Samkon Gado: A Little Known but Effective NFL Player
Samkon Gado was one of the few inspiration stories for the Packers in an otherwise difficult 2005 season. He originally joined the Packers when he signed with the team’s practice squad six weeks into the season. He was one of several additions to the practice squad, but he caught the coaching staff’s attention with his veteran-type cuts while running and his vision. He was promoted to the team’s 53 man roster before the eighth game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
The club was looking for a good running back, after Ahman Green’s season ending quadriceps injury and three weeks after Najeh Davenport’s broken ankle. Samkon Gado was expected to receive the majority of snaps before Green and Davenport would return to full speed.
Gado had originally signed with the Kansas City Chiefs before the beginning of the 2005 season as a non drafted free agent. After being waived, the Nigerian who had learned football from an American missionary, spent September 5 to October 4 on the Kansas City practice squad.
During the 2005 season Samkon Gado played in eight games, starting five times, after his promotion from the practice squad. He rushed for 582 yards on 143 carries, for a 4.1 yard per carry rushing average. He scored six touchdowns rushing, tying him for the rookie NFL lead with Offensive Rookie of the Year Cardiac Williams. The mark also established a franchise record for rookies. He also caught 10 passes for 77 yards and four touchdowns. His 64 yard touchdown run against Detroit was the Packers’ longest play from scrimmage for the season and the longest run by a Packer rookie since Paul Horning rushed for a 72 yard touchdown in 1957.
Samkon Gado was named to the USA Today’s “All Joe” team for his unrecognized hard work. He was also named the NFL Rookie of the Month for November, after rushing for 283 yards and scoring five touchdowns, four rushing, one receiving. He twice earned the Diet Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Week honors.
Gado did play in 39 games for Liberty University, although he only started twice. He rushed 273 times for his college career for 1,631 yards, and 6.0 yards per carry average. His career high was as a senior, when he rushed for 901 yards, on 138 attempts. He scored team high 11 touchdowns that season. His college career high was in a game against Gardner-Webb, when he rushed for 219 yards and two touchdowns.
“It’s all God’s grace to me,” Samkon Gado said of his success on the website, www.sportsspectrum.com. “I had nothing to do with any of it. It’s been God orchestrating my life. People who know Jesus Christ look at any situation in life as God’s work.”
Samkon Gado was born 23 years ago to Christian parents in Nigeria. His father and grandfather are African missionaries. Jeremiah, his father, worked on his doctorate in divinity at Columbia University in South Carolina and brought his family to the United States when a member of the church he was attending made a donation. Even though nine-year-old Samkon had learned to speak English at an American boarding school, he still found living in the United States difficult, because students picked on him. He said he looked forward to going back to Nigeria, but he never did.
In Columbia, South Carolina, Samkon Gado attended a Christian grade school and then a Christian Academy. He persuaded his parents to let him give up soccer and concentrate on football.
During his sophomore year of high school, he played in a playoff game despite a fractured shinbone. During one game that season he rushed 18 times for 430 yards. For his high school career he rushed for more than 4,600 yards and scored 55 touchdowns.
Despite his football talents, Gado was bypassed by Division I football programs and went to Liberty University. He said being bypassed made him even more aware that his whole identity was wrapped up in his faith in Jesus Christ as God’s Son and his Savior. At Liberty he earned a 3.66 GPA.
Despite his football success, Gado’s greatest desire is to be a doctor.
“I believe God has placed that on my heart” Samkon Gado explained. He says he still feels an obligation to his native Nigeria. The running back says everything he does in life is about fulfilling God’s plan for his life.
Before last season few people in the football world had heard of Samkon Gado before he stared for the Green Bay Packers. Not that he is better known, other teams will no doubt be gearing to stop him. Will his second season equal or surpass his first? Time will tell.
