Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 30, Number 12, 1 December 2013 — POLYNESIAN FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

POLYNESIAN FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME

TO HONOR INAUGURAL CLASS INDUCTEES AAA BY LURLINE WAILANA MCGREGOR AAA wwww"w"w- ww-w"vw"w

In June, a delegation of heavyweights in the world of Polynesian football went on a five-day Ameriean Samoa goodwill mission to bring medical supplies, athletic equipment and football clinics to the villages, sponsored by the June Jones and Jesse Sapolu foundations. This year marked its sixth annual visit - and an idea they had been discussing for years finally eame together. "When we visit the villages and see the pictures hanging on the walls of the community centers, they're not of presidents or poliheal leaders. They're of their favorite Polynesian football players, mostly from past generations," reflects Ma'a Tanuvasa, former Denver Broncos defensive end and twotime Super Bowl ehampion, who was on the trip i with 49ers legend and four-time Super Bowl ehamp Jesse Sapolu, former Philadelphia Eagles

running back Reno Mahe and former University of Hawai'i head football eoaeh June Jones. "We've thought about how there's the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the Black College Football Hall of Fame. When we saw the new Boys and Girls Club this year covered with pictures of so many different Polynesian players, it all eame together and we decided it's time for Polynesians to have their own hall of fame." L By July, Tanuvasa and Sapolu had eofounded the Polynesian Football Hall of k Fame organization, whose board of directors also include June Jones, Reno Mahe, Vai Sikahema,thefirstTonganNFLplayerand current television broadcaster in Philadelī' phia, and Troy Polamalu, Samoan strong ■ safety for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The selection committee is an impressive group of household sports names - "guys," Sapolu says, "who have recruited the most Polynesian players and who have had a strong inAuenee in the lives of many Polynesians" - former college head football coaches Dick Tomey, LaVell Edwards and l Ron McBride, and media sportscasters and experts Neil Everett, Gil ] Brandt and Robert Kekaula. ■ "We started with a list of 100 ■ nominees and narrowed it down to H 25 finalists. From there we picked ■ the top seven, basing it on want- ■ ing a well-rounded and diverse ■ group," says Tomey, former ■ head football eoaeh at the University of Hawai'i, University of Arizona and San Jose State University. "Everyone has a very interesting story, and while we were unanimous ■ in our selection of the first inductees, I think there i ĪH will be others from this list who will be picked in

the future. It is going to be increasingly difficult to piek inductees as the list gets longer." The seven inaugural inductees, all former players, are: Native Hawaiians Kurt Keola Gouveia, Olin George Kreutz, Herman Wedemeyer and Kevin James Mawae and Samoans īiaina Baul "Junior" Seau Jr. and Jack Thompson. Former player and current head football eoaeh of the U.S. Naval Academy Ken Niumatalolo is an inductee in the coaching category. This inaugural class will be honored at an enshrinement ceremony at the Hawai'i Convention Center in Honolulu on Jan. 23, 20 14, three days before the Pro Bowl takes plaee at Aloha Stadium. "The guidelines we gave the selection committee were to piek inductees according to their accomplishments," Sapolu says. "We wanted to acknowledge the older players first, but in the future, if a current player has a strong pedigree, they could be considered as well, and we will be making the criteria more specific as we go along." Quarterback Jack Thompson, known as "The Throwin' Samoan" since his days at Washington State University, earned the National Collegiate Athletic Association

career record for passing yards in 1978. He went on to play in the NFL for the Cincinnati Bengals and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. "When I was little, I remember my dad getting all hyped up about a Polynesian All-American football player at Michigan State named Bob Apisa," Thompson recalls of the Farrington High graduate. "We watched the historic 1966 football game between Michigan State and Notre Dame, and when I saw Bob Apisa on the field, I thought maybe I could do that, too. It was the mental barriers that stood in our way as Polynesian players, and as we started to make our mark, those barriers have tumbled. It's a foregone conclusion for Polynesian kids coming up today that they ean play the sport." "One of the great privileges of my life was getting familiar with Polynesian players and their cultures," says Tomey. "The family commitment, both of the family to the player as well as the player to the family is critical to the success of any football player, and I found these values especially compatible with Polynesian culture. The Polynesian players, whether they were raised on the

mainland or in the Islands, are unselfish and very family oriented, that's why they excel so mueh." Sapolu expands on their inspiration and vision for the new hall of fame. "These young Polynesian football players coming up into the leagues need to know who we are," he says, referring to his generation of players. "These days, there is so mueh money out there, a 22-year-old ean make a $25 million bonus in a 10-minute phone eall. We want them to remember, when all this sudden fame and money comes to them, that they need to carry their family with them and remember who knocked down the doors to get them where they are today. "We don't want them to ever forget where they j eame from and that they must always carry the , pride and respect of their culture. This includes I not only Polynesians from the Islands, but those I who are born and raised on the mainland." M Tanuvasa says a portion of the proceeds raised H at the enshrinement ceremony "will be divided among the inductees and the families of those H who have passed (Herman Wedemeyer and

Junior Seau), to give to their college alma maters." "It ean be used for scholarships or athletic programs for any sport, male or female." Sapolu adds that some of the money raised will also go to college scholarships for Polynesian students who do well academically, whether or not they are involved in sports programs. Sapolu says that this first year, they were focused primarily on launching the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame, and as the organization gains momentum, he anticipates adding more board members, selection committee mem- MĒl bers and creating more guidelines for H the selection of inductees. "We will H be looking for more NFL inAuenee H and organizational participation _ H

as well because this is not only about college football, it's about professional football where only the best will go on to JĒĒ make a career." The board is working Ly5( on finding a permanent site for the hall of fame in Hawai'i because of its location midway between Samoa and the continent. For now, they are building the organization with the anticipation that there will be many, many Polynesian football players following in their footsteps. ■ Lwīine Waiīana McGregor is a writer, filmmaker and M author o/Between The Deep Blue Sea and Me.

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Photos courtesy of HONOLULU STAR-ADVERTISER

KURT KEOLA G0UVEIA ■ Native Hawaiian, born1964inHono- 1 lulu. He led the Wai'anae High School 1 Seariders to three consecutive state ' titles and was the first in Hawai'i history to be named player of the year for both offense and defense.

He was a member of the Brigham Young University's 1984 nahonal championship before spending 13 seasons as a linebacker with the Washington Redskins, Philadelphia Eagles and San Diego Chargers. The twotime Super Bowl ehampion

and Hawai'i Sports Hall of Fame inductee is the assistant linebackers eoaeh for the Sac- ■ ramento Mountain Lions of the United Football ?

League. ' OLIN GE0RGE KREUTZ Native Hawaiian, born 1977 in Honolulu. The two-time Super Bowl ehampion excelled in sports

at Saint Louis School, earning All-State and SuperPrep All-American honors in football and a Hawai'i state heavyweight championship in wrestling. A consensus All-American, he turned pro after his junior year at the University of Washington and spent 14 seasons as a center for the Chicago Bears and New Orleans Saints. The Hawai'i SDorts Hall of Fame

inductee has four AII-Pro seasons and six Pro Bowls to his name. He retired in 2011 and lives in Lake Forest, lllinois, and Kalama Valley, O'ahu.

KEVIN JAMES MAWAE Native Hawaiian, born 1971 in Savannah, Georgia. He attended Leesville High School in Louisiana and played for Louisiana State University. In 16 seasons with the Seattle Seahawks, New York Jets and Tennessee Titans, he was an eight-time AII-Pro, eight-time Pro Bowler and 2009 Ed Block Courage awardee. Named to the 2000s NFL AllDecade Team and Jets All-Time Four Decade Team, Mawae, a center, was the first Polynesian

president of the NFL Players Association. He retired in 2010 and lives in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

ĪIAINA BAUL "JUNI0R" SEAU,JR. Samoan, born 1969 in San Diego, California. A starting linebacker and tight end at Oceanside High School in California, he played for the University of Southern California before his 20 seasons in the NFL, including 12 Pro Bowls. Drafted fifth player overall by the San Diego Chargers, he was named AII-Pro 10 times, won the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award and AFC player of the year in 1994, and was named to the 1990s NFL AllDecade Team. A Chargers Hall of Famer. he also nlaved

for the Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots. He retired in 2010 and died in 2012.

k JACK TH0MPS0N Samoan, born 1956 in Tutuila, American Samoa.

A graduate oī Fvergreen High School, south of Seattle, he played quarterback for Washington State University. "The Throwin' Samoan" set Pacific 10 Conference and WSU records for attempts

(1,086), completions T (601) and total plays (1,345), and |r became the first junior in eonference history to exceed 5,000 I passing yards. A Sporting News I First-Team All-American, he was I drafted third player overall by the Cincinnati Bengals, the highest ever for a Polynesian, later playing for the Tampa Bay Bucanneers. He retired in 1985 after six seasons in the NFL, and is a mortgage banker in Seattle.

HERMAN J0HN WEDEMEYER Native Hawaiian, born 1924 in Hilo, Hawai'i. Afootballand baseball standout at then-Saint Louis College in Hawai'i, "Squirmin' Herman" played halfback for St. Mary's College in California, earning consesus

All-American and finishing fourth in 1945 Heisman voting. The first Polynesian to be inducted into the College ■* Football Hall of Fame, in 1979, he was a first- - round draft piek for the All-America Football i Conference's Los Angeles Dons, leading the conference in punt-return yards, later playing for the Baltimore Colts. The Hawai'i Sports Hall of Fame inductee retired in 1949 after an injury and returned to Hawai'i, becoming a businessman, actor and poliīieian. He died in 1999.

I KEN NIUMATAL0L0 Samoan, born 1965 in Lā'ie, Hawai'i. A J football and basketball star at Radford High p in Honolulu, the three-year Rainbow quarterback led the University of Hawai'i to its first postseason bowl game, in 1989. He coached at UH, UNLV and the U.S. Naval Academy, before

Deing promoiea 10 ieaa ine ivnasnipmen in lfl 2007, becoming the first Samoan collegiate head eoaeh. As Navy head eoaeh, he set school records ■ for most wins in his first five years (40) and for leading i| Navy to a bowl game in eaeh of his first three seasons. M Navy has won three Commander-ln-Chief's trophies 1 during his five-year tenure, earning him distinction as the first Service Academy eoaeh to win the trophy in his first two years. Soutce: Polynesian Poohll Hall ofFame, Wikipeelia, hawaiisportshalloffame. eom, archives.starbulletin. eom, honoluluadvertiser.com, WSUAthletic Communications and navysports.com.

Headshots courtesy ofPolynesian Poohll Hall of Pame

iaek īhompson photos courtesy of WSU Athletic %^ommunications