INDIANAPOLIS — Boise State RB George Holani had a unique upbringing with Tongan parents who moved to New Zealand, where he was born. His dad played rugby and ran track, but had little-to-no knowledge of American football, so it came as a surprise when Holani decided to play the sport and was actually good at it.
“When I was about 8 years old, that’s when I started playing football,” Holani said during an interview session at the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine. “My dad was making me do 300 sit ups every day for a whole week straight. Once I started playing football games, I’m over there chugging muscle milk in the morning…my dad taught me many things, everything I know.”
Many players have parents who push them into sports and teach them about the game from their past experiences, but Holani had to carve out his own path.
He came off as extremely humble in the interview, at one point saying he was good at the sport before correcting himself to “kind of good,” almost as if he was uncomfortable with the possibility that it would come off as boastful or arrogant.
In five years at Boise State, Holani rushed for 3,596 yards on 685 carries with a 5.2 average, and added another 777 receiving yards on 88 receptions with 34 total touchdowns. He made a name for himself in his true-freshman season scoring 10 of those 34 touchdowns and logging his first 1,000-yard season. An undisclosed lower body injury took six games from him in his final season, but he still managed just shy of 1,000 yards from scrimmage and 7 touchdowns.
He was asked when he studies his own film, what are the biggest takeaways that he hopes NFL teams see.
“That I can be an all-down back,” Holani said. “Catch the ball, run the ball and I can block. For me, that’s a big thing…especially pass pro, I wanna take pride in that and be able to protect the quarterback. I want a coach to know that I’m gonna be out there blocking my tail off every down.”
When asked which running backs he would compare his style to, or which backs he watched growing up that he tried to model his game after, Holani mentioned a former Steeler.
“Growing up, I watched the Steelers, so Le’Veon Bell. I kind of like the way he runs, being able to be patient and explosive when he needs to go,” Holani said. “I have met with the Steelers, informal, I met with the Steelers at the Hula Bowl and then I met with the Steelers here. It was awesome. I grew up, my coach was a Steelers fan, it kind of rubbed off on me…I loved watching Troy Polamalu.”
Coming from Polynesian descent, Polamalu was a prominent figure in that community during the time when Holani would have been growing up. Holani was added to the Polynesian College Football Player of the Year watch list prior to the 2022 season.
Given Holani’s other statements about wanting to be an every-down back, Bell is a great player to model his game after. Bell was a great blocker, receiver and ball carrier.
The Steelers could be in the market for a late-round running back such as Holani with Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren both approaching the end of their rookie contracts, and Anthony McFarland Jr. recently being released from the team. The fact that the Steelers have shown interest in him at two different events now says as much. Just a couple years ago, Warren was an undrafted free agent signing and look where he is at now, splitting reps with Harris, who was taken in the first round.
