First, let me know what you’re doing with yourself now and how you got involved in that?
After the NFL, I was in a ministry in Seattle but I could sense my time was coming to an end there. I figured I’d just go back into the workforce. It was nothing bad – just sometimes God moves you on to other things. I let the pastor know – he didn’t understand, but I knew it was the right thing.
An idea came to me after that – one my wife and I thought of originally when we were in Idaho 15 years before. It was to work with student athletes. They had a higher level of expectations on them because they had to perform on the field and in the classroom.
My wife and I wrote down some notes on the idea and talked to the schools and pastors in the community to see what resources were available to these kids – many of who had difficult backgrounds. But after a few months we looked at each other and thought – there were so many resources available to them – what could we do?
I was coaching at the time a bit, and one of the students was struggling in school and was about to be expelled. He wasn’t attending school and was failing a lot of his classes. His stepmother it turns out was abusive and was put in jail, and his father was still trying to get his visa – he lived in Samoa. He was put in foster care and in group homes – it wasn’t a good situation.
I got a call from a truancy officer asking for help with him – he had to go to school for seven straight days or be expelled. Well, his father had arrived and wanted to see his wife in jail and didn’t want to take him, so I asked the officer if I could take could have the kid stay with me. When I said that – I asked her – am I actually allowed to do that? She said I could if the father agreed, which he did. He stayed with us that weekend, which then turned into the Summer – we even took him with us back home to Hawaii. He caught up on his work – even took classes online and went back to his dad afterwards.
But the next year his grades starting slipping again his dad just had too much on his plate. So we asked the dad if he could stay with us -and he said yes. He turned things around and his GPA ended up being around a 3.7.
So we became like family to him, and then others in the community had the same need, so we did the same for other kids,. Since this started about five yeas ago, we’ve now had 25-30 kids stay with us – some for weekends, some for years. We’ve become like family to the community here in Rangor Beach and train them, tutor them, even take them to the beach to train in the soft sand there.
You said you also did some coaching – any coaching influences shape the way you work with the kids now?
I did some coaching – I don’t coach a specific position – I’m more a coach for the coaches. I’ve taken the good from all the coaches I’ve had and used that I guess.
Even in the short time when I was in Pittsburgh, I learned things from Chuck Noll. We weren’t a good team then – when I got there Webster had dislocated his elbow. But Chuck told us that if each one of us improved a little bit, we’d collectively get much better as a team. I liked that – he wasn’t a rah rah guy which I liked. I figured if I needed to be motivated I shouldn’t be there!
How did you end up in Pittsburgh?
I only played five games in Pittsburgh – my fifth game I tore my ACL and LCL – my ACL was almost torn completely off.
In Seattle my wife and I were pregnant with our third child when everything changed and Seattle let me go. It wasn’t on the horizon – it was very unexpected. The guy who told me said it was a surprise to him as well – that he didn’t think I’d be one of the guys to go – but that the coach told him to have me bring in my playbook and that was it. I guess he just wanted a change.
I tried out with the Steelers after that. I was getting ready to take a flight to New York to work out for the Giants when the Steelers called and offered me a contract. It was about an hour before the flight was supposed to take off.
Any of those Steelers players take you under their wing at all?
Not really. What I do remember is the young guys wanting me to go out and party with them. I was a married man and it wasn’t a good atmosphere for me to go out and party with them. Not that they were doing something wrong, just it wasn’t my thing anymore. I came into the league married and had my first child in my first training camp. So I looked at life a little differently.
How was your experience in Pittsburgh, albeit limited?
My first game I played it was against my former team – it was like playing with family. We got smoked – but it was fun. I played 20 or so snaps that game despite only starting to practice with them the Monday before the game. There was no badgering me by the Seattle guys- just a lot of mutual respect.
When I got to Pittsburgh, I came in at night through the Fort Pitt tunnel. I was thinking about steel mills and expecting a smoky city – I had a completely wrong idea of the city. It was amazing coming in and seeing all of the lights – it was beautiful.
If I wasn’t from Hawaii I could have stayed and lived in Pittsburgh. I loved the community – it was a big city but it felt like a country town. People were friendly – I knew I made the right choice signing with the Steelers. Even though the Giants ended up winning the Super Bowl that year!
Obviously faith plays a big part in who you are. Was that the case when you played in the NFL – and how?
To be honest, my wife and I became Christians the year before we came to Pittsburgh, in 1985. What drove me before Pittsburgh was anger and rage. Before every game it was easy to get ready because of the rage I had. My dad died at an early age – he was awesome but he got sick when I was young. My mother took him to a clinic a couple of times and they just said he had the flu or something like that. The third time she took him to the hospital and they admitted him right away. We took him in on Good Friday and he died Easter Sunday. We just thought he was sick. So that’s what drove me – the anger – and I was extremely driven.
My wife and I went to Bible study in 1985 and that’s when I saw the truth – and it did set me free. The anger and rage was always there before games – but after I accepted the Lord, that next game I didn’t have that rage any more. I was freed of that. It had always been there before – since I was 11 years old. Everything changed after my father died – we moved three months later and my mother worked so there was no one home – I became a true latchkey kid. My grades slipped and I buried myself in sports. The thing that saved me then was getting into a private school. That saved me – the rest is history.
Last thoughts on your time in Pittsburgh?
I just am thankful for the opportunity the team gave me to have a second chance and to the city for supporting me and my family. They welcomed me. My English wasn’t very good then – you can still hear the accent. But they never said anything – they always made me feel welcomed!
Read more by former Steelers via the book Steelers Takeaways: Player Memories Through the Decades. To order, just click on the book:
