getsome

November 23rd, 2015 at 1:10 PM ^

yeah hes not great at any one aspect of the game but hes pretty good at everything.  houma helps the team as runner, blocker, receiver, ST units like covering kicks, etc - versatile guys like that are huge.  

good coaches like belichek sign several undervalued yet extremely versatile guys each year and put them to work (though its difficult to make squads as a FB given the limited use, competitive market and relatively small turnover at the position each year)

Joined: 09/07/2013

MGoPoints: 7386

rdlwolverine

November 23rd, 2015 at 12:34 PM ^

I lived in American Samoa for 3 years and enjoy reading these articles, but it is a little misleading.  There are only 2 current players in the NFL that were actually born in Samoa and neither played HS football there.  Of the 29 players in NFL history (per sportsreference.com) that were born in American Samoa, only 5 of those 29 played high school football in Samoa.  There are now more D-I players from Samoan high schools than there used to be, but it is still relatively rare.  The vast majority of the Polynesian college players grew up in Hawaii and the mainland (California, Washington and Utah primarily.)  The Mormons have a huge presence in Samoa and many of the ethnic Samoans in the States are Mormon.

 

Joined: 09/28/2008

MGoPoints: 983

Optimism Attache

November 23rd, 2015 at 12:51 PM ^

Yeah, that is a good point. They sort of allude to it in the article, but don't cough up the complete stats. I get the sense that there are a lot of native Samoans--like a couple in the article--who end up in the US for high school, either specifically to play football or because their families are moving for economic reasons. 

Joined: 09/13/2011

MGoPoints: 23980