This summer, there was no doubt University of Hawaii football player Makani Kema-Kaleiwahea would refuse to be sidelined after suffering a fractured left wrist during training camp. He was fitted for a cast, bit his mouthpiece and never missed a practice or game.

This week, there was no doubt Kema-Kaleiwahea would embrace the move from weak-side linebacker to defensive end when injuries and other circumstances shortened the defensive-line rotation. He studied videos, consulted with D-line coach Lance Samuseva, and spent extra time working on his footwork and hand techniques.

And there was no doubt about what Kema-Kaleiwahea would do when two boys who were raised as his foster brothers needed a home a few years ago.

"When the situation happened, whether we were going to take in the kids or not, we were going to do it," Kema-Kaleiwahea said. "There was no question about it."

At the time, Kema-Kaleiwahea and his future wife, Brianna, were 18-year-old freshmen at Arizona. They earned their certification to become foster parents, and then received guardianship of the two boys. This past November, the adoption was finalized. In January, the family moved back to Hawaii, where Kema-Kaleiwahea joined the Warriors.

Carol Punski, of Casey Family Programs, helped Makani and Brianna through the adoption process. Based on Punski’s recommendation, Makani and Brianna recently were one of 10 sets of parents to win a 2015 Adoption Excellence Award. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services established the award in 1997 to "recognize accomplishments in achieving permanency for America’s children awaiting foster care."

"We’re honored," Kema-Kaleiwahea said. "We didn’t do it to be recognized by other people. We did it because it was the right thing to do."

He credited his mother-in-law, Traci Kaleiwahea, who helps care for the boys.

"I never really had a parent growing up in my life," Kema-Kaleiwahea said. "She’s my parent. I look up to her. She helps us out. She treats me like I’m one of her own."

Kema-Kaleiwahea prepares his sons for school every morning, helps with their homework, and attends their extra-curricular activities.

"My wife and I talk over everything with them," Kema-Kaleiwahea said. "We talk about house rules and morals and beliefs, and just being a good person. and always helping others before helping yourself. In our family, we’re caretakers. We take care of other people. We like to take care of people who are in bad situations. We try to be as helpful as we can."

Each day, Kema-Kaleiwahea said, "I talk to myself a lot and pray, and I teach myself to be a good person, and just to be happy. If you’re a negative person, you’re going to live a negative life. I not only try to live a positive life, I try to teach others to live like that, as well."