Oregon football center Iapani “Poncho” Laloulu is grateful because he knows he’s walking in answered prayers.
“In times where I feel like it’s getting hard for me on the field, I was just like ‘God, it’s just me. Can you be with me on this field right now?’ Every time you start a drive, I like to be like, ‘God, thank you, thank you for another opportunity, thank you for another play.’ I’m just, you know, having gratitude and joy in it,” the center explained on the Sports Spectrum “What’s Up” Podcast.
Laloulu wants his gratitude to infect his teammates.
“You know, I tell my friends every day, ‘Every morning you get up, thank God, just praise Him, and just have the joy.’ And when you start your day with God, like it’s just a different feeling, you know,” he described. “People may actually want to know why you’re always happy. You’re the same every single day because it’s hard to be the same every day. So I try to be a great representative, and I always tell my teammates, like you guys got to have joy, like you got to have gratitude. Every day is not promised.”
“One day your person who you love right now is here, the next is gone. So just having gratitude and every opportunity to understand that there’s people out there that are wishing to be in our seats. The blessings I’m receiving right now are prayers from my grandparents,” the athlete emphasized.
Laloulu knows about loss firsthand. When he was a child, his 11-month-old brother, Mai, tragically died, Sports Illustrated reported.
“I guess I just think, like, when times get hard, like in the workouts when the field starts to get all hectic and when things start to get tough, I just… there’s something in the back of my head just remember, you know, there’s people out there in heaven just looking down at you just smiling and day to day I don’t want to let them down. It’s probably the biggest thing and I’m just driven every single day because I want to be the light for everyone,” he told analyst Yogi Roth.
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Laloulu is certainly a light. In every post on social media, he always includes a Bible verse, no matter what the post is about.
In a post celebrating going into his fourth year at Oregon, he shared James 1:2-4.
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything,” the verses read.
As Laloulu heads into his final year of college football, he’s sure to let his faith shine.
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