked per side, with each having to sprint 55 yards. The defense won when cornerback Ryan Keomaka overtook running back Daniel Libre on the final 30 yards and sprinted across the finish line. Keomaka was hoisted in the mosh pit of defensive players."

About how he passed Libre on the sprint, Ryan Keomaka said:
"It's all good fun. (Libre) had a head start, but I opened up the strides, man." (HA)

About how he didn't want to run in the sprint, Libre said:
"I told them I didn't want to run because my hips were bothering me since (the) Washington (game). They made me run it, anyway. I told them I didn't want to (run anchor), and they made me. I wasn't guaranteeing anything from the get-go." (HA)

About how he met his Warrior teammates for the first time on the grass practice field 29 months ago, Colt said:
"It's amazing. It's crazy how fast time flies. You don't think about it, and now it's my last day. It's crazy walking off the field like this. That's the best part of living life — growing up and moving on." (HA)

Since he graduated last week, Colt thought this past week:
"was going to be the most relaxing week with no school. Just play football, and have the rest of the day off." (HA)

HA Note: "But Brennan spent the week practicing, signing autographs, attending meetings, and signing more autographs."

Sounding worn down by the autograph requests, Colt said:
"This was the hardest week I had all year." (HA)

"It's been crazy. I thought this week would be the most relaxing week. I'd get to come to practice in the morning, relax and enjoy myself. But it's been pretty hectic, pretty crazy. By far the most hectic week of the year when it was supposed to be the most relaxing week. I'm just glad it's over. I'm glad we can go down there and focus on the football game." (HSB)

HA Note: "Although he enjoys signing autographs and interacting with fans, the demand has been overwhelming. After one appointment, he showed up late to the team breakfast only to discover empty trays."

About the time demands for autographs took away his whole last week in Hawaii, Colt said:
"It took away my whole last week in Hawai'i. I feel like I've signed autographs every day for everyone. I'd love to be able to accommodate everybody. I just don't have an hour to give to everyone. I just don't have it, and that's what everyone expects me to give. But it's part of the position. It's being done because you've accomplished something great and they want to acknowledge you." (HA)

Colt said that his time in Hawaii has:
"been a great ride. I don't look at it as ending. I look at it as years to come, being here, doing things, doing things for the program. I don't see it ending." (HA)

About how he aggravated his knee injury in Friday's practice but the MRI didn't show anything serious, Fale Laeli said:
"It's minor. I knew it wasn't going to be serious. I knew my tendinitis was acting up. I have to rest it and do rehab on it." (HA)


About all of the fans at Aloha Stadium wearing clothes and saying that they believed, Solomon Elimimian said:
"Believe what? Believe in who?" (HA)

HA Note: "They are True Believers, these 2007 Warriors. From head coach June Jones to Heisman finalist Colt Brennan to the unrecognized contributors who man the scout team, they are bonded not just by the goals they have set, the hours of toil and preparation they have invested to achieve them, and the perfect season that has been its vindication, but by a shared belief in the power of religious faith."

About their team, JJ said:
"We just happen to have a lot of Christian guys on this team, but we also have a lot of guys of all kinds of faiths. The principles of love and sacrifice are what really bond them together." (HA)

About how the team tries to set an example of faith, Keala Watson said:
"You can see it before and after every practice and every game. We pray and give glory to the one who makes it all possible for us. This team acts as a beacon of faith. We're an example of what can happen when you put your faith in God." (HA)

HA Note: "In the Watson household, religious faith was the breath and bread of everyday life. Growing up in Nanakuli, Watson followed along as his family attended church, observed regular family devotion days, and bowed their heads in daily prayer."

About how he was raised with the church, Watson said:
"I was immersed in it as a young child, and it's stayed with me. As an adult, I want to pass that along to my nieces and nephews, and hopefully to my own kids someday." (HA)

HA Note: "Watson said his faith saved him during his freshman year when Von Willebrand disorder, a rare condition similar to hemophilia, threatened to end his football career. Watson redshirted that year, unsure if he would ever return as doctor after doctor delivered negative prognoses."

About how he lost his faith when he was unsure if he would ever be able to play college football, Watson said:
"I thought my career was down the drain. I felt there was no hope for me and I kind of lost focus on what God had planned for me. It was all about what I wanted. But once I let him take control of my life again, he put everything back together." (HA)

HA Note: "With the help of a new doctor, who found a way to treat the condition with daily medication, Watson made his way back to the team and has become a rising force within the defensive unit. Watson serves as an assistant pastor at Kahikolu Baptist Church in Wai'anae. In the Warrior locker room, it's Watson to whom teammates often turn for religious support and guidance."

About how he brought a dozen teammates to pray for Vaughn Meatoga's mother when she was hospitalized, Watson said:
"Our belief carries on to each of our lives. When (Meatoga's) mother passed, there were a lot of guys around to help lift him up. It was devastating for him, but he's doing better. There's a lot of love on this team." (HA)

About how he grew up in a Christian household, Desmond Thomas said:
"That was one of the reasons my mom wanted me to come here. We have coaches who are Christians and believe in God. She loved that about this school. Love, belief, faith — those words characterize the whole team." (HA)

HA Note: "But despite his upbringing, Thomas said his religious faith had yet to blossom when he arrived on the Manoa campus. He was, in his own words, "just out there in the world doing my own thing." And it wasn't working. A standout safety and wide receiver at Vallejo High School in California, Thomas redshirted the 2004 season and saw action in just one game the following season. Frustrated at his lack of progress and opportunity, Thomas was considering transferring schools as he sat outside the Stan Sheriff Center one afternoon."

About what happened that day as he considered transferring, Desmond said:
"And God sent somebody to talk to me — a homeless man. He told me that great things are headed in my direction if I turn away from my evil ways and turn to God. It broke me. I was upset because I had always thought of myself as a player, and I wasn't playing. Then God snatched me up and I humbled myself." (HA)

HA Note: "Thomas put aside thoughts of transferring and eventually found his opportunity away from the offense. As a sophomore, he played all 14 games in the defensive backfield and on special teams. This season, Thomas replaced Kaeo Monteilh as starting safety after Monteilh was lost for the season with a fractured left scapula."

About how his faith grew after he joined the Warriors, Jake Patek said:
"When I got here, I was a Christian but I was doing my own thing. It was tough being so far away from home and trying to battle through things." (HA)

HA Note: "Though embraced by his teammates and respected by his coaches for the defensive skills he possessed and the ferocity with which he applied them, Patek felt unmoored. For all of the power and determination he exhibited on the field, the displaced Texan found himself lonely and homesick in his private moments. In retrospect, Patek said, it was the first step in kindling the religious faith that had laid dry within him."

About the faith that he found in Hawaii, Patek said:
"The Lord brought me out to this island, took me away from everything I had back at home, and broke me. There were times I'd break down crying and allow the Lord to work on me." (HA)

About being blessed with the chance to play football, Patek said:
"No matter what happens, whether we win or lose, we give God his glory because he's blessed us with the opportunity to play the game of football, where other people might not have that opportunity." (HA)

About how he had to adjust to being on the bench in Hawaii, Hawthorne said:
"Back home, I was the star. I was the man. Then I came here and for the first time in my life I had to take the bench. It was real hard. The biggest test was learning not to get jealous or bitter about things." (HA)

About adjusting to life off the field in Hawaii, Hawthorne said:
"In Mississippi, I was so comfortable and I was in the same rut of doing whatever, seeing the same guys and wanting to go out. It took getting out here and getting along by myself to realize I'm better than that. I was playing Division I football and I was poor, lonely, depressed in my room. I knew there had to be something bigger than this." (HA)

About how he learned humility through a deepening of his faith, Hawthorne said:
"Humility is an amazing thing. Look at almost every championship team. Even if they fail to acknowledge God, you definitely see a humility and an ability to do something for one another, even when it's something you don't want to do. As a team, our faith has allowed us to humble ourselves and become even closer as a unit." (HA)

About how he sees proclimations of people's belief in the Warriors, Elimimian said:
"I look around and I see 'Believe, believe.' But what do they mean? If they believe in us, that's a start, but that's not what it's really about. When we win, it's not about us, it's about getting people saved. Our going 12-0 isn't about us, it's about the glory of God and getting people to acknowledge that God is our savior." (HA)

HA Note: "Salvation. Glory. Savior. Words that might chill a more secular room flow freely from Elimimian's lips because in this athletic facility, in the penultimate moment of this most stirring of seasons, it is safe to speak the language of faith. To be sure, not every Warrior is as deeply religious as Elimimian or Hawthorne or Thomas. Yet, whatever their faith or belief or opinion, there is permeating the team a feeling that what they've achieved this season resonates beyond the obvious."

About how there are so many stories behind how their team came together, Elimimian said:
"You look at all the guys that people in Hawai'i look up to — Colt, Davone (Bess), C.J., Adam Leonard — and each one has a story about how they got here. Colt had a long path from high school just to get here. Davone, too. My brother (all-WAC cornerback Abraham Elimimian) could have gone somewhere else but all the big schools dropped him when he hurt his ACL (anterior cruciate ligament). He was an instrument for me being here because if he hadn't come, I probably would not have either.

You look at our Polynesian guys — guys like Timo Paepule, Michael Lafaele, Hercules Satele, Karl Noa, who give hope to kids in Hawai'i because they're so strong in their faith — they all have their stories, too. We all had long paths to get here. God put everything together, all these different pieces from different walks of life. God put us in the Sugar Bowl as the only 12-0 team to touch the nation and let people know the plan and the mercy that God has for us." (HA)

About the platform they have to spread their faith, Hawthorne said:
"A lot of people think you can only preach from the pulpit, but there are a lot of platforms. We are each here for God to show that it's possible to love one another. It's not about being all religious, it's about loving each other." (HA)