In Football We Trust

Man: We come from a line of warriors.

Our culture embodies what football is.

Game announcer: And Polamalu picks it up.

Touchdown.

Game announcer: Sikahema will go all the way for a touchdown!

Man: My father pushed the football

once he understood what football could do.

All right, let's go, baby!

Man: If you're gonna pull out,

we're gonna be butchered.

I think they see NFL as, like, kind of a...

winning the lottery, you know?

Player: We're gonna do a different one.

It's so much easier. It's Highland's...

I'm Fihi Kaufusi.

I go to Highland High School.

Fihi, voice-over: And I'm Polynesian.

A lot of people don't know, really,

anything about Polynesians.

People think we're big Mexicans.

Dang, man.

We're trying to gather

the boys to do the haka.

Mm-hmm.

But, like, we hardly--

they don't know it,

and so that's why--

Are you gonna teach them?

I know how to teach them,

but, like, they're worried about their class.

They're going to class, like, and they're gonna

mark them late... Yeah.

So can you write them a note?

Yeah. Do you want to come

in here and practice?

I'm taking my class down to the library.

All right. We'll come in here.

I don't like school, but football makes it so

if I don't pass my classes,

then I can't play, so I try to do my best.

See you, dude.

No one in my family has ever been to college.

You know, they've gotten close...

but they've, uh, messed up, and...

I don't want to be like that.

That's Mike and them.

Hey, go up to Katie's room.

Go to Katie's room right now.

I'm gonna go grab and them.

All right.

Football. By far, it's football.

Hey, for--hey, listen.

And then you...

And then go slowly. Flex your muscles and go down.

Uh! Ah!

That means, like, get ready for battle.

It's time. And then everyone gets up and just goes, vroom!

Some face this way, forward, and that way.

Player: I know. It's cool.

Yeah, but try learning it first so you--

because you don't really look that good.

Say it!

Man: It doesn't matter where I grew up,

where I'm from, how much money my Mom and Dad have.

All that...goes out the window.

One thing matters on this team.

It's the guy next to me on the right,

the guy next to me on the left,

and the 65 behind my ass that have my back.

Fihi, voice-over: When I sat down with Coach Benson,

he told me the things that I could be in the future

and the things that Polynesians struggle with.

We have, you know, all the talent in the world,

but hardly any of us, like, do good, because we, um--

we're more into, uh, helping out our family.

The thing that he told me is, first try to help me out

and make me be the best I can be

before I can help out my family.

At first I didn't like it.

I thought he meant, like, you know,

turn my back on my family,

and I didn't--didn't really like that,

but now that I think about it, you know,

there's a lot of little brothers and sisters that I have,

and if they see me, hopefully they...

they want to do better.

Man: OK, not now. I'm focusing. Not now.

Player: I always have a personal prayer

before the game starts.

I always write my family's names right here.

My family names are always right here

no matter what, in every game.

Harvey, voice-over: Coming into my sophomore year,

I was the starting running back until I fumbled 5 times

in a game.

They--they cut me from running back

and put me to, like, third string running back, actually.

Harvey, voice-over: The fourth game, they actually

let me come in, and I bust this long run,

and the coach is like, "Would you like to come and try out

on the varsity team?"

I was like, "Yeah, I'll do it."

Come on, Benny!

Harvey, voice-over: I remember coming up to the varsity team,

and the running back breaks his arm.

Who's gonna run the ball?

I just remember putting my helmet on

and just running in.

Man: Let's go, Harvey!

Harvey, voice-over: Then I started getting a feel for it...

and it just went on from there.

Whoo!

Kalasita: I have 9 children, and I try my best.

You know, I ran the flag with Harvey, and Paul will be next.

And I will run the flag

until all the 9 kids are done--6 boys.

Come on!

Harvey, voice-over: She's, like, my best friend.

She's, like, my number-one fan.

She's my mom.

Miners! Bingham!

Bingham! Miners!

Harvey: I don't think any of this was possible

without her--like, none of it at all.

Kalasita, voice-over: Me and my husband can't even afford

to pay for these 9 children to get a scholarship.

This is the way. This is the door.

Newsman: The Bingham High star

is one of the best running backs

to ever come out of the state of Utah.

Harvey Langi. Harvey Langi.

Man: Harvey Langi. His stock as a college player

seems to keep rising with each passing week.

Harvey Langi! Harvey! Harvey!

Newsman: The kid's the total package.

He's got size, speed, smarts.

He's got around a 3.6 GPA.

Newswoman: This is your third Nike camp.

You went to Miami. You went to L.A.

Do you feel like

it's given you more exposure?

Yes. Yes, ma'am.

Newsman: He is strong and fast now.

Imagine when he gets into that college weight room,

how much bigger and faster he's gonna get.

Har!

My name is Tevita Bloomfield.

I play fullback and linebacker on defense.

My name's Leva Bloomfield.

I play running back on offense

and safety on defense.

We're brothers.

I'm older.

Leva: For me, football means a lot.

I love the intensity.

I love the quickness of the game.

Leva: Just playing football is--

it gets me going.

I mean, it's like a drug--a good drug.

That's the only time I can hit someone

and not get arrested for it.

Player: Why you want to do that?

Game announcer: Looks like it's gonna be

enough for another University-- the Wolverines first down.

Vita, voice-over: Football became really heavily on me,

like, in junior high.

I knew the only way out of living in West Valley

is gonna be playing football.

Pretty sure.

That's the answer

you get with everything.

"Oh, yeah. Pretty sure.

Oh, yeah, Pretty sure."

"You hungry?" "Yeah, I'm pretty sure."

"Your grades good?" "Yeah, I'm pretty sure."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure,"

except for the one at Cottonwood,

the one at Cyprus, the one at Granger,

and the one...

Can't put that on.

you know?

Man: All right, let's hear your names.

Start off with the uglies right there.

Man: All right.

Different man: Get them out.

We got Slim Jim, Dark Chocolate.

Here we got Mr. BYU, all-star.

But then you got, uh, Mr. Fantastic was good.

Leva Bloomfield, running back

and just whatever the hell on defense,

if you know what I'm saying.

His face is, like, right up...

Oh, don't even trip, dawg. Don't even trip.

Who do you think is smarter?

It's not a trick question, Leva.

That guy.

It's not about being smart.

It's about how hard you work.

You're really saying that?

Well, I work pretty hard in school,