He grew up too heavy to play the sport for which he would eventually gain national recognition, yet embraced another that required balancing on a small board with four wheels.

Oregon senior center Max Unger, a 2004 Hawai'i Prep alum from Honaunau, has been named to both the Outland Trophy (best interior lineman) and Rimington Trophy (top center) Watch Lists. The 2007 SI.com All-America first-team honoree has started 38 consecutive games for the Ducks — every game since his redshirt freshman year.

But it wasn't until high school that he was first able to play football. Instead, he passed his time skateboarding.

"I skateboarded pretty much every day from fifth to eighth grade and I was about 200 pounds," Unger said. "It got too expensive. I'd just break boards."

His size — although Unger refutes it — could also be why he chooses not to continue another childhood pastime. Unger grew up "in the boonies; in the middle of nowhere" on his family's ranch about 30 minutes from Kailua, Kona.

"He's too big to ride horses now," Keith Unger said of his 6-foot-5, 300-pound son. "He'll follow behind on the ATV. We don't have horses big enough for him."

Max responded: "That's funny — good one dad. I haven't ridden a horse in a while. I don't really have a strong desire to. No, it's not a size thing."

Unger was active as a youngster, also playing roller hockey, baseball and basketball, but "he was always too big to play Pee Wee and Pop Warner football, so we told him we didn't care what sport he played as long as he was in a sport," Keith said.

Unger's first foray into the game was as a freshman at Hawai'i Prep, where he played on the varsity team because the school did not field a junior varsity program.

"It was a sharp learning curve," Unger said. "It was about the same from not playing to playing in high school and from high school to college.

"Freshman year (of high school) was kind of tough because I had absolutely no idea. But in college, it was a combination of learning the plays, which is absolutely ridiculous, and being strong enough to play."

That's no longer a problem for Unger, who has gained recognition as one of the nation's top players on the offensive line.

He practiced at guard the year he redshirted, then started at tackle his first two years before switching to center last season, taking over for Kamehameha Schools alum Enoka Lucas. Unger has earned recognition in some form or another since his freshman year, ranging from freshman All-American to Pac-10 first-team honors last season.

He said having a year of experience under center "very nice. It took me a while to learn how to snap the ball."

Last year, playing in front of quarterback Dennis Dixon, the Pacific-10 Conference Offensive Player of the Year, and running back Jonathan Stewart, a first-round draft pick, "made our lives a whole lot easier, to say the least."

In 2007, the Ducks started the season 8-1 and were ranked as high as second when Dixon injured his left knee against Arizona and they lost the next three games. Oregon closed the season with a 56-21 rout of South Florida in the Sun Bowl.

"Basically our bowl victory was the high point of the season," Unger said. "It really was a blowout and the most points we scored. Because of that game it was the most successful season we've had since I've been here. Quite a bit happened since I've been there and it was nice to come out on top."