Gazette-Times Reporter

Restarting a football career isn’t easy, but usually happens for a good reason.

Walker Vave faces that challenge as a newcomer with the Oregon State football team. He hopes to recapture his past and improve from there, starting this spring.

The freshman middle linebacker took off more than two years to go on a Mormon mission to Ecuador.

He spread the Gospel and assisted others in a third-world country. At the same time, Vave grew as a person and came back more mature.

“I wanted to go and get that over with and come back to college and focus on the big things,” Vave said. “I loved it there. It helped me feel humble. I thought I was poor, but looking at things in another country, it made me grateful for the things I have in life.”

It was the right time for him to follow his religious convictions, but the trip put a hold on his athletic potential.

There are no regrets. Starting over is only a small setback for him after that experience.

“It’s been different,” Vave said of playing again after the layoff. “Losing everything for two years and trying to come back again is hard getting back into shape.”

Vave joined the Beavers in the winter term, and has five seasons to play four. It may take up to two seasons to get up to speed.

He’s willing to be patient. Linebacker is the deepest position for the Beavers. Vave has the opportunity to train and learn the system before he’s needed.

“From the time we started conditioning until now he’s coming along, but he still has a ways to go,” defensive coordinator Mark Banker said. “Coming out of high school he was 205 pounds. And now he’s (about) 250. He either has to adapt to that weight, or lose that weight if he stays at that position.”

Vave originally signed with the Beavers in 2004 and should have arrived on campus for that fall. He was teammates at Kahuku High in Hawaii with offensive guard Jeremy Perry.

They were a tandem that guided their team to a 14-0 record and state title. Perry was Hawaii’s offensive player of the year and Vave the defensive player of the year.

Vave was the emotional and physical leader of a defense that allowed less than six points a game. His 6-foot-2 frame ran the 40-yard dash in 4.65 seconds and he had a 30-inch vertical leap.

Even though Vave is far removed from that kind of athletic prowess, Banker can see his football mind at work and the physical possibilities.

“He seems to understand the basics in our defense,” Banker said. “It’s not a time for us to really evaluate him. We just want him to get going and get back to football shape. And after summer conditioning, we’ll have a starting point.”

Vave has the moral support of Perry and his newfound cousin, Eric Moala Liava’a, a linebacker who went on a mission before entering OSU. He worked his way into the playing rotation in two years.

Both shared their college experiences with Vave in December when the Beavers were in Hawaii, and they motivated him to prepare for college football.

“I loved watching that game,” Vave said. “Eric told me this is a friendly team, and I could see it when everybody was on the field. I’m very grateful for Eric.”

Once Vave and Moala Liava’a got to know each other, they realized their families are connected. Their parents came from the same village in the Tonga Islands.

With a bond that spans family blood and linebacker sweat, Moala also keeps him in check. He wants Vave to learn from his mistakes in coming back after the long break.

“When you take that much time off, you can’t go too hard,” Moala said. “You can do your best, but you have to be careful. I pulled my hamstring several times trying to get ready. You have to put yourself on your own pace of getting in shape. I told him to keep working on it, and get the system down. The body will come later. I expect him to be just as good as he was back then.”

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WALKER VAVE

• WHO: Reserve linebacker for the Oregon State football team

• SIZE: 6-foot-2, 250 pounds

• HOMETOWN: Laie, Hawaii

• EDUCATION: Graduated from Kahuku High

• STATS: Hawaii’s prep defensive player of the year in 2003 season.

• ECT: Joined program in the winter term. … Has five seasons to play four. … Spent two years on a Mormon mission in Ecuador. … Attended school and played on the same team as OG Jeremy Perry. … Found out LB Eric Moala Liava’a is his cousin once they met.