The NFL’s best athlete was made in Samoa, but Penei Sewell is a perfect fit in the Motor City

DETROIT — On a first-quarter play on Thanksgiving, Penei Sewell lined up at tight end instead of his usual right tackle position. At the snap of the ball, the 6-foot-5, 335-pound Sewell turned and burst into his own backfield on an end around. He took a handoff from quarterback Jared Goff while running to his right and looked to throw. Then he reverted to what he knew best.

His stiff arm took Bears linebacker Jack Sanborn to the ground — and has since become a viral meme. Sewell then broke a tackle attempt by linebacker Tremaine Edmunds before three defenders wrestled him to the sideline in one of the most impressive sacks taken in NFL history.

That’s how Sewell played as a child in Samoa. While some of his future Lions teammates trained with virtual reality goggles under the supervision of $200-an-hour coaches, Penei and his brothers used a water bottle filled with a mixture of sand and water for a ball. If one wasn’t available, they might use a coconut.

They made their fields on sea foam. Three against three or four against four, they left marks in the sand and on one another. Their games didn’t test skill as much as mettle. “It was more like rugby style than actual football,” he says. “We were mostly focused on hitting.”

And that’s why, for a moment at Ford Field last week, it was as if Sewell was back where he began.

In the early 1990s, Tropical Cyclones Ofa and Val hit American Samoa, devastating the small island chain located roughly halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand. The Malaeimi village house Gabe Sewell lived in with his parents, sister, brother and two cousins was destroyed. Half of the structure still stood, but all that was left of the other half was wood planks, tin roof decking and other building materials. Gabe and the boys cleaned up the debris and used it to build a second house on the property. It was only 400 square feet, but they fortified and expanded it over time.

They called it “The Shack,” and it later became the home of Gabe, his wife, Arlene, and their five children — including Penei, the third of their four sons.

The Shack didn’t have a sink in the area they called the kitchen, so the boys took the dinner dishes with them in the shower. If it was raining hard enough, they didn’t turn on the water because the rusted roof above them leaked so much. There was no air conditioning, washer, dryer or vacuum cleaner. They had a television, but only a few channels, and to get reception they usually had to slap the back of it.

The Shack had just one bedroom, but it was designated as the holding place for clothes so no one slept in it. Instead, in the living room, they put down a large mattress a few inches thick. Gabe and Arlene lay in the middle with the kids surrounding them. Often, it wasn’t just immediate family. They frequently were joined by a cousin and other kids from the island — with as many as 11 people at a time sleeping on that mattress.

“There was so much laughter, so much playing and so many chores, we didn’t think anything of it,” Gabe says. “We were always busy, and we enjoyed each other’s company. The village kids would come and stay for a couple days. It was always nice having all the kids around.”

They grew ulu, also known as breadfruit, in their yard and cut their grass with a machete. They jumped off massive rocks into the Pacific and used wires and hooks without poles to catch fish. They ran up Matai Mountain, explored and then slid down.

Gabe’s father was a farmer. He prepared kalua pig — cooked in the earth — and brought it to Sunday get-togethers with other villagers, a potluck feast they call a to’ona’i. It was a simple life. “Rich with love,” Arlene says.

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An American territory since 1900, Samoa was introduced to football after a wave of investment in the islands in the 1960s. Since 1971, more than 40 players born on the islands have played in the NFL, and players of Samoan descent — like Hall of Famers Junior Seau and Troy Polamalu — have become some of the league’s brightest stars.

According to the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame, there are more than 60 current NFL players of Polynesian descent. And even though Polynesians comprise only .003 percent of the U.S. population, they made up 5.1 percent of the players selected in the 2024 draft.

In 2011, Steelers great Polamalu visited Samoa with other football players, including NFL stars Ryan Clark, Deuce Lutui, Rey Maualuga, Shaun Nua and Domata Peko — “One of the biggest things I can remember,” Gabe says. The three-day camp was for high school kids, but Penei, then 11, was able to participate because Gabe coached at Marist High School. The pro players brought cleats for more than 600 high school players and uniforms for seven teams. The kids performed a Siva Tau war dance in Polamalu’s honor.

Meeting Polamalu, who never lived on the islands, made the NFL feel attainable to Penei and others in attendance. Not coincidentally, five players who went to that camp now play in the league: Penei, his brothers Nephi and Noah — linebackers with the Saints and Bears, respectively — Patriots defensive tackle Daniel Ekuale and Commanders linebacker Frankie Luvu.

In 2012, Gabe started looking for better medical care after experiencing chest pain. He and Arlene also knew their children would have more opportunities in the United States. But when the family planned their move to Utah, Penei objected, asking if he could stay in Samoa with his auntie. The answer, fortunately for him, was no.

Six years later, Sewell was one of the most highly recruited linemen in the country at Desert Hills High School in St. George, Utah. He chose Oregon from 23 scholarship offers, then started at left tackle in his first game. As a sophomore, he became the first Polynesian to win the Outland Trophy as the best interior lineman in college football.

At the end of that season, he warmed up for the 2020 Rose Bowl, the biggest game of his life. He was in the zone, not seeing or hearing anything, as he walked onto the field. But then he heard a voice calling his name.

“It was Isabelle,” he says of the Oregon cheerleader who had been an acquaintance for about a year. “We locked eyes for a second, and I just remembered that it felt good. It was, like, weird. And then I had to snap back out of it and go play the game.”

Sewell’s devastating blocks helped Oregon beat Wisconsin 28-27. Then he walked away with the roses — and the girl. A few months later, with COVID-19 isolation rules in effect, he stayed with Isabelle and her family. He opted out of the next season and declared for the 2021 draft.

Sewell became the first draft pick of the Brad Holmes/Dan Campbell regime in Detroit and has thrived since being moved to right tackle, where he is widely considered the best in the NFL. Quarterback Jared Goff, who threw Sewell a 9-yard pass in 2022, says he might be the best athlete in the NFL.

Campbell, who used Sewell on a hook-and-ladder play this year, has said if he had a copy of the lineman, one would play tight end. “I’m not kidding,” the coach, a former NFL tight end himself, says. And given Sewell’s passing assignment last week, he might be the only offensive lineman in history more likely to be sacked than to give up one.

Sewell’s athleticism and versatility allow the Lions to move him all around the field after the snap of the ball, making him a weapon in the screen game. Lions center Frank Ragnow believes he is one of the most valuable non-quarterbacks in the league: “When it comes to everything he does as a tackle, he’s one of one.” Ragnow also says Sewell is one of the hardest practicing players on the Lions, which makes him the embodiment of Campbell’s “bite a kneecap off” mentality.

Some — including ESPN’s Mina Kimes and Mike Greenberg and NFL Network’s Gregg Rosenthal — have suggested Sewell should be a candidate for offensive player of the year, an award that has never been won by an offensive lineman.

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At 24, Sewell is a two-time captain. Last year, Goff asked him to take over the weekly pregame speeches on the field. Sewell gets very animated, and it all comes from the heart. “When I’m giving those speeches, I can’t see, I can’t hear,” he says. “I just speak.”

“He’s a good man with a good heart, but put him on the field and he becomes a grizzly bear that wants you out of his territory,” Campbell says. “He’s a team guy that’s competitive, tough, gritty, smart, hardworking and resilient. Calling him a cornerstone piece is selling him short — he’s the slab under it all.”

The morning after the Lions’ Monday night victory over the Seahawks in Week 4, Arlene was preparing to leave Penei’s house for the airport near 5 a.m. when she found him still awake reviewing tape of the 13-point win. Arlene works in Hawaii as the chief information officer at Brigham Young Hawaii, and whenever she travels to the mainland to watch one of her sons play, she brings a Ti leaf lei —an “ula” in Samoan.

“It symbolizes our love and prayers of protection,” she says. “I also pray that our ancestors are with them.”

On Penei’s right shoulder and arm is an ornate tattoo that pays homage to his heritage. Waves represent the power that lies within as well as the calm necessary to weather life’s storms. A centipede serves as a reminder of all creatures’ significance. Birds symbolize messengers from a greater being who can guide us through worldly challenges. On his right inner biceps is the word “Samoa.”

When Polamalu visited the islands, Sewell was struck by the Steeler great’s gentleness after seeing fierceness on the field. He was fascinated with the duality. Sewell wanted to be like Polamalu. Still does.

“He was so soft-spoken and genuine, very genuine. He might have been the nicest guy on earth,” Sewell says. “Now I feel there are kids out there who feel the same way about me as I felt about him, so I try to live my life as a good example. The torch has been passed on.”

Polynesian players in high school and college often message him on Instagram telling him he is a role model. Sewell has worked with his younger cousin, Kingsley Suamataia, a rookie offensive tackle for the Chiefs, and encouraged his three Polynesian teammates — tackle Gio Manu, guard Netane Muti and running back Sione Vaki.

“I see him as an inspiration because my family’s done the same thing as his, making the great migration to America and going through trials and tribulations,” Manu says. “It’s inspiring, and it motivates me to hopefully be in his shoes one day.”

Penei and his siblings have not been back to Samoa since they left. They have talked about returning as a family someday and hosting the kind of gathering Polamalu did. For now, there are other priorities.

Last offseason, Penei signed a four-year, $112 million contract extension with the Lions that made him the highest-paid lineman in the NFL. Shortly after he signed the deal, he bought a new home — one with about 6,000 more square feet of living space than The Shack. Over the summer, the cheerleader and the football player became Mrs. and Mr. They are parents to Malaki, 2, and Mila, 1. Isabelle is expecting their third child.

Penei takes Malaki to the park almost every day. Malaki likes it when Penei chases him and cries when his father leaves for practice. Penei gives both of his children baths before bedtime, then he dims the lights and cradles them. As their eyelids become heavy, he sings a song his parents sang to him — and their parents sang to them.

Samoan students start their school day with it. The faithful sing it before prayer. Moms and dads like Arlene and Gabe sing it before athletic events. Softly and sweetly, Penei sings “Fa’afetai I Le Atua” to his children.

Fa’afetai i le atua

lena tatou tupu ai

ina ua na alofa fua

ia te tatou uma

Translated, it means:

Thanks, be to God

Who is our creator

For his unconditional love,

He gives to us all

And for a moment, Penei Sewell is back where he started.

(Illustration: Demetrius Robinson / The Athletic; photos courtesy of the Sewell family, Kevin Sabitus, Fiona Goodall / Getty Images)