Pouha again on a mission in Pittsburgh

Sione Pouha grew up in the Mormon faith, so when it came time for him to serve his Latter-Day Saints mission, he eagerly awaited notice of where he would be sent.

He had friends who had gone all around the world - Europe, Asia, the South Pacific - and there was no telling where he would be sent to spread the word of his beliefs and do good deeds.

Then he found out. He was going to Pittsburgh.

"Pittsburgh?" he said this week, mimicking the shock he had at the time. "Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania?"

Pouha spent almost two full years serving the community in western Pennsylvania, from late in 1998 to 2000. Now, more than a decade later, he is returning to the Steel City not to save hearts but to break them.

"This is the mission now," the Jets' starting nose tackle said of Sunday's AFC Championship Game against the Steelers. "That one's done. I'm on another mission. The Gospel of Rex. It's crazy."

Pouha, whose parents emigrated from Tonga and who was raised in Salt Lake City, does not look like the kind of door-to-door religion salesman many people imagine when they think of Mormons who come knocking with brochures to talk about religion. He's 6-3, and at the time of his work in Pittsburgh, he was about 300 pounds (he's listed at 325 now). His long hair spills over his back, now growing ever longer as a tribute to his deceased father, and he has the inherent snarl of a nose tackle.

But Pouha, who will turn 32 Feb. 3, said he found ways to use his intimidating stature to his advantage.

"I did feel like there was a presence of attention at the beginning where people were like, 'Oh, I can't really tell this guy to shut up,' " he said. "But a couple of times, people would shut the door in my face, ask me what I'm doing out there wasting my time. I've had my share of rejection, that's for sure."

The lifestyle he led for those two years was spare. No television, no radio, no Internet. Missionaries are allowed to call home only twice a year, once on Christmas and once on Mother's Day. It's 24-7 work in soup kitchens and Salvation Armies and walking the streets looking to engage people in conversation.

But there also is very little supervision. Pouha quickly realized that there was no one to make sure he was up in the morning or in bed at the proper time. "You're really independent during that period of time," he said.

As such, Pittsburgh has a special place in his heart.

"I think Pittsburgh made a difference in me more than I made a difference in it," he said. "I went out there and sacrificed my time for the people, but that was the moment in my life when I went from being a boy to being a man. Where I crossed the road . . . It was the first time in my life that I made a decision and stuck to it. That was the bridge."

Pouha did make a difference in Pittsburgh. He's learning just how much this week as familiar names and voices send him messages. His Facebook page is filled with comments such as "Is this how you imagined coming back to Pittsburgh?" and "We're rooting for the Steelers, but we'll also be rooting for you!"

Pouha seemed startled and humbled by that kind of attention. "There's tons of people that I've come across and going back to Pittsburgh now, people have written me," he said. "It's been 10 years, and for people to still remember - 'Hey, there's Sione! We remember him!' - there must have been an impact somehow for them to remember."

Pouha went on to a successful college career at Utah and is in his sixth season with the Jets. He's started 29 games during the last two regular seasons and all five of the playoff games during that span. He's also a husband and father of three, deeply rooted in his faith and his heritage (he and his wife, Keiti Kaufusi Pouha, speak Tongan around the house). But there always will be plenty of Pittsburgh in Pouha.

"You don't realize the meaning of your calling until after," he said of the initial disappointment of being sent there. "My buddies were coming back speaking Spanish and speaking French and all that stuff, and I'm coming back still speaking English. But that was the right mission for me. That was the right location for me."

Now he's hoping it's the right location for the Jets.

"I went there for a mission of my faith," he said. "I feel that I accomplished that mission pretty well, so I'm hoping for the same thing this Sunday."