Sorry for the pun!!!
Weber Gets Linebacker with Utah Ties
Sione Havili's circular story hasn't come around fully, not yet, but it is carving through the last bend with a grin on its face. It is a sobering-and-satisfying ring of good news and good hope. Redemption is well within reach, even when the mistake is major and some on the outside are unwilling to believe, unable to find faith in a reformed convicted felon who once fire-bombed a house. At one lowly juncture, belief in himself was an almost solitary pursuit. It was the only lifeline Havili could grab. Now, the nonbelievers are tough to find. The 6-foot-2, 250-pound linebacker-defensive end-running back is returning home to play football for the man for whom he always wanted to play, for whom administrators once wouldn't let him play, for the coach who visited him every month for the seven Havili was in the Salt Lake County jail after pleading guilty to first-degree felony arson. After graduating in human development in May, as a first-team all-academic player in the Big 12, Havili will transfer from Texas Tech to Weber State to complete his eligibility by playing his senior year for Ron McBride. Thereafter, he plans to either pursue pro football or attend law school, or, maybe, both. "Sione will help us immediately with his talent and his leadership," says McBride, the former University of Utah coach who recently took the Weber job. "I've invested a lot of time with him, so there's no better feeling than to have him play for me. I'm proud of him. He's handled his problems very well. He's struggled through a lot of stuff, and he's done what he had to do to be successful." The struggles are no secret. A few months after graduating from East High School in 1998, on a fateful fall night, Havili, while watching a college football game on television at his grandmother's house in Glendale, heard gunshots blasted into the home of a neighboring family. He and a group of other men retaliated for the drive-by shooting by lobbing milk jugs full of gasoline into a Salt Lake City house. The home, which was empty at the time, burned to the ground. So did Havili's life. In the ashy consequences and aftermath, he was called back from serving an LDS Church mission in New York City, and submitted his guilty plea to the court. In December 2001, he was released from jail, determined to redirect his path. "I had a lot of time to think about my mistake," he says. "I looked ahead to living right." He has. Havili finished his church mission in Utah. He volunteered as a coach at Cottonwood High School. He married his wife, Lyni. He enrolled at Utah and earned a B-plus grade average for multiple semesters. He transformed his life. He also worked out over the offseason with prospective teammates at Utah, aiming for a scholarship there. Havili had been recruited, coming out of high school, by schools such as BYU, Utah, Washington and Cal. Despite securing endorsements from court and law officials, educators, religious leaders, among others, including nearly the entire Utah football team, which sent a signed letter by players to then-school president Bernie Machen and athletic director Chris Hill, those administrators rejected Havili's petition to join the team. At that time, team leaders Morgan Scalley and Sione Pouha aggressively vouched and campaigned on behalf of Havili. "You look at what he's done to turn things around," Scalley said. "He's trying to show people he's truly sorry. Everything he stands for, we admire . . . He's done so much, everything he could, to right his wrong." Added Pouha: "What kind of success story would this be, coming back from what he's done and making things better? Everybody wishes for a better world. Well, that's what Sione represents." Hill didn't buy it, saying that permitting Havili to play "was not in the best interests of the university." So, Havili found his trailhead back to an education and football at a JC in Los Angeles. After enrolling at El Camino College, he earned decent grades in the classroom and picked up big yardage on offense and gained acclaim as a run-stopper at linebacker. He eventually signed with Texas Tech, where he met with administrators and discussed his past, and they gave Havili their full support. He stayed for two seasons, playing six different positions, mostly on defense, but he always yearned to get a real shot at his favorite - running back. With the Red Raiders' wide-open offense, a big back wasn't a high priority. After McBride was hired in Ogden, Havili approached Tech coach Mike Leach, asking for and, he says, gaining a release to play out his college career for the Division I-AA Wildcats. "When my friends told me Mac was taking the Weber State job, it was a no-brainer," says Havili. "Words can't explain how I feel about coach Mac. After everything that happened, he showed a loyalty to me. He stuck his neck out for me. I'm just excited to play for him. I'm excited to be able to run the ball, again. It's great. It's an avenue for me to prove what I can do." That much, the reformed man's already done.
