Vili Fehoko was not going to buy a new truck any time soon, even thoughhis sons complained about how cramped they were in the family's tiny,two-door Nissan Frontier.
For a Tongan-Fijian family known forits physical size, the drives were never comfortable, but that doesn'tmean Texas Tech linebacker Sam Fehoko forgot about them.
"Canyou imagine five big human beings in a small truck?" he said. "There'dbe some good times though. We'd just go ahead and make fun of eachother."
Vili could have bought a more spacious family vehicle,but it wasn't about that. It was about valuing family, and that means alot to the Fehokos. When his boys asked why he didn't buy a new car orSUV, his answer was simple.
"This is what brings our family closer together," he would say.
Vili,a 5-foot-11, 320-pound entertainer who performs at University of Hawaiifootball and volleyball games, has himself and family genes to thankfor the size of his children. Maybe if he didn't put them throughrigorous workouts at a young age, there would have been more room tospare in the truck.
But then again, they asked for it.
OneSunday, when Sam was in elementary school, Vili asked him, his olderbrother Whitley, and his younger brother VJ, what they wanted to dowith their lives. They all said they wanted to play football in hopesof reaching the NFL someday.
Sam said it was like signing acontract. The training was constant and extremely challenging. All thewhile, Vili smiled from ear to ear.
"We do kind of crazyworkouts to gain strength," Vili said. "We do things out of this world,even at a young age I make them pull cars. I wanted to train my boysdifferent from how people train them.
"I always tell them, we'regonna do this the way nobody does it. I tell them, 'Champions, they dothings without people watching.' I think what I said to them stuck intheir heads."
Linda Fehoko, Sam's mother, was at peace with thetraining regimen, just as long as she was always on hand to watch andsupport her boys. She made sure to keep them on point in the classroomtoo, not allowing them to make a C. However, Sam was held to a higherstandard, not being allowed to get anything lower than an A, because healways won spelling bees and had a higher aptitude in school, Lindasaid.
"Even though a lot of our friends told us it was really, really hardwhat he was doing with the boys," she said, "it was basically anunderlying message that he was giving the boys, 'Hey, either you wantit or you don't want it. If you don't want it, fine with me. I'llstop.'"
No complaints
By the time high school rolledaround, the Fehokos upgraded from the little truck to a LincolnNavigator. Unfortunately for Sam and his brothers, the new SUV became adifferent form of family bonding.
Strapped to a harness, Sam would pull the 5,000-pound Navigator around a lagoon as his dad sat in the driver's seat.
Almostevery morning, Vili would wake up his three oldest sons at 5 a.m. tostart the day. Before they ate breakfast and went to school, they wouldrun 200 yards up a steep hill back and forth about 10 times.
"Me and my brothers would just be mad, 'Why is he doing this? Why is he doing this?'" Sam said.
Just like the situation with the truck, Vili had a reason.
Heremembers being at the top of the hill, sitting and talking with hisoldest boys, peering down at Linda and his youngest son, Breiden.
"Welook down there man and the whole Hawaii is just sleeping, and theFehokos are up here on top of the mountain," Vili said. "And I wouldtell them, 'Scholarships don't come too easy man.'
"I tell them,'You know why I'm doing this? Because one kid is down in Alabama, orMississippi or whatever, running the back roads with the same dream asyou, the same scholarship you're fighting for."
They never complained about the stringent training, and look where it has gotten them.
Sam,20, is a stocky, 5-foot-11, 236-pound sophomore linebacker who hasworked his way into the defensive rotation at Tech. Whitley, a yearolder than Sam, is a 6-foot, 325-pound offensive lineman who played asa freshman at San Diego State and is looking to play at Weber State in2009.
Then there is VJ, the 6-foot, 225-pound linebacker whowon't graduate high school until 2010 but already is the most soughtafter prospect out of Hawaii with 13 scholarship offers - Tech amongthem.
"What a blessing," Vili said. "To me, it's a wonderful blessing."
Turning point
But before the training and discipline began to pay off, there was a time of uncertainty for Vili and his family.
Viliwas let go in 1999 from his $63,000-a-year job as an entertainer at thePolynesian Cultural Center, where he worked for 22 years.
"That was totally devastating to my family," Linda said.
Atthe time, they were putting Sam, Whitley and V.J. through St. LouisSchool, an expensive private school in Honolulu. After he got let go,they struggled trying to make ends meet, and he eventually sent hissons to public school.
"We sold our home. I lost my job. I losteverything man," he said, as he fought off tears. "This is a time thatI look at my boys. I look at their eyes, and this was a turning pointin their life.
"We had nothing man. We looked in the icebox, no food, nothing."
SoSam and Whitley started helping out financially, selling newspapersubscriptions after school. With Sam and Whitley being in middle schooland still attending St. Louis at the time, Sam showed why his familynickname has always been "the joy."
Sam was an expert salesmanat the age of 12, reeling people in with his charisma and makinganywhere from $400 to $700 a week, Linda said, and he'd give everypenny of it to his parents to help pay for rent and groceries.
"Sam is more like that shining star in the family," Linda said. "He brings us so much joy."
Sameven lost customers to Whitley, who would have people sign his contractform when Sam turned his back during a sale. If that didn't happen,then Sam would have brought in about $1,000 a week, especially becauseWhitley didn't share all of his money, Linda said.
"For somereason, Sam had a knack for people loving him," Linda said. "They wouldcall us back and subscribe more papers and so he had this - at seventh,eighth grade - clientele. Finally, we were able to establish our ownbusiness, our company and then they didn't need to do that anymorebecause we went out on our own. Things happen for a reason."
Vili the Warrior
Soon enough, Vili Fehoko would be known as the unofficial mascot for the University of Hawaii.
Formerfootball coach June Jones thought the football games at Aloha Stadiumcould be a little more enthusiastic, so he gave Vili an opportunity toperform at games. The school signed Vili and his entertainment company,which is managed by Linda, to an independent contract.
"Peoplemix him up as a mascot, which is fine, but he's not a mascot," Lindasaid. "Even ESPN has him every year as a Top 10 mascot in the nation.He is the only Vili the Warrior in Hawaii, so we came up with thatname, and it's something he's always loved doing. That's his forte,cultural performances."
The fans loved him, and Vili evenallowed his boys, including Sam, to bang the drums and perform culturaldances such as the Haka on the field. Sam, who Vili said is the bestdancer of his sons, performed the dance before Tech football games inlast season.
"I used to hit those (players)," Vili said. "I usedto bump them when they ran out and I think I hit one of the safeties sohard I dislocated his shoulder. June Jones said, 'Hey man, nobody runthrough Vili man, everybody just run around him.'"
Even thoughhe's not the official mascot for Hawaii, Vili said he doesn't mind thelabel and he still performs for the football team. The company hasgrown so much that it includes all types of cultural productions inHawaii.
Vili finally got to see his son play in a Tech uniformwhen he visited Lubbock during the weekend of the Red-Black spring gameApril 18. As he watched his son play, Vili went from being a warrior toa teddy bear.
"It made tears come out my eyes when I saw my sonon that field," he said. "It's a really emotional time for me and myfamily just to see him out there man. I'm so proud of him."
Viliand Linda both said one of Sam's strongest characteristics is hisdesire to step up to a challenge, which is exactly what he has ahead ofhim in 2009.
While Sam said he has made strides by watchingfilm and continuing to hit the weight room, Tech defensive coordinatorRuffin McNeill acknowledged that he needs to make plays on a moreconsistent basis.
"Everything, from A to Z," McNeill said. "Somedays he does A to Z well, some days he skips a few sequences in thereand that comes with learning to focus a little more all the time. Whenhe focuses he can be pretty good."
