Hercules Satele, a 6-foot-2, 250-pound offensive lineman from national powerhouse Long Beach Poly (Calif.) made an oral commitment to accept a football scholarship from Hawaii yesterday, Satele said. Hercules agrees
to join WarriorsBy Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.comWednesday is the first day high school athletes can sign letters of intent to make their commitments binding.
Satele was at the movies when contacted by the Star-Bulletin yesterday and couldn't speak for long. But he did confirm his commitment to UH.
"Yes, I will be going to Hawaii," he said.
Satele, who was born in Hawaii, is the cousin of UH offensive lineman Samson Satele. Hercules Satele was part of the Long Beach Poly team that beat Kahuku at Aloha Stadium last fall.
Another Red Raider: Kahuku defensive back Tu Tui, the Star-Bulletin's No. 18 prospect in the state, also committed to UH over the weekend, becoming the third member of the Red Raider secondary to join the Warriors.
The 6-foot-1, 195-pound Tui's scholarship won't count against this year's class, since he is going on a two-year religious mission before he officially enrolls.
Kahuku safety Viliami Nauahi (No. 3), will likely attend UH for a year before going on his mission.
A third Kahuku defensive back, cornerback George Perry, committed last month to Hawaii.
They join current UH defensive backs Hyrum Peters and Leonard Peters who also went to Kahuku.
From the trail: UH now has commitments from nine of the state's top 20 prospects. One or two others are expected to walk on, also. ... No. 1 prospect Tolifili Liufau, a Saint Louis School defensive end will probably end up at a junior college, a source close to the situation said. ... Cornerback Earnest Powell from the Houston area chose Baylor over Hawaii yesterday. ... DeJuan Gatling, a 6-foot-3, 260-pound lineman from Silverado High School in Victorville, Calif., is mulling an offer from Hawaii. "I want to sign here," he said Saturday. "If it doesn't work out I've got Utah State and Arkansas State." ... Penn State coach Joe Paterno was in American Samoa last week, recruiting linebacker Amani Purcell. UH also hopes to get Purcell, who is 6-5 and 265 pounds.
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DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
AFC cornerback Ty Law was in the middle of the wild lateral play that ended the first half yesterday.
All that was missing was the Stanford band and Dave Casper. Last play of half recalled
AFC strolls past NFC
‘The Play’ and ‘Holy Roller’
Kick returner made statement
NFL's best played to win
Williams thrives here again
Game stats and historyFrom staff and wire reports
The most entertaining play of yesterday's Pro Bowl, which the AFC won 45-20, was Rod Woodson's interception of Donovan McNabb with five seconds left in the first half.
In a play that surpassed The Play (at least for style, if not result), when Cal lateraled its way through the Stanford kickoff coverage team -- and its band -- 21 years ago, the AFC ran and pitched its way down the field.
Woodson lateraled to Brock Marion, who pitched it to Ty Law. Then Law gave it up to Jason Taylor, who went 45 yards to the NFC 29. As Taylor was being tackled, he tried a variation of the Casper's 1977 "Holy Roller," when the Raiders Hall-of-Famer pushed a loose ball into the end zone to beat the Chargers. But Taylor was ruled down before his "fumble." As it turned out, Law was called for a forward lateral anyway, and the half ended.
"Yeah, we had that all planned," Woodson deadpanned. "We were drawing that up all week in the bars."
All smiles: Despite being on the wrong end of a 45-point performance for the first time since 1999, Tampa Bay Buccaneers safety John Lynch was in good spirits after the game.
"I was out there competing and I started to get upset because you're a competitor and you don't like getting pushed around like we were out there," Lynch said. "But I looked at (Tampa Bay linebacker Derrick) Brooks, and I said, 'You know what, we're still champs.' So that puts a smile on your face."
Lynch and his Tampa Bay teammates arrived late in the week following their 48-21 victory over the Oakland Raiders in last week's Super Bowl. But he said fatigue didn't play a factor in yesterday's loss.
Lynch finished with four tackles. He also forced and recovered a fumble by LaDainian Tomlinson and intercepted a pass from Peyton Manning.
"The Pro Bowl is a great experience to be around the best, and to come here as world champs, that was extra special," Lynch said. "They were just getting the best of us today. We couldn't get it going on offense and they were having their way."
One more scoop: Yesterday marked Jerry Rice's 13th appearance in the Pro Bowl, one shy of the record held by Bruce Matthews (Houston/Tennessee). It was the first time Rice played here in an Oakland Raiders uniform; his previous 12 Pro Bowls were as a San Francisco 49er.
Rice said he would have thought about retiring had the Raiders won the Super Bowl on Jan. 26.
"I still have a lot of football in me," said Rice, who added to his Pro Bowl career records of receptions and yards with four catches and 36 yards yesterday. Rice has 37 receptions and 495 receiving yards, said it didn't matter that he was representing the Raiders this time.
Records set: Besides Rice adding to his two marks, Oakland quarterback Rich Gannon added to his Pro Bowl stats with his sixth and seventh touchdown passes.
"It was an exciting game, our defense got off to a good start and we were able to capitalize," said Gannon, MVP of the past two Pro Bowls. "It was a good day from everyone on the AFC.
"I love coming over here. The chance to play with the best of the best is second to none."
Other records set:
>> David Akers, Philadelphia, longest field goal (53 yards);Records tied included most touchdowns (AFC, six), most PATs (AFC, six), fewest times sacked (AFC zero), and most times intercepted (NFC, six). Woodson also tied for most interceptions in one game with two.>> Passing attempts, both teams (101);
>> Interceptions, both teams (eight);
>> Interception yards gained by a team (AFC, 113);
>> Interception yards gained by a player, career (Law, 147);
>> Kickoff return yards (Michael Lewis, 217).
>> Kickoff return yards by a team (NFC, 244).
Two heads are better: Many Pro Bowl players trade helmets at the end of the game, autographing the headgear for their peers. But this time McNabb gave out two, one each to Brooks and Panthers punter Todd Sauerbrun.
He had two helmets?
"Why not?" McNabb said. "Our equipment man said, 'You'd better bring some stuff!'"
Hall hoopla: Pregame festivities included the presentation of the NFL Hall of Fame Class of 2003. The five who will be inducted this August in Canton, Ohio, are: Marcus Allen, James Lofton, Joe DeLamielleure, Elvin Bethea and Hank Stram.
The pregame celebration concluded with the landing of Challenger, an American Bald Eagle, and a fly-over by four F-15s from the Hawaii Air National Guard from Hickam Air Force Base.
Manning responds: Manning called teammate Mike Vanderjagt an "idiot kicker" three days after Vanderjagt apologized for making disparaging remarks about him.
Manning made the comment during a live interview on ABC during the game. He also claimed Vanderjagt was "liquored up" at the time of the Canadian cable TV interview earlier this week in which he said Manning should show more emotion.
"Here we are," Manning said. "I'm out at my third Pro Bowl, I'm about to go in and throw a touchdown to Jerry Rice, we're honoring the Hall of Fame, and we're talking about our idiot kicker who got liquored up and ran his mouth off.
"The sad thing is, he's a good kicker. He's a good kicker. But he's an idiot."
Vanderjagt, the most accurate field-goal kicker in NFL history, signed a $7.75 million, five-year contract extension with the Colts in November 2000 -- at the time making him the league's highest-paid kicker.
"When I get home, I'll deal with it," Manning said. "If he is still a teammate, we'll deal with it. That remains to be seen."
By the numbers: The AFC has won every Pro Bowl game played in odd-numbered years since 1991. ... The AFC expanded its edge in Pro Bowl wins in Hawaii to 13-11. ... The AFC also broke the 16-16 tie in the all-star series since the two leagues merged in 1971.
Dave Reardon, Jason Kaneshiro, Cindy Luis and Kalani Simpson of the Star-Bulletin contributed to this report.
