It isn’t hard for Penei Sewell to remember why he’s playing football. He just has to look at the watch his father gave him for Christmas.
The Oregon offensive lineman has come a long way from growing up on the tiny, impoverished island of American Samoa to becoming the Detroit Lions' seventh overall pick in the NFL draft.
Sewell grew up in a modest home he called a shack and sometimes slept on the floor. American Samoa has a population of about 55,000 and has one of the nation’s highest poverty rates.