Hollywood couldn’t have written a better script. A young boy named Samkon Gado moves to the U.S. from Nigeria. He has aspirations of becoming a missionary doctor. Millions of other American children have dreams of making it to the NFL. This amazing story recounts Samkon’s life and how his dream will have to wait to live the American dream. Jeremiah came from Nigeria to the United States, the land of opportunity, to pursue a career as a missionary. One year later, his family joined him in America, so that his children could be educated and given an opportunity to succeed. Samkon, Jeremiah’s only son, looked to follow in his father’s footsteps and wanted to become a missionary doctor. Samkon, just nine years old at the time of his family’s immigration, was a very talented soccer player in Nigeria. When he came to America, he soon realized that soccer was no longer the sport of choice. As he grew up, all his friends began to play football, so naturally he decided to give it a try. It took some convincing to get his father to let him play because of his small size. Eventually Jeremiah was convinced, and Samkon was allowed to play. It didn’t take long for Samkon to grasp football, and his natural athleticism quickly took over. During his junior and senior years as a running back, Samkon had ten games where he rushed for more than 200 yards. In addition to being named athlete of the year at his high school in Columbia, South Carolina, he received all-area, all-region, and all-state honors in football.
Samkon was clearly a great player, but he still wanted to be a missionary doctor in Nigeria. He decided to attend Liberty University, a Division I-AA university. Samkon was a solid running back in college, but he only started two games in his collegiate career. He played in thirty-nine games overall totaling twenty-two touchdowns on the ground and through the air during that time. His solid play as a backup running back, and his stellar play on special teams earned him a first-team All-Big South Conference pick. He was also on the all-conference academic team with a 3.66 GPA, and he graduated with a B.S. degree in health promotions.
This is where the Cinderella story really begins. What professional team would actually consider a backup running back from a small Christian School in Virginia? Samkon’s coach at Liberty was Ken Karcher, a former backup quarterback to John Elway. Karcher was also an old friend with Al Saunders, the Chief’s offensive coordinator. Saunders listened to Karcher’s persistent pleas to give Samkon a chance. Saunders finally obliged and Samkon was invited to the Chief’s training camp. Samkon really impressed the Chief’s coaches and Saunders said that Samkon might be good enough to make it beyond training camp. Samkon was close to making the team, but he was put on the practice squad where he spent a few months. It probably didn’t help that the people he was competing against were guys named Priest Holmes and Larry Johnson.
Things didn’t work out even on the practice squad, and he was released, only to be signed to the practice squad of the Packers. The Packers were struggling mightily and things were getting worse. Ahman Green, the Packers veteran running back was injured for the season. Shortly after that, Green’s backup, Najeh Davenport, got injured. Just like that, Samkon was signed to the active roster. A minor injury to Tony Fisher, Green Bay’s third-string running back, and a season-ending injury to probably fourth-string back Walt Williams paved the way for Samkon. Samkon made his first appearance of the year against the Steelers, a successful sixty-two yard performance. He followed that up the following week with a stellar 103-yard rushing performance in a win against the Falcons on his twenty-third birthday. It was the first 100-yard game by a Packer running back all season and it all but sealed a chance for Samkon to retain the starting job, at least for the remainder of the season.
Well, that’s the story. I can’t think of a better Cinderella story than that. A nine-year old soccer player excels in football in high school only to become a backup at a small Christian School in Virginia. He then makes his way to the pros and through a series of unfortunate (or fortunate, depending on how you look at it) events, he cracks the starting lineup for the Green Bay Packers. While it’s not a rags to riches story, I think it’s pretty impressive that a nine-year old soccer player from Nigeria is now playing at Lambeau Field in front of an audience displaying signs like, “In Gado We Trust.”
This is truly an amazing story. I don’t know how long he’ll stay a starter or how long he’ll be in the league, but for now, he’s the best Cinderella story in the NFL. I’m sorry Samkon Gado; your dreams of becoming a missionary doctor will just have to wait a little bit! You just Gado love this story!