Redshirt Senior Offensive Lineman Jon Halapio: Battling Through Adversity
Tuesday, November 26, 2013 | Football
By Seth Medvin, UF Communications
Tautua'?. The Tongan word translates into English as a phrase: “To fight outside the trench or fortress.”
Redshirt senior right guard Jon Halapio, a first-generation American with Tongan roots, has done his fighting for the Gators inside of the trenches.
No matter the bodily harm.
“My dad has always told me that if you are going to do something that you should do it to the fullest, until you can't do it anymore,” Halapio said. “Growing up and playing through injuries, I took that message into account.”
Halapio played through a broken middle finger and a torn hamstring in 2010, as well as a back injury in 2011. Last year, he tore his meniscus, which required surgery after the year was complete. This season, Halapio rehabbed from a torn pectoral muscle, which caused him to miss the first two games of the year after starting every game in both 2011 and 2012, and seven in 2010.
“I've been playing through the torn pec all year,” Halapio said. “At times it hurts here and there.”
No matter how taxing these injuries may sound, Halapio quickly points out that his worst injury occurred in the first half of the SEC opener against Tennessee on September 21, which, coincidentally, was his first game of the season.
“I went down to cut block a defensive tackle, and all of a sudden I couldn't see anything out of my right eye,” Halapio said. “I took a knee and saw blood dripping from my eye. I felt a whole bunch of pain in my right eye and then I just thought the worst. I thought I was blind, I thought I couldn't see.”
Luckily, the human body immediately responds to trauma to the eye, and Halapio's eye lids swelled up to protect his eye. With help from the Gator trainers, Halapio was able to walk to the locker room.
“The doctor cleaned me up and pried my eye open to make sure everything was ok,” Halapio said. “I didn't get stitches until after the game. Immediately after the game, I showered and rushed to the eye doctor, where I received stitches under my eye lid. That was the scariest one and toughest one to play through because I couldn't see for three quarters of the game.”
Halapio takes pride in his iron-man status. He takes pride in leadership.
But, most importantly, he takes pride in his culture.
“I've been to Tonga once when I was in high school,” Halapio said. “It is very expensive to get there. In Tonga, we have a king, and my aunt's husband works for the king.”
Halapio's parents were born and met in Tonga, and then moved to California where Jon was born. When Jon was two-years-old, the Halapio's moved to St. Petersburg, Fla.
Halapio went on to become a standout offensive and defensive lineman at St. Petersburg Catholic. Since the day he stepped on campus in Gainesville, Halapio has been one of the program's leaders. His leadership was illuminated last season when he was named one of the team's yearly captains.
Halapio can be recognized from almost anywhere in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium by the long hair that fights its way out of his helmet. When standing next to him, one of the first things someone notices is his intricate tattoos.
His tattoos represent different traditional symbols that Tongans wear on their clothes to ceremonies. One of his tattoos acts as a sleeve on his arm and allows him to honor his cultural roots every second of every day.
“The symbols that I have represent things like family, unity and struggle,” Halapio said.
Family is extremely important to Halapio. Halapio and his fianc?, Sierra Chouinard, will be married in January, and before the Tennessee game, they found out that Chouinard was pregnant.
“It definitely changed my whole life around,” Halapio said. “After the first ultrasound, when I saw that it was like a little peanut and its heart was beating, reality settled in.”
The couple has dated since high school and was best friends long before that. Halapio and Chouinard will be married in the Catholic Church they both grew up attending.
“She went to school at Florida State, but she's always been a Gator fan,” Halapio acknowledged.
With his Gator career entering its final days and his impending graduation in December with a bachelor's degree in anthropology, Halapio will start looking forward to his future.
“Tongan's are historically big and powerful people,” Halapio said.
In fact, there have been 32 players with Tongan roots to play in the NFL.
“I'm definitely going to try and see where football takes me,” Halapio said. “I want a shot at the NFL.”
The Baltimore Ravens' four-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Haloti Ngata, former Steelers' offensive lineman Chris Kemoeatu and Cardinals' offensive lineman Deuce Lutui are some of the bigger Tongan names on the list.
“I haven't met them personally, but I know who they are,” Halapio said. “I know some of their families because I can tell from their last names. That would be pretty cool to see them at the next level.”
Halapio enjoys watching former Gators Mike and Maurkice Pouncey, as well as Kemoeatu.
“When Chris Kemoeatu used to play for the Steelers, I used to watch him,” Halapio said. “He's another big hair guy and he's Tongan also.”
Hopefully, the NFL will be getting the 33rd Tongan player this April.
Mon?, Jon.
Good luck, Jon. The Gator Nation thanks you for the memories.
