A few years ago, CBS' 60 Minutes did a story on football in the American Samoa, which produces more football players per capita than any other place in America. In light of Marcus Mariota's Heisman triumph, I began wondering how much blue chip talent Hawaii and the American Samoa loses to colleges on the mainland every year. If the University of Hawaii had it's own sugar daddy (eg. Phil Knight) that was able to do the things necessary to persuade all these Polynesian kids to stay home, would Hawaii become a major football power capable of competing for national championships?

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Posted by Wrestler171

Member since Apr 2010

875 posts

Posted on 12/13/14 at 9:15 pm to trackfan

Key word is per capita.

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Posted by UFownstSECsince1950

Member since Dec 2009

32610 posts

Posted on 12/13/14 at 9:18 pm to trackfan

Naw. But if the Polynesians who live/grow-up on the mainland were to play exclusively for Hawaii, then maybe.

Ie: Guys like Troy Polamalu, Haloti Ngata, etc

This post was edited on 12/13/14 at 9:21 pm

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Posted by trackfan

Baton Rouge

Member since Sep 2010

19691 posts

Posted on 12/15/14 at 8:50 am to trackfan

Here's an interesting story:

quote:
Heisman Trophy finalist Marcus Mariota has been named the inaugural recipient of the Polynesian College Football Player of the Year Award.

The announcement was made Tuesday in Honolulu by Polynesian College Football Hall of Fame co-founders Jesse Sapolu and Ma'a Tanuvasa.

Mariota is a 6-foot 5, 220-pound quarterback for the University of Oregon Ducks. He was born in Honolulu and is of Samoan descent.

Mariota is considered the clear front-runner to win the 80th Heisman on Saturday night in New York. He would become the first Oregon player to earn college football's most famous player of the year trophy.

"Marcus has orchestrated one of the most prolific offenses in college football this season," Sapolu said in a statement. "He truly represents the very best of our Polynesian culture."

LINK

It seems kind of late for the inaugural edition of this award. Shouldn't it have come 20-30 years ago when Polynesian football players were still on the margins?

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Posted by Boomtown

Member since Jan 2014

1986 posts

Posted on 12/15/14 at 8:55 am to trackfan

The thing with Samoans is even though they are big, they aren't fast and athletic like the lineman from the South (i'm not touching that one with a ten foot pole).

A lot of their football players end up at smaller schools, they certainly aren't dominating any SEC lines.

This post was edited on 12/15/14 at 8:56 am

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Posted by Dr. Shultz

Baton Rouge, La

Member since Jun 2013

6391 posts

Posted on 12/15/14 at 10:10 am to trackfan

How many good Polynesians or whatever in the NFL?

I doubt it's more than 10. 10 good players over a decade of football wont change much

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Posted by Moustache

GEAUX TIGERS

Member since May 2008

21557 posts

Posted on 12/15/14 at 11:02 am to trackfan

quote:
all these Polynesian kids to stay home, would Hawaii become a major football power capable of competing for national championships?

If they can get all the Samoan kids and keep using QB HS in Hawaii to produce guys like Chang, Mariota, etc. they could win their conference year in year out.

They wouldn't compete for titles unless they got the facilities from a sugar daddy and could pluck kids from California and nationally. I just don't see enough kids wanting to be that far from home.

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Posted by Jack Daniel