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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend April 4, 2006 Life takes a positive turn for Vaigafa By DON HUNT Mail Tribune Johnny Vaigafa is one of those exceptionally-skilled high school athletes you hope can turn his life around. Vaigafa was on his way to winning a football scholarship to the University of Oregon in the fall of 2003 when he earned second-team, all-state honors for North Medford High’s state runner-up football team. The then-sophomore stood 6-foot-2 and weighed 295 pounds. He was as strong as a bull with quickness to boot. South Medford coach Bill Singler said that trying to get past Vaigafa, who played center on offense, was like trying to get past a giant, mobile stump. At the time, Ducks line coach Steve Gratewood was busy recruiting Vaigafa’s distant cousin, David Faaeteete, who was a senior and the most dominant lineman in the state. Advertisement But Gratewood also had his eye on Vaigafa. In the nearly 2½ years since Vaigafa’s swift ascent to stardom, much of his life went sour. Faaeteete, who acted as Vaigafa’s big brother and often dragged him to offseason workouts, headed to Eugene to launch his career with the Ducks. Vaigafa’s two favorite mentors — line coaches Mike Schaan and Brad Eaton — left North Medford along with head coach John Beck and set up shop at Crater. Vaigafa’s home life was already in turmoil. His mom was in California much of the time working and he often butted heads with his 84-year-old father. Vaigafa made it through the following football season under new North Medford coach Rod Rumrey, but he wasn’t the same player. After that, he began to skip classes and eventually dropped out of school in the spring of 2005. "People look at me and wonder what the heck I was doing," says Vaigafa, a gregarious lad who’s back in school, out for track and on course to graduate from North Medford in June. "But they don’t know what it was like to live in my shoes. I had a lot of family problems last year. There was a lot of commotion going on." Vaigafa transferred to Crater last fall to reunite with Beck, Schaan and Eaton, hoping to resurrect his football career. But his weight had ballooned to 350 pounds and he often went to class dead-tired, if he showed up at all. Working the graveyard shift at a fast food restaurant can do that to you. "I’d get in there about 10 at night and not get out until 7:30 in the morning," says Vaigafa, adding that he felt obligated to work to help out himself and his father, who draws a small pension. Vaigafa made it to some early-morning weight-lifting classes at Crater, but concedes he often skipped his core classes in favor of sleep. He admits he would probably be following the same deadend path he’d been on for the past couple years had his mother, Lealasa, not encountered recent health problems. "She has cancer in the stomach area," Vaigafa says. "We’re still trying to find out what the prognosis is." The news hit Vaigafa like a ton of bricks. "Now I’m really motivated to graduate," he says. "I want her to be proud of me." Vaigafa is back lifting weights — this time at 24-hour Fitness — and last week he established himself as the premier shot-putter in the Southern Oregon Conference with a throw of 49 feet, 5½ inches in his first meet. He plans to attend College of the Siskiyous — a junior college in Weed, Calif. — and eventually join Faaeteete at Oregon. Vaigafa, who will put on a youth football camp later this month as part of his senior project, envisions himself earning a college degree, getting married, having a family and living on the top of a mountain. Compared to where he’s been, that would be quite a climb. Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Absinthe Supply Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker Custom Build Computers Computer Security Discount Hotel Reservations online casinos news Debt Consolidation California Casinos GMAT Windermere Van Vleet Deep Muscle Stimulator Sports Equipment Online Casino Reviews Hammocks Online Bingo Entertainment Guide Online Casino Fundraisers Sudoku Online Casinos Canada King of Spirits Email Security Advertisement s