Feature on John Estes

About starting in all 52 games that UH has played in his Warrior career, John Estes said:
"It's just hard work and do what the coaches tell you, that's pretty much all I've been doing. I hate sitting out. If I'm hurt I just learn how to play through it." (HSB)

About how Estes has been able to start despite all the coaching changes at UH, OL coach Gordy Shaw said:
"That pretty much says it all right there. Through time in different situations in the University of Hawaii football program he's been able to adjust to offenses, adjust to different times and remain durable and he's there on Saturday ready to play." (HSB)

About how their turbulent year has made them better and stronger as a team, Estes said:
"This year, this team has gone through a lot of stuff, and it just made us better and stronger as a team and kept it together, because it would have been easy to just pack it up." (HSB)

About starting as a freshman with a veteran OL, including interior linemen Samson Satele and Hercules Satele, Estes said:
"I learned a lot from them, especially those interior guys. My first year I just watched them and just tried to block like them and follow what they did. ... It was just the offensive line tradition that carried on from the older guys to the younger guys." (HSB)

About how he struggled in his first few games as a freshman, Estes said:
"Through those first four or five games, I had to learn a lot. If I knew who I was blocking I'd get it done, but I made a lot of mistakes early." (HSB)

HSB Note: "Estes continued to progress even as he adjusted to an ever-changing line of position coaches, from Wes Suan to Dennis McKnight to Brian Smith and finally Shaw this season. Shaw coached a Rimington Award winner while at Minnesota and saw similarities betweenEstes and Greg Eslinger when he arrived in Manoa for spring practice."

Praising Estes, Shaw said:
"He's everything people told me he was when I got here. He's tremendously reliable, trustworthy, hard-working, all those intangibles that really make a guy a great player instead of just a good player. He doesn't cut corners, he's a good calm leader." (HSB)

About being a leader for their younger offensive linemen, Estes said:
"I try to lead by example and do what's necessary to be a good offensive lineman so the young guys see it and hopefully they can do that for the guys who are coming in." (HSB)

http://www.starbulletin.com/specialprojects/09/football/20091204_The_Rock.html