Sione Vea Houma (born June 21, 1994) is a former

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

fullback. Houma was born in

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

, the son of immigrants from

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

. He grew up in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

and played high school football at

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally, ''upland'' refers to a range of hills, typically from up to , while ''highland'' is usually reserved for range ...

, winning a state championship as a senior. While in high school, he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.53 seconds, rushed for 2,001 yards in his junior and senior years, and returned a kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown. Houma enrolled at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

in 2012 and played in every game for the Michigan football team from 2012 to 2014, but he had not carried the ball prior to his senior season, with his playing time limited to blocking and special teams. He initially gained note for introducing the

haka Haka (, ; singular ''haka'', in both Māori language, Māori and New Zealand English) are a variety of ceremonial dances in Māori culture. A performance art, hakas are often performed by a group, with vigorous movements and stamping of the f ...

to the Michigan football team, and for his ukulele playing. As a senior in 2015, Houma gained acclaim for his tough running game, especially in short yardage situations. Coach

Jim Harbaugh James Joseph Harbaugh ( ; born December 23, 1963) is an American professional football coach and former quarterback who is the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as the head coach at ...

was so impressed with Houma that he gave him playing time at tailback. Harbaugh began referring to him as "Houuuuu-maaaa!" and noted the crowd response: "They're not booing, they're saying Houma." Michigan's leading rusher, De'Veon Smith, referred to Houma as a "coconut head." Houma rushed for 184 yards and five touchdowns during his senior year. In the 2016 Citrus Bowl, Houma carried the ball a career-high nine times for 32 yards and a touchdown. Houma signed with the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

as an undrafted free agent on May 2, 2016 and was released during the preseason on August 30, 2016 as the Saints reduced the roster to 74 players.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Houma, Sione 1994 births Living people American football fullbacks American people of Tongan descent Michigan Wolverines football players Players of American football from Salt Lake City New Orleans Saints players