Huddled in a group home filled with strangers, teenage brothers Jake and Louie Muasau took stock of their fractured family and numbing poverty.
Their father, Liuavano Mataaga, was dead of throat cancer. Their mother, Asoiva, was fighting a mental disorder. Their elder brother, Matthew, recently had been released from jail.
Who could or would help the brothers? What could or should they do? Did the Golden Rule matter now that the “Pops” who had stressed it to them — even as he battled his own demons — was gone?
On that day in September 2003 they prayed, and that moment was the beginning of them defending themselves on a journey that would lead them to Atlanta and Jake recently to sign with the New York Giants. Louie will graduate soon from the school both played football for, Georgia State.
“I’m thankful to be in this position, especially considering where I’ve come from,” Jake Muasau said.
The brothers learned early how tough life could be, no matter what or how much they believed. They learned to rely on their faith to defend themselves against the consequences of bad decisions by family members.
Trying family times
Their father was a part-time preacher who moved them to California from Washington to help his brother start a church. The church didn’t flourish. Their father and mother would fight. Twice Liuavano was arrested for what the boys said was a domestic situation.
Jobs were hard to find. What money they had disappeared.
For shelter, the family turned to a 1985 red Dodge Astro Van and a local park for two months.
At night in the van, lying with their parents, Louie told his brother he didn’t want to wake up.
Jake told him not to worry. God would provide.
In 1996, when the boys were ages 6 and 7, the family moved to Arizona to be closer to family — even though Jake described their group of five as the black sheep on both sides, too poor to participate in events such as family reunions. An aunt took them in for a while. They said they never lived in the same place for more than six months.
Still, the sons remained closed to Pops, who had fathered them when he was in his 50s and whose health never was good enough for him to play with them much.
In 2002, when the boys were 12 and 13, Pops was diagnosed with throat cancer. Doctors immediately removed his voice box. Matthew was arrested a few months later; for what reason his brothers won’t say. The charges later were dropped.
The family lived apart — Pops in Phoenix for treatment, the rest in Sierra Vista, Ariz., near an aunt who they thought would help. Instead, the brothers and their mom moved back into the van.
A policeman noticed, but let them pass. He returned days later. The boys’ mom couldn’t start the van. When the policeman saw the clothes, he asked if anyone could take care of the boys.
There was no one. The boys were put into a group home that Louie says was full of teenagers loaded with testosterone and lacking discipline. While the brothers lived there, Pops died.
At the point when the brothers prayed, Louie knew they had to go forward. They couldn’t take the easy way, or they’d never get out. Louie asked Jake what kind of man he wanted to be.
Jake had big dreams. He wanted to be somebody. He knew God would help him get there.
“That’s what faith is, right?” Louie said recently. “Believing in what you can not see.”
Football provides way out
The boys eventually moved in with an aunt and began playing high school football, attracting scouts.
Jake committed to Nebraska. A year older, Louie eventually enrolled at Phoenix College and moved in with Matthew.
Separation proved difficult. Jake had always had Louie. Now he was left with his mother, no money and a lot of loneliness.
To buy food, Jake agreed to sell a friend’s Percocet painkillers. Someone at school saw him handle the drug and wrote an anonymous note to the principal.
Three security guards confronted him in his next class. Jake was expelled.
Teachers rallied to his defense. Jake told the school board his story. They changed the expulsion to a suspension.
But Nebraska pulled his scholarship, and Jake’s SAT scores were too low to attract other programs.
He moved in with Louie and Matthew, whose girlfriend, Danielle, gave the boys something rare for them: rules not to be broken. They nicknamed her the “Beast from Brooklyn.”
At Phoenix, the brothers served for two solid seasons as side-by-side linebackers who were now at the same academic stage. The brothers who always longed for a genuine fresh start jumped when a brand new football program showed interest: Georgia State.
GSU coach Bill Curry says the Muasaus have developed as defensive forces because they listen. They are coachable. They are honest. They have a drive that can’t be stopped. They guess it comes from God. They never had a role model. They knew love, but there some things were missing.
Louie will graduate later this year with a degree in sociology. Jake will graduate as soon as he can. He is busy now trying to earn a spot with the Super Bowl-champion Giants.
Invited for a tryout, Jake did enough to win a spot in training camp.
He’s used to tough odds.
“It’s a challenge, but it’s not a challenge that I will have to go back to the streets for,” Jake said. “Nothing but good can come out of this situation. That’s why I try to stay positive and claim it.”
Their mother, brother and his wife live in Arizona, stable now. Jake and Louie say they have no resentment. Their prayer was answered, though it took time, distance and patience.
“I know my story can inspire,” Jake said. “I’m ready to help the world.”
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