Melila Purcell, Nate Ilaoa, Samson Satele and I are in Stafford, 20 miles outside of Houston, where we're training for the NFL combine.

It's not bad. They have a Wal-Mart, which we make a trip to every night. There are a lot of restaurants. We've been to Jack in the Box the most. Fuddruckers is the best. It's a burger place. They serve a one-pound burger. We train extra hard so we can make room for it. Because Mel has to gain weight and Nate has to lose, Nate eats half a burger and gives the rest to Mel. It all works out.

There's a movie theater out here. We seem to make one or two trips every week.

Right now we're training at a facility called the Plex. It's a half-mile from where we live. It's an indoor facility with a basketball court and a bunch of free weights. They have a FieldTurf field indoors. You can open the gates and the field extends outside. It's a real nice facility.

We have a nutritionist who brings weekly meals for us. A meal can be a sirloin steak with mashed potatoes. They give us a whole bunch of enchiladas and quesadillas. We take them back home. It's 1:30 in the microwave, and it's a good meal.

I'm at 312 pounds. I should stay at that weight, even over here, where there are all of these restaurants.

We're staying in a village with a bunch of condos. It's spread out. I'm in a three-bedroom condo, living with Nate and Mel. Sam is on the other side. He lives with Palauni Ma Sun from Kahuku and Paul Soliai of Utah.

The place is prepaid (by agents). Our share will come out once we figure out the contract situation. Hopefully for many of us, it won't be too much for us to pay.

We have TVs in every bedroom and in the living room. Each TV is hooked up to DISH Network. We've got HBO, the NFL Network. I watch that a lot lately. We're definitely not hurting for any TV.

I bought a DVD player. We go to Blockbuster and watch a lot of movies. Every night we have a movie night.

It was a particularly exciting weekend for me. Learning about my brother (Drew) committing to UH, I'm proud of him. I look forward to him blazing his own trail, as far as his collegiate career. That got the weekend started off good.

I was cheering for the Colts. I like Peyton Manning. Everybody gives him a bad rap for not winning. I wanted to see him win one. He seems like a good leader, someone people would want to play for. The players around him want to respond well. That's how it is at the next level.

I was excited to watch the game. We watched the first half at our apartment, and the second half at the home of one of the workers at the Plex. We had a good time.

We did it Southern style. Barbecue ribs — big pork ribs — dirty rice, potato salad, barbecue sausages, and so on. It was a good meal. I definitely gained a few. It was worth it. We worked hard during the week. It was nice to celebrate with the Super Bowl.

I love Southern food. I'm a meat-and-potatoes guy, anyway. Back home, I'm watching the Food Network, especially when they find places deep in the heart of Texas. There are a lot of different food options here. I love plate lunches but while I'm up here, I might as well taste what other parts of the country have to offer.

Join us for an inside look as former University of Hawai'i football players prepare for the NFL. As many as seven — Samson Satele, Tala Esera, Dane Uperesa, Nate Ilaoa, Ikaika Alama-Francis, Mel Purcell and Leonard Peters — could be NFL bound. We will provide diaries of their experiences, hopefully daily, all the way until the NFL Combine Feb. 22 to 25.