Wild Samoans Family Tradition Lives On…
Source: Pensacola News Journal
The child inside Joe Anoai hasn’t grown old.
Playing football still carries the same boundless joy. The same passion. The same determination. The same dreams first fueled as a 7-year-old in the Myrtle Grove youth program.
Yes, the stakes are higher, the pressures greater, the demands more difficult.
But the game is the same. It’s everything.
“There’s really not an easy way to describe how many opportunities football has provided me,” said Anoai, an Escambia High graduate who plays his final collegiate game today when Georgia Tech faces West Virginia in the Gator Bowl.
“The sport has meant a lot more than just football for me. It has really opened up so many doors in my life. It’s allowed me to do so many things and see so many different places.”
Soon, football might start a business career.
Anoai (pronounced An-Uh-Why-EE), the Yellow Jackets’ standout defensive tackle, won’t be saying goodbye with the Gator Bowl. It’s only the beginning.
Two seasons of solid play, often his best games against the best teams, has been noticed by NFL scouts. Anoai’s pro football future keeps getting brighter.
“It’s going to answer so many dreams that I built since I was a little boy when I first starting playing,” said Anoai, invited to play in the Jan. 15 Las Vegas All-American Classic that showcases seniors in an East vs. West matchup.
Anoai still can remember bouncing into his parents’ home, bubbling with excitement after seeing a neighborhood buddy tell him about playing football at Myrtle Grove.
“He had just signed up. He had his helmet on and was running around with it,” Anoai said. “It kinda influenced me to do what he did, so I told my mom that’s what I wanted to do.”
His mother, Lisa, has stayed amazed at her son’s focus.
“He has been so determined with football,” she said. “It’s all he wanted to do.”
The irony is football is not the family tradition.
Professional wrestling has been the Anoai’s fame.
His father, Leati, nicknamed Sika, teamed with his brother, Afa, to form the “Wild Samoans,” a hugely popular tag-team on the World Wrestling Federation (now WWE) circuit. They are long retired.
An older brother, Matt, competes in the WWE under the name, “Rosey.” Two cousins also are active in pro wrestling. Another cousin, Yokozuna, was a two-time WWF champion who grew to weigh more than 600 pounds, which ultimately resulted in a fatal heart attack at age 34.
When Joe Anoai was growing up, the backyard was a practice area for the wrestling stunts. A large ring was set up, and it was neighborhood gathering place.
Joe always preferred football.
“I’m sure if (the NFL) doesn’t work out, I would consider doing it,” he said.
Spurred by family support, which often included his father traveling long distances to assure being at Joe’s games, football has been on the top turn-buckle.
Anoai started as a running back, grew into a defensive end during middle school, then played linebacker at Escambia. He was the News Journal’s 2002 Defensive Player of the Year.
The Yellow Jackets recruited him with the idea he could be an effective interior lineman.
They have been proven correct. Anoai packs quickness and leverage into his 6-foot-3, 280-pound body, assuring he can shoot past blockers. He has been Georgia Tech’s top tackle, good enough this season for easy selection on the All-Atlantic Coast Conference first team.
“This has really been the first year I haven’t had a sprained ankle or some small stuff nagging at me,” Anoai said. “I feel blessed with the year I had.
“Coming out of Escambia, I really expected to go into college and have an impact. I try to look at it like my career is not done. I’m still willing to try and grind it out for a few more years, and try and make a living out of this.”
The season has been an emotional roller-coaster for Georgia Tech. After being routed at Clemson (31-7) on Oct. 21, the Yellow Jackets climbed to 9-2 and were ranked No. 16.
But they’ve had a pair of offensive meltdowns, losing to Georgia (15-12), then a field goal-fest (9-6) against Wake Forest in the ACC Championship Game.
That loss cost Tech its dream of playing in the Orange Bowl. While the Gator Bowl is the team’s first New Year’s Day bowl since 1999, it’s a return trip to Jacksonville’s Alltel Stadium, site of the ACC title game.
What’s more, Georgia Tech will be without two of its best players, senior quarterback Reggie Ball and cornerback Kenny Scott, both declared academically ineligible.
Anoai said the team remains unified.
“It doesn’t take much. That’s how close this team is,” he said. “We’re all good friends. The only motivation we need is getting that 10th win.”
To help attain that quest, Yellow Jackets’ coach Chan Gailey asked Anoai to speak to the team during bowl preparations in Atlanta. During the first practice after the Wake Forest loss, Anoai delivered a message about forgetting the recent past, having fun and the importance of a bowl win to reach Tech’s first 10-win season since 1998.
Anoai doesn’t sense a letdown.
“I can only speak for the defense, but I know we’re very confident in what we do,” he said. “It’s a great challenge when you go against a team with as many athletes (as West Virginia) has.”
For personal motivation, this also is Anoai’s last game for Georgia Tech.
“It’s a little emotional when you start thinking about it,” he said. “You start thinking about all the good times, all the rough times you’ve experienced on the field and in the classroom.
“But I’m also looking forward to starting a new chapter in my life.”
