Join Our Community

Take advantage of our member benefits when you sign up | log-in

Related Sections: Sports Sports - High school Sports - College Sports - Recruiting

Web Search powered by YAHOO!

Friday night lights: Lawton's Sonny Puletasi is talented on the football field ... and at the piano
Lawton’s Puletasi has taken to football ... and the piano

BY RYAN ABER Comments 0
Published: October 2, 2009

LAWTON — This summer, Lawton defensive end Sonny Puletasi came to his football coach, worried.

Lawton standout defensive end Sonny Puletasi, who is committed to Wyoming, plays the piano for his church. Photo By John Clanton, The Oklahoman

Multimedia

More Info

No. 6 Mustang (3-1) at Lawton (4-0)

→When: 7:30 tonight

→Where: Cameron Stadium, Lawton

→Key matchup: Lawton defensive end Sonny Puletasi vs. Mustang offensive lineman Bronson Irwin. Both players are widely considered the best at their positions in the state. Puletasi is committed to Wyoming and Irwin to Oklahoma. Puletasi has 35 tackles and seven sacks.

NewsOK Related Articles

Samoans in the NFL: Troy Polamalu, Rey Maualuga...
10/02/2009 Samoans in the NFL Around 30 current NFL players are either from American Samoa or of Samoan heritage. A look at some of the most prominent current and...
Sonny Puletasi says family OK after earthquake and...
10/02/2009 Earthquake and tsunami hit American Samoa, Samoa and Tonga American Samoa is an unincorporated territory of the U.S. in the South Pacific Ocean. An...

Lawton coach Randy Breeze could tell something was weighing heavily on Puletasi’s mind.

"I’ve got to miss weights this week, coach,” Puletasi said.

Like many coaches, Breeze immediately wondered why. What could pull him away from preparing for his senior season?

"My church is having a revival this week, and I’ve got to go to Oklahoma City to play the piano,” Puletasi said.

Breeze gave his blessing. Being in the 100 percent club — attending every one of 40-plus weight training sessions — is a big deal at Lawton. The only excuses allowed are family vacations and church functions.

It was also the first Breeze had heard of Puletasi’s abilities behind the piano.

That there would be surprises with Puletasi was no revelation to Lawton’s coaches.

Puletasi, who is Samoan, is known as a quiet person.

Most of what the coaches hear him say, at least directed toward them, is either, "Yes, sir,” or "No, sir.”

"I didn’t know how well he spoke English for a while after I met him,” Breeze said. "Because that’s all he would say.”

‘Man, I’m hungry’

Puletasi was born in Lawton and lived there until he was 5. But when his parents divorced, his father, Sani Puletasi, sent Sonny to live with his grandparents in American Samoa.

He didn’t play football in American Samoa, but knew he would likely return to the U.S. to play high school football. His father, who was in the Army until retiring just before Sonny moved back to Lawton, always wanted him to play football.

Many American Samoans join the military to help themselves financially, but football has been a popular escape as well. According to estimates, a Samoan boy is about 40 times more likely to make it to the NFL than a boy from the mainland.

Part of that, at least, is the draw to the weight room.

Teammate Carlos Nazario met Puletasi in the weight room.

"That’s all he likes to do,” Nazario said.

Well, that and eat.

"Everytime I go out he’s saying, ‘Man, I’m hungry,’” teammate Jabral Johnson said. "But I guess you have to eat a lot when you spend that much time in the weight room.”

After he moved to Lawton, Puletasi decided to wait for a year before starting to play football, deciding instead to put in the work in the weight room.

He’d lifted weights in American Samoa but really started working hard in the weight room during his freshman year.

"I think it’s in the blood of a Samoan to lift,” Puletasi said. "My dad trained, so I just followed through his workouts.”

Ear for music

While he didn’t play football in Samoa, he did take up the piano, after his grandparents pushed him to give it a try.

"They wanted me to play piano for the church over there,” Puletasi said.

They put him in lessons during the summer of his seventh-grade year. The lessons didn’t stick.

"I learned some but not that much,” he said.

So instead, he started to play on his own, listening to the songs and trying to imitate them.

He quickly took to the piano. Sani had started a Samoan church in Lawton, and when Sonny moved back, he started playing there.

Laramie or bust

The recruiting process was a quick one for Puletasi.

He didn’t seriously consider that college football was a possibility until after last season, when the Lawton coaches told him recruiters were paying attention.

Wyoming, and especially outside linebackers coach Mike Fanoga, pursued him doggedly. Fanoga, a first-year coach for the Cowboys, is a native of American Samoa.

Puletasi’s father was immediately drawn to Fanoga and Wyoming.

"What does he need to do to play for Wyoming?” Sani asked Wyoming’s coaching staff.

When they told him Sonny just needed to say he was committed to Wyoming and sign with the Cowboys in February, Sani wasted no time making Puletasi’s intentions known.

Sonny Puletasi still hasn’t been to Laramie, Wyo., where the school is located.

"I’m looking forward to visiting after football season,” Sonny said. "It’s always good to get to know a good place; to have a new place to go to school and new places to live.”

That hasn’t stopped other colleges from going after Puletasi since his oral commitment. Oregon and Stanford, especially, have tried to sway him away from Wyoming. But Puletasi isn’t budging.

Puletasi, known as a good student, was recently named the school’s Student of the Month. Some Lawton coaches say Big 12 schools missed out by not recruiting Sonny sooner.

"He’s everything you’d want a player to be,” Lawton assistant Brad Widger said. "He’s how you wish your son would act. He’s one of the best leaders I’ve ever been around. The kids just cling to him. I’ve never see anybody lead as well as he does without having to say much.”