Untapped recruiting source?

[PonyTales]

ESPN.com has a story today touting Samoa as a hotbed for football talent. Maybe Coach Bennett should make a trip over there to grab a few huge linemen?

"Samoans once were known as fierce warriors who practiced cannibalism. Now they take their aggressions out on the football field, and they do so with uncanny power and skill due to a potent brew of genetics and culture. Their bodies are naturally big-boned; traditional dances make them nimble; and a disciplined upbringing emphasizes the group over the individual, wiring them for team sports."

Check it out:
<A HREF="http://espn.go.com/gen/s/2002/0527/1387562.html" TARGET=_blank>http://espn.go.com/gen/s/2002/0527/1387562.html</A>

[PonyTales]

Here's a quote from the sidebar story that goes with that:

"American Samoa, however, is the true and seemingly unlikeliest of football factories. It is to the NFL what the Dominican Republic is to Major League Baseball. With a population of less than 65,000, it is roughly equivalent in size to Carlsbad, Calif., Schenectady, N.Y., Danbury, Conn., or Hunt, Texas."

I've lived here all my life and I have no idea where Hunt, Texas is. To think a place that small could crank out 28 current NFL players is amazing.

Sidebar link:
<A HREF="http://espn.go.com/gen/s/2002/0527/1387626.html" TARGET=_blank>http://espn.go.com/gen/s/2002/0527/1387626.html</A>

[Phil Fan]

There was a guy who played for A&M when Coach Bennett was there - an offensive lineman named Semisi Heimuli. I think he was Tongan, but maybe he was Samoan. Either way, he was a short, squatty guy who would take on an entire defense by himself, if need be. Incredibly strong. SMU needs to go find a few like him.

[PonyFan]

Speaking of Samoans, it's sad to see what happened to Junior Seau's brother, a defensive lineman at Eastern Washington (I think) University who was shot in the head when a fight broke out at a party recently. He's had some legal issues in the past (the story I read said he pleaded guilty years ago to attempted murder in a shooting incident), but let's all keep him in our thoughts.

[GrapevineMustang]

The article says every team in the PAC-10 has at least one Samoan, and several have many plaers from that area. I think all PonyFans would like to be grouped in with the PAC-10 teams, as far as talent goes. Let's send the coaches on a recruiting trip.

By the way, was Alex Pahulu Samoan? I always liked the way he played. What a tough player.