Texas A&M and UCLA linebacker target Isaac Savaiinaea received his honorary game jersey during the American Family Insurance Selection Tour for the 2013 Under Armour All-America Game on Thursday. Here's an excerpt from the story:
When Isaac Savaiinaea first encountered football, it was far from his favorite endeavor. As a 7-year-old who was introduced to the sport by his father, he didn't take kindly to defeat.
"My first four years of football were rough," Savaiinaea said. "We lost every game, literally. It was kind of discouraging and I wanted to quit."
He started his career playing on the offensive line, and he didn't particularly enjoy the way he was pushed around and hit by defensive players. By time he got to Honolulu Punahou School, he changed that, moving to the defensive side. Now he does the hitting and he does plenty of it -- enough to be recruited by quality college football programs across the United States.
"Getting put on my back every play wasn't too fun," Savaiinaea said. "I switched [to defense] my freshman year. I started to like it when I started getting the chance to hit people and not get hit."
The 6-foot-3, 231-pound inside linebacker and ESPN 150 prospect has had quite a successful last two seasons, which culminated Thursday when he accepted his game jersey during the American Family Insurance Selection Tour for the 2013 Under Armour All-America Game.
