Patience, perseverance pays off for Whieldons

By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Staff Columnist

Matt and Cathy Whieldon, who invested in the 60-inch big screen television hoping to someday watch their son play college football on it.

Or, Jason, the son who doggedly hoped to start at quarterback for the University of Hawai'i.

Tonight, in front of an enthusiastic gathering of neighbors, family and friends, their enduring faith will be rewarded when Jason quarterbacks the Warriors in their season opener with Appalachian State at Aloha Stadium.

It is a vision that has tested optimism and stretched persistence for going on two seasons now, this belief that Jason could break through the ceiling on the Warriors' marquee position before his eligibility runs out in December.

For truth be told, the gritty player who is generously listed as 6 feet 1 has been something of a long shot ever to take the shotgun snap as a starter for UH, as even he had to have been reminded repeatedly.

When UH first recruited Whieldon out of high school in 1999, the availability of the scholarship was subject to Saint Louis School star Tim Chang not signing with the school. And when UH came back to Jason in junior college in 2001 with another offer, Chang was already solidly entrenched as the QB of the present — and future — having started 12 games for the Warriors.

"He knew all about Timmy Chang, that didn't bother him," Cathy said. "All he wanted was a chance to show what he could do."

Jason was allowed to dream a bit about playing time last preseason when Chang's status was up in the air because of a finger injury. But Chang never gave up the starting role and, for all of Jason's contributions as a short-yardage quarterback — three touchdowns in 18 pass attempts — he plummeted down the depth chart to No. 3 after leaving the team for a week to attend to family business.

When his family watched the Hawai'i Bowl on Christmas Day, the glimpses of Jason were confined to camera shots panning the sidelines. "We were hoping he'd get in," Cathy said. "But he never did."

And while things might have appeared only slightly more promising for this, his senior season, Jason has had high hopes and worked to support them even before the NCAA suspended Chang for the opener for playing in the Hawai'i Bowl while academically ineligible.

"He doesn't give up easily," Cathy said. "That's just the way he has been."

Indeed, under his biography in the team media guide, where the question "fondest memory of playing Warrior football" is asked, Jason replied: "Still to come."

Tonight, on the stage that is Aloha Stadium, and on that big-as-life TV screen in the family living room, the Whieldons receive the payoff on their optimism.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.