By Phil Jensen
Special to Chabot Athletics
Chabot offensive tackle Esa Pole's journey to becoming an NCAA Division I football prospect certainly wasn't a typical one.
Pole didn't play football in high school at all due to his guardian's objections for safety reasons. Pole, who was 6-foot-6 at the time and is now 6-7, played basketball instead at Mt. Eden High School and graduated from there in 2019. He entered his freshman year at Cal State East Bay planning to play basketball there as a walk-on, but that never happened.
"The idea of me playing football dawned on me," Pole said. "I asked (my brother Kalafitoni) 'what do you think of me playing football?'"
Kalafitoni, a former professional football player who is now the defensive line coach at Chabot, "loved it", Esa said.
Esa enrolled at Chabot in 2021 and less than two years later, the 6-foot-7, 320-pound offensive tackle has received five scholarship offers in his sophomore season this fall.
"Football in a way has given me another chance and to make something out of my name," Esa said. "My older brother did a good job holding that name up and my siblings hold up that name.
"I loved basketball, don't get me wrong," he also said. "But (starting) football, just the things you need to be good at, I fell in love with it. Just the workouts in the morning, the workouts in practice, all the sled pushes, weight room, late night workouts with my brother. You look back and notice you don't do those things unless you love the sport. I fell in love with the grind.
"You're in some kind of training all four seasons of the year. It's a gladiator sport for sure, no pun intended."
"He's one of our captains. He's a good leader," Chabot coach Eric Fanene said. "He's just so naturally good at that position, especially what we do, throw the ball. He's pretty efficient, he does his job."
But Esa didn't have his sights on an offensive line position when he started playing football.
"When I first came to Chabot, I planned on playing defensive line. The spring before the 2021 season, I dropped to 290 (pounds)," Esa said. But he also said that Chabot had a big need for offensive tackles and he decided to become an offensive lineman.
In his first game, Esa suffered a knee injury against Fresno City College in 2021, Although he was able to return for conference play later in the season, he still needed to get a number of reps under his belt for experience.
When asked what the hardest thing was to learn about the left tackle position or offensive line, Esa said "In general, it was just playing to speed. When you are learning a new sport, you obviously have to think a lot because you don't know a lot of things. You hesitate."
What was the easiest thing?
"I think it was the footwork because I played basketball. It was almost like playing defense on the court. You have to mirror your opponent." Esa said. "When the big man came up to the top of the key, I had to mirror him."
Esa said that what he likes most about the left tackle position is the responsibility. "For a right-handed quarterback, you have the blind side of the quarterback. You have to respect it," he said.
Kalafitoni (Toni) Pole, a 2010 James Logan graduate, played Division I football as a defensive lineman at Washington State and signed as a free agent with the Cincinnati Bengals in 2015 before two seasons of arena football, so he knows about top-level players.
"It's not easy for a guy to pick up football in two years and not only that, play in junior college," said Kalafitoni. "My favorite thing about Esa is he's smart. … You can tell him something and he understands concepts."
Fresno State, Utah State, Hawaii, New Mexico State and Lindenwood have all offered Esa scholarships. He said he doesn't plan on making a decision until after this season.
"I really want to ball out for my guys here before I worry about next season. I owe a lot to this program. I see a lot of potential for my guys," said Esa, who has a 3.4 grade point average at Chabot.
Esa knows he has a lot of people to be thankful for concerning his football career, which continues to blossom.
"I feel like every day I learn something new. I feel I haven't touched the surface," he said. "Thankful for my family for supporting (my football career). Thankful for my older brother not letting me slack."