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), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to: Sports * A position in various kinds of football, including: ** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position ** Fullback (gridiron football), in Americ ...

. Houma was born in

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

, the son of immigrants from

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

. He grew up in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

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 speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...

, 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 , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

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 (; plural ''haka'', in both Māori and English) are a variety of ceremonial performance art in Māori culture. It is often performed by a group, with vigorous movements and stamping of the feet with rhythmically shouted or chanted accompani ...

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 football coach and former quarterback, who is the current and 20th head football coach of the Michigan Wolverines. He played college football at Michigan from 1983 to 1986. He play ...

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 De'Veon Le'trell Smith (born November 8, 1994) is an American football running back for the Arlington Renegades of the XFL. He played college football at Michigan, and was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Miami Dolphins in 2017. He play ...

, 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 league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

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