Early Years
Ngata, of Tongan ancestry, was born in Inglewood, California. He attended Highland High School in Salt Lake City, Utah and was a three-year starter on the defensive line. As a senior, he recorded over 100 tackles and led his team to the state quarterfinals, following a 12-2 record and a berth in the State Championship as a junior. Ngata was named the 2001 Utah Gatorade Player of the Year and a first-team USA Today All-USA selection. He played in the 2002 U.S. Army All-American Bowl.
Ngata was listed as a five-star recruit and the No. 2 overall prospect in the nation by Rivals.com. He chose Oregon over BYU, Nebraska, Texas A&M, and Washington.
Ngata also played rugby in high school, and helped lead the Highland Rugby Club to the National Rugby Championship. He was red carded in the championship match.
Read more about this topic: Haloti Ngata
Famous quotes containing the words early years, early and/or years:
“I believe that if we are to survive as a planet, we must teach this next generation to handle their own conflicts assertively and nonviolently. If in their early years our children learn to listen to all sides of the story, use their heads and then their mouths, and come up with a plan and share, then, when they become our leaders, and some of them will, they will have the tools to handle global problems and conflict.”
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“If you feed a man, and wash his clothes, and borne his children, you and that man are married, that man is yours. If you sweep a house, and tend its fires and fill its stoves, and there is love in you all the years you are doing this, then you and that house are married, that house is yours.”
—Truman Capote (20th century)