Hawaii football: Justus Tavai keeps mid-camp tabs on brother Jahlani
Jahlani Tavai reached up, batted a ball thrown by NFL veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford, hauled it in and took off running.
You can bet the Detroit Lions’ rookie linebacker’s younger brother, Hawaii defensive tackle Justus Tavai, heard, saw and talked all about it right after UH football practice Tuesday morning.
The two brothers and former Rainbow Warriors teammates are still tied by bonds of training camp. They just happen to be thousands of miles apart.
Jahlani Tavai was taken as the 43rd overall pick in the second round by the Lions. By all indications, he’s doing well for himself.
“I talk to him maybe every other day, try to get in touch,” said UH’s redshirt sophomore Tavai, who is also competing at nose tackle. “He’s actually six hours ahead of us, so I try to get some time in and talk to him. But he’s doing good. I’ve been keeping up on the news. He’s been working with the 1s, so I’m pretty stoked for him. A lot of people doubted him, but that’s just going to motivate him (to be) even better, to play more harder and everything. I’m happy for him.”
Justus Tavai, who some around camp have remarked bears an uncanny resemblance to his brother — but in a 295-pound frame, or about 50 more than the 245 Jahlani competed at — is attempting to make a name for himself, too. No easy task in a family that already has two brothers who’ve made the NFL out of six (plus one sister). J.R. Tavai, older than Justus by five years, had experience at linebacker with the Tennessee Titans (2015-16) after playing at USC (2011-14). The eldest brother in the family, Jordan, was a defensive lineman at Kansas (2012-13).
#HawaiiFB defensive tackle Justus Tavai, a redshirt sophomore, talks about progressing in fall camp while following the progress of older brother Jahlani (the former UH linebacker was taken No. 43 overall in NFL Draft) in @Lions training camp. pic.twitter.com/3EhCIF3OMr
— Hawaii Warrior World (@hawaiiwworld) July 30, 2019
“Yeah, that’s always the plan,” Justus Tavai said of his own NFL dream. “But first, education. Gotta get that degree and everything. I gotta focus right now. But that’s the plan. Help out the parents after, after everything they’ve done for us.”
Tavai, from Inglewood, Calif., and more recently of Redondo Beach, hasn’t actually recorded any official stats at UH yet despite the coveted “50” he bears on his jersey. He spent his freshman season at El Camino College in Torrance, then redshirted 2018 at UH while his brother was named a Mountain West honorable mention in an injury-shortened season.
“I think I’ve done better since last year, with the group I have helping each other, helping (us) better ourselves,” Tavai said. “And also the scouts, that betters the offense and defense as a whole. We’re all striving to be better before the season starts. We’re all working our ways up.”
He said he does not miss Jahlani too much at camp. That’s possibly because of how frequently he reaches him or, at the least, hears about his exploits. In the rugby- and football-crazed Tavai family — their mother Nafuana’s siblings have vast pro rugby experience, and some of her kids went as far as the U.S. nationals — it followed the pattern of when J.R. went off to the league.
“As a family, we were all happy for (J.R.), and for the younger boys, we all looked up to him because he was the first one to make it to the NFL,” Justus Tavai said. “That motivated us. For me coming out of JC, it made me want to work harder at getting a four-year college scholarship. And that’s what happened with Jahlani. J.R. was his college idol. And now look at him. He’s with the Lions now. We just all look up to each other and we’re happy for one another.”
UPDATE: And yes, he picked up on the pick.
Big bro 💪🏾😤😤 @tavai31 https://t.co/kuE1CQENJf
— Justus Tavai (@JustusTavai) July 30, 2019
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Here’s a couple of snippets from practices the last couple of days:
#HawaiiFB gets some mid-practice Consolidated Theatres intro inspiration. 🔉 pic.twitter.com/2qIuBOq4vj
— Brian McInnis (@Brian_McInnis) July 29, 2019
#HawaiiFB wraps up Tuesday’s practice with some rain sprints. pic.twitter.com/kV6taUFyKc
— Hawaii Warrior World (@hawaiiwworld) July 30, 2019
Great news for one Tavai brother, and hoping for a solid season from the other. Go Warriors!