60 Minutes Attempts to Skirt the Issue of Why so Many Samoans Go to the NFL
Samoan boys are 56 times likelier to go to the NFL than American boys. Rather than making it into a story, 60 Minutes could have solved this mystery in two words: They're huge.
In this clip, we put together interviews of two Samoan high school coaches and the father of Bengals defensive end Jonathan Fanene. When asked why so many Samoan players fit the NFL mold, words like 'discipline', 'obedience', and 'determination' were used. You know who else is determined to go to the NFL? Every high school football player in America.
So why exactly do so many more Samoans go to the NFL? Could it be the combination of determination, discipline, and obedience? Or the fact that they're 6'5" and weigh 280 pounds at the age of 16? It's hard to say.