The
2007 NFL Draft picks Nine (9) Polynesians.
By
Ietuma 03
May 2007
This past weekend was a most successful one for Polynesian athletes
who aspire to play in the NFL. Nine Samoans and Hawaiians were drafted
in this year's NFL draft which is held over a 2 day period consisting
of 7 rounds of selections. In each round the 32 NFL teams are given
a selection which they can use to pick college players who are eligible
to be drafted or they can trade these picks to other teams for a
better position in the draft or for a player.
Although there were no Polynesians drafted in the first round this
year, there was a run of Polys selected in the later rounds starting
with two in the 2nd round. Ikaika Alama-Francis from the University
of Hawaii was selected number 58 in the draft by the Detroit Lions
to play Defensive End. He was closely followed by Samson Satele,
also of the University of Hawaii, who was selected by the Miami
Dolphins as a Center on the Offensive line. Ikaika is Hawaiian.
Samson is Samoan.
The others included Paul Soliai of the University of Utah who plays
Defensive Tackle as well as Reagan Mauia of the University of Hawaii,
who is a running back, joining Samson in Miami. It looks like the
Miami Dolphins like the Poly players and there is a good reason,
they play hard. Reagan is an unusual specimen. He is listed at 351
pounds but has dropped to 281. Initially he was a defensive end
but switched to running back and has been running over people in
short yardage situations ever since. Now the Miami Dolphins have
selected him and he may well be the biggest running back in the
NFL.
The Cincinnati Bengals chose Matt Toeaiina out of the University
of Oregon as a Defensive Tackle while the Cleveland Browns chose
Melila Purcell from the University of Hawaii to play Defensive End.
The Buffalo Bills chose C.J. Ah You from the University of Oklahoma
to play Defensive End and the New England Patriots chose Oscar Lua
of USC as a linebacker, continuing the great USC tradition of producing
great Samoan linebackers and defenders such as Junior Seau, Lofa
Tatupu and Troy Polamalu. The final Polynesian selected in the 7th
round was Nate Ilaoa, a running back out of the University of Hawaii
who was highly regarded by the experts as an impact player once
he got into the NFL. He was picked up by the Philadelphia Eagles.
Last year was the year of the Tongans when both Haloti Ngata and
Deuce Lutui were the top Polynesian players selected in the draft.
It was also a year of diversity in that a Fijian Freddie Keiaho
who was selected by the eventual Super Bowl champion Indianapolis
Colts joined the rest of the Polys including 3 Samoans and 1 Hawaiian,
who were drafted. Last year there was a total of 7 Polynesians selected.
This year there were nine. The number of Polys being selected is
increasing as it should.
It is intriguing to note that the University of Hawaii had 5 players
selected in the draft all of whom were Polynesians. This was equal
to the number of players drafted out of USC. (of which one was a
Polynesian) When you look at the schools that received the most
selections the University of Hawaii is within the top 7 in number
of players drafted. Only Florida, Ohio State, Michigan, Notre Dame,
and Texas had more players selected. Even Miami had only 5 players
selected in the draft.
Obviously the NFL knows where to go to get quality players, the
University of Hawaii, where they produce the most polynesian football
players in the college game today. For a Polynesian athlete trying
to get noticed by the NFL, the University of Hawaii is the place.
Coach June Jones is a strong supporter of the Polynesian athlete.
He has built that program up as the premiere College Football program
featuring Polynesians in the USA. Each year he gets more Polynesians
drafted into the NFL that any other college and his team seems to
be getting more and more clout as the players selected from that
school have been productive and outstanding in the professional
game.
This year there are a number of Polynesians not selected in the
draft that are being invited by professional teams to try out as
free agents, meaning they can try to make the team as a non-drafted
player. These invitations are usually given to those players that
were not drafted yet whom the teams believe may turn out to be as
good if not better than those who were drafted. Each year many of
these invited players beat out drafted players or even veterans
during the pre-season.
Some of the Polynesian players who will surely get invites include:
Joe Anoa'i, a Defensive Tackle out of Georgia Tech, Dane Uperesa,
an Offensive Tackle out of Hawaii, Nuu Tafisi, a Defensive End out
of Cal Berkeley, Taylor Sele a Wide Receiver out of Boston College,
Jake Kuresa, an Offensive Tackle out of BYU, Palauni Ma Sun Jr.,
an Offensive Guard out of Oregon, Tala Esera, and Offensive Guard
out of Oregon, Enoka Lucas, a Center out of Oregon, Kelly Talavou,
a Defensive Tackle out of Utah, and Leonard Peters, a Safety out
of Hawaii. All of these players were rated in the top 100 players
in their position in the college game.
If only half of these players get kept on by the NFL (the rest will
probably play in Europe or Canada) then that would be another 10
Polynesian players added to the number of Polynesians already in
the NFL. If this continues and there is a steady annual addition
to the ranks of the NFL from Polynesia that number will grow and
eventually Polynesians will be recognized as the dominant group
in the NFL.
Ikaika
Alama-Francis
# 64
Samson Satele
Class: Senior
Position: OL
HT/WT 6-3 / 311 lbs.
#45
Matt Toeaina
Defensive End
Height 6-3
Weight 301
# 98
Melila Purcell III
Class: Senior
Position: DL
HT/WT 6-5 / 266 lbs.
Nate
Ilaoa
Height: 5-8
Weight: 248
Position: FB
College: Hawaii
C.J.
Ah You
# 99
Defensive End - DE
Height: 6-4 Weight: 275
Paul
Soliai, a 6-foot-4, 344-pound defensive tackle
from the University of Utah, was selected
108th overall by the Miami Dolphins.
#34
Reagan Mauia
Class: Senior
Position: RB
HT/WT 6-0 / 351 lbs.
Oscar
Lua
Height / Weight:
6-1 / 240
Position:
LB
Class:
RS Senior
Hometown:
Indio, CA
High School
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