The Strength of Samson
Before he reported to training camp, ex-UH star Samson Satele sat down with MidWeek to talk about his record-breaking rookie season with the Miami Dolphins. As a UH Warrior, Samson Satele was The King, and following his senior season was considered by analysts the second best center in the 2007 NFL draft.
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SAMSON SATELE IS THE CENTER OF ATTENTION AFTER A RECORD-SETTING ROOKIE SEASON
As a UH Warrior, Samson Satele was The King, and following his senior season was considered by analysts the second best center in the 2007 NFL draft. To Bill Parcels, his prickly new boss with the Miami Dolphins, Satele is expected to be the anchor of a rebuilt offensive line that includes the league’s top pick and highest-paid lineman. It’s an assignment many veterans are not able to handle, let alone a quiet 23-year-old with only two years’ experience playing the position.
Not that such pressure worries the Kailua High School grad. In fact, the expectation of greatness, mostly from himself, is the fuel that enabled him to dislodge a veteran while making team history. Satele is the first center to start every game as a Miami rookie - a feat that hall of famers Jim Duchowny and Dwight Stevenson failed to accomplish.
“I haven’t really thought about it,” he says of his historic achievement. “I met Dwight Stevenson. Everyone says he was the best, and I told myself that one day I hope they remember me like they remember him. I want to be better than those two guys.”
About as far away from Hawaii as a person can go in the U.S., Samson has found himself a comfortable new place to call home. Outside of games and practice, he lives a quiet life in a gated community with girlfriend Lenora Fonoti - safely removed from the dangers of South Beach that can prey on a young athlete suddenly flush with cash and notoriety. Entertainment for the young couple is low key, especially during the season where his one day off is usually spent recovering from an offensive lineman’s hand-to-hand combat on Sundays. When not tending to bruises or studying for the next opponent, they live Hawaii-style in Miami with trips to the beach and barbecues with his Polynesian teammates, including former Warrior Reagan Mauia. Such get-togethers are a real treat, as a Satele cookout leaves nothing to want - as MidWeek recently discovered while he was home in Hawaii for the summer.
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Samson knew he was going to be a Dolphin. After speaking with then offensive line coach Hudson Hawk at the University of Hawaii pro day, he told Lenora they were soon to leave for Miami. He had already invested in a Dolphins hat when the family gathered to watch their dreams unfold.
Still, the call confirming the Dolphins had drafted him in April of last year came as a surprise.
“I thought it was a prank at first. I thought it was one of my friends. I don’t know how they’d get a 954 number, but I just thought it was a prank,” he recalls. “Then I heard coach’s voice and I was like this is for real. I wanted to cry, but at the same time I wanted to show my man side.”
While the assembled family and friends erupted into ear-splitting joy as his name rolled across the TV screen, it would be some time before he was able to celebrate appropriately.
“I wanted to really yell, stand up and jump, but I couldn’t. I had to talk and they kept me on the phone for 20 minutes. After that I got to let everything out.”
Finally, after business had been taken care of and the crowd had expelled its initial wave of energy, the real celebration began not with high fives, beverages hoisted in salute, displays of braggadocio or pledges of future Super Bowl glory, but with a quiet, tear-filled celebration that only a father and son could truly appreciate.
“Me and my dad (Faalata) were
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