[Ed Dantes]

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/foot ... rint.story

Samkon Gado's NFL story begins where no other one has: It was in Kufai, a small, rural town between two mountains in northern Nigeria that an American missionary sat down to explain football to a young Gado.

"I thought it was strange," he admits.

The concept of the game was odd to him, but not as odd as where that game would take him. After leaving his homeland to come to the United States at 9 and dreaming of becoming a doctor, the running back who started two games in college is somehow now entrenched in the game. Late last month, when the 0-8 Dolphins claimed Gado off waivers, the team's unremarkable season crossed paths with the 24-year-old's improbable journey into the NFL, on the way to his real goal of helping his home country.

"Football is always a dream, but there are dreams and there is reality. I need to focus on what would happen if I didn't have football," Gado said. "I've always had an interest in the human body and how it works. It is a testament to existence of God, and I think the combination of that, and helping people is what makes me want to be a doctor."

And there's more, but I just have the first few paragraphs here. Good read, actually.