Three Years After Losing His Dad, Stanley Saole-McKenzie Finds Joy Again

The Cal redshirt junior defensive lineman said time away from Berkeley to support his family in Hawaii enhanced his love for football

Stanley Saole-McKenzie (94) and Akili Calhoun / Al Sermeno, KLC fotos

Cal defensive lineman Stanley Saole-McKenzie has rediscovered something that was sucked out of his life three years ago this month.

“I’ve found joy,” the 22-year-old native of Honolulu said after practice one day this week. “I would say it was pretty hard to find for a while.”

Tony McKenzie, just 48, died three summers ago after contracting COVID-19, leaving his son, two daughters and wife Ammye (Sala) Saole heartbroken.

Stanley returned to the island to be with his family for funeral services and, after suffering a serious leg injury early in the season, decided home was where he needed to be for the remainder of the year. He had the blessing of Cal coach Justin Wilcox and his teammates.

“I want to say thanks a lot to the coaching staff and everybody here at Cal who made me feel good about my decision, going back home and taking the year off,” he said. “It was the right decision.”

Stanley Saole-McKenzie /

Just 19 at the time, Saole-McKenzie understood he had a new role to play at home. That was especially important for his younger sister, a first-grader at the time. 

“I made it like a deal for me and my older cousins, who I call my brothers, we would take her to school every morning,” he recalled. “Make sure she has kind of like a fatherly figure in her life.

“I knew my family needed me back home. My Dad was the man of the house, so with him being gone I went back home.”

Saole-McKenzie, who has added his mother’s maiden name to his last name, is confident his Mom and siblings appreciate the sacrifice he made.

He took classes online — just as he would have in Berkeley at the time, given the pandemic — and he continued to lift weights and run. But there was no football.

“I felt like going back home helped me grow more love for the game. Being away from it for so long, you kind of miss it,” he said. “You wake up every day at like 6 in the morning and . . . I’ve got workouts. Then, never mind — that’s just a rooster outside going off.”

Saole-McKenzie returned to campus in time for spring football in 2022 and received a warm reception.

“I was so eager. First day back, walked in and everybody welcomed me back with open arms. I was just happy to be back,” he said.

Now, even with the passage of time, Saole-McKenzie has a greater appreciation for what he has.

“Everything I’ve been through, it’s crazy to look back at and see that I’m here now. I’m just grateful,” he said. “Everything I’ve been through, you’ve just got to take one day at a time.”

He said his mother is doing well. “She’s glad that I found my joy again. She’s happy that I’m happy.”

Saole-McKenzie is on pace to earn his American Studies degree next spring, and he has plans for how to utilize his focus on public health disparities within the Pacific Islander and Asian American communities.

“Where I come from in Hawaii, there’s a lot of people who are low income. A lot of them are immigrants,” he said. “They’re my people — Pacific Islanders. And a lot of Asian Americans, too, in my community. There’s just not that much knowledge being thrown into our youth and young parents.”

His aunt helps develop community outreach programs and Saole-McKenzie can envision himself working back home as a counselor.

Saole-McKenzie played at powerhouse St. Louis High School, the alma mater of Marcus Mariota and Tau Tagovailoa. But he recalls childhood pals who never made it to college, much less NFL stardom.

“They were great players but they didn’t have the support,” he said. “Or they didn’t have the knowledge that I had or my parents, which I’m grateful for. I think I can make a difference with them in my community.”