Aloha spirit

Early in the morning, before most Husky football players are awake, Donny Mateaki is dancing around the weight room. Outside, it is still dark, but Mateaki illuminates this cold and dreary dungeon with his boisterous mood.

"What's on the deck?" someone asks, referring to the defensive tackle's musical selection.

"Reggae," he shouts with a smile as he continues to dance his way over to his next exercise.

He grabs two dumbbells from the weight rack and effortlessly plops down onto a bench. With ease, Mateaki raises the two 80-pound weights over his head. Then he starts pumping them into the air to the beat of the music.

An admirer from another sports team walks over and tells Mateaki how impressive this feat is as he starts to press his own meager 40 pounds overhead.

"It's not that impressive," a modest Mateaki responds. "A lot of guys can do that on the line."

Mateaki is not only strong and talented, but he also possesses a rare attribute among successful athletes: He is humble.

Mateaki is a native Hawaiian from the island of Oahu. He attributes his sincere and modest demeanor to island life and the way he was raised. He values family and community above all else, and it is evident in the way he tries to downplay his own accomplishments.

"Growing up in Polynesian culture, family was always first," Mateaki says. "Anything I do is a reflection on them."

If that's the case, then Mateaki's two parents, four brothers, two sisters and hordes of cousins must have been ecstatic when he sacked Oregon State's quarterback two weeks ago.

Before he came to Washington, Mateaki played football, basketball and competed on the track team at Iolani High School in Honolulu.

"Those are things I just did to keep in shape, man, to keep busy. In high school, we had to take three sports to not take P.E.," he jokes, unable to hold back his humor and island charm.

Mateaki's specialties on the track team were the discus and the shot put -- a perfect fit for a 6-foot-5-inch Hawaiian who said he had to "trim down" to 265 pounds of muscle-packed frame to play college ball.

People in Seattle are certainly keeping track of Mateaki's performances. Opponents and coaches have taken note, but more importantly, his teammates notice.

"It's good to see guys [like Mateaki] making plays," says Todd Bachert, a senior offensive lineman.

Joe Lobendahn, a current UW player and Mateaki's high-school teammate, said, "He's a real nice kid. As a first-year, he's doing good things for the team."

Mateaki's teammates seem to really like him, although they are not opposed to giving him a hard time. When Bachert -- whose locker is adjacent to Mateaki's -- got through complimenting his play-making ability, he teased him about his long, dark, Polynesian hair.

"He has more hair-care products than anyone on the team," Bachert laughs.

A good-natured Mateaki quickly justifies his hair gel: "Man, you've got to have something to clean [your hair] up with after practice. Todd only notices mine 'cause I'm the closest (locker) to him. Other guys have those (products) too."

Mateaki may worry about his hair off the field, but on the field, his mind is only on one thing -- the ball.

Mateaki does an excellent job of blocking out the distracting cries of fan-laden stadiums. Mateaki even describes his ability to focus in the humblest terms possible.

"When I actually run out on the field, it's like, 'Woah.' There are all these people. I'm actually playing college football,'" he says in charming disbelief.

In part because of his upbeat attitude, it seems that everyone has something nice to say about Mateaki. Even the painfully shy Reggie Williams complimented Mateaki when he flashed a traditional Hawaiian "hang loose" sign in response to a question about the young talent.

It is no mystery why everyone likes Mateaki. Aside from being a talented player, he is an extremely friendly, humorous, bright and engaging person. Mateaki brings a little bit of the aloha spirit with him wherever he goes.

"Being raised on an island, you are raised a certain way and taught to interact," Mateaki says. "I always look for the good in everything. It's better to smile than to frown."