September 15, 2025 • 3 mins
Will Matthews sits down with Texas Longhorns linebacker Liona Lefau to talk about his journey from Hawaii to Austin, his family's support (even from across the Pacific Ocean), and football career.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, guys, just will hear and I've got l nga lafoul.
(00:03):
We're gonna talk a little bit. Of course, we'll talk
about football. But the thing I'm most excited about being
a guy from a huge family, your family being here. Yeah,
your family comes to the games. Mom and dad are around.
Talk about that experience with your family.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
I mean, other than football, the biggest you know, joy
that I get is just being around my family. I've
grew up in, you know, a loving family. Obviously, I
have three brothers and my two parents back home. But
being from Hawaii in a tight, very tight knit community,
it's just like everyone is family. So like I have
(00:39):
visitors every weekend who are blood related, but also some
that are and they're just from the community, and I
call them family as well. So when they come, I'm
just very proud to represent them and I'm happy they
can come out and enjoy.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Someone family around. What do y'all do to create that
family feel in atmosphere? Do you have any like cool
traditions that you do.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
I mean, we just hang out, you know, have some
enjoy our time together. Basically, we just kind of like
a pot look style. My mom will make some food,
maybe my dad would get on the gril here and there,
or we'll just you know, we'll enjoy a meal together
and we'll just talk and if people are coming from Hawaii,
we'll just catch up.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
Because so you have people coming in from Hawaii regularly.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Yeah, yeah, every weekend there's a different different set of
people who's coming in. So yeah, we we just like
to enjoy our time together.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
So when I played here, my mom came to every
single practice. So your people like that, are they like
in everything, like we're gonna show up all the time.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Yeah, yeah, any chance they get. My dad he tries
to come to practices. I'm telling them, like, it's not
like high school where you guys can come through the practices.
But you know, they they're just, you know, obviously they're
very proud of me, and I'm very proud to represent them,
and so they show up any time they can, and
I'm very thankful for them because it just makes me
(02:06):
feel like I'm at home every time I see them.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
So I remember when I would play, my mom had
this high pitch yell. She could scream from the stands.
Can you hear and feel your people from this thing?
Speaker 2 (02:16):
I mean, I kind of just I can hear I
already know what my dad is gonna say. I'm very
thankful for the Texas fans because they're loud. But in
high school, I used to be able to hear my
dad every single play, you know, like if I did
something wrong or if I did something right, you know,
so I kind of really know what he's gonna say. So,
you know, after certain plays, I hear his voice even
(02:37):
though without hearing him, just knowing what he's gonna say.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
And as you being a leader on this team, you've
really developed immaturity in that space. Are you seeing those
budding things of family inside of this this team that
you're playing with?
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Yeah, I mean yeah, I feel like we're becoming a family.
We're doing a good job of, you know, hanging out
outside of football, you know, talking about other things other
than football. How's your guys family doing, or how school,
you know, just and that's how that's really how we
just you know, get closer together and become a family,
(03:13):
which which is what we wanna become. You know, at
the end of the day, we're we're not only football players,
you know, We're just we love each other and we
treat each other like brothers. And are we We want
a relationship that isn't just throughout the season, and it
lasts for a lifetime lay longer.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
Thank you so much for your time, good luck this week,
have a good one, bruh.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Thank you
Hey, guys, just will hear and I've got l nga lafoul.
(00:03):
We're gonna talk a little bit. Of course, we'll talk
about football. But the thing I'm most excited about being
a guy from a huge family, your family being here. Yeah,
your family comes to the games. Mom and dad are around.
Talk about that experience with your family.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
I mean, other than football, the biggest you know, joy
that I get is just being around my family. I've
grew up in, you know, a loving family. Obviously, I
have three brothers and my two parents back home. But
being from Hawaii in a tight, very tight knit community,
it's just like everyone is family. So like I have
(00:39):
visitors every weekend who are blood related, but also some
that are and they're just from the community, and I
call them family as well. So when they come, I'm
just very proud to represent them and I'm happy they
can come out and enjoy.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Someone family around. What do y'all do to create that
family feel in atmosphere? Do you have any like cool
traditions that you do.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
I mean, we just hang out, you know, have some
enjoy our time together. Basically, we just kind of like
a pot look style. My mom will make some food,
maybe my dad would get on the gril here and there,
or we'll just you know, we'll enjoy a meal together
and we'll just talk and if people are coming from Hawaii,
we'll just catch up.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
Because so you have people coming in from Hawaii regularly.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Yeah, yeah, every weekend there's a different different set of
people who's coming in. So yeah, we we just like
to enjoy our time together.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
So when I played here, my mom came to every
single practice. So your people like that, are they like
in everything, like we're gonna show up all the time.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Yeah, yeah, any chance they get. My dad he tries
to come to practices. I'm telling them, like, it's not
like high school where you guys can come through the practices.
But you know, they they're just, you know, obviously they're
very proud of me, and I'm very proud to represent them,
and so they show up any time they can, and
I'm very thankful for them because it just makes me
(02:06):
feel like I'm at home every time I see them.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
So I remember when I would play, my mom had
this high pitch yell. She could scream from the stands.
Can you hear and feel your people from this thing?
Speaker 2 (02:16):
I mean, I kind of just I can hear I
already know what my dad is gonna say. I'm very
thankful for the Texas fans because they're loud. But in
high school, I used to be able to hear my
dad every single play, you know, like if I did
something wrong or if I did something right, you know,
so I kind of really know what he's gonna say. So,
you know, after certain plays, I hear his voice even
(02:37):
though without hearing him, just knowing what he's gonna say.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
And as you being a leader on this team, you've
really developed immaturity in that space. Are you seeing those
budding things of family inside of this this team that
you're playing with?
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Yeah, I mean yeah, I feel like we're becoming a family.
We're doing a good job of, you know, hanging out
outside of football, you know, talking about other things other
than football. How's your guys family doing, or how school,
you know, just and that's how that's really how we
just you know, get closer together and become a family,
(03:13):
which which is what we wanna become. You know, at
the end of the day, we're we're not only football players,
you know, We're just we love each other and we
treat each other like brothers. And are we We want
a relationship that isn't just throughout the season, and it
lasts for a lifetime lay longer.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
Thank you so much for your time, good luck this week,
have a good one, bruh.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Thank you
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