Kristjan Sokoli's American Dream: From Albania to the NFL

ivotuk · May 28, 2015

"What was the conversation like with Seattle general manager John Schneider when you were drafted?
It's funny because none of the other media guys has asked me that. I actually don't remember. The moment was so intense that I'm pretty sure I'll never know what John said, but I did tell him that he's not going to regret it."

http://www.rollingstone.com/sports/feat ... l-20150528

Scottemojo · May 28, 2015

Read that.
I love his attitude.

Jerhawk · May 29, 2015

Good read. Really wishing him the best of luck.

I love how our staff goes after these guys with diverse backgrounds, but they all have the same competitive fire.

byau · May 29, 2015

Jerhawk":10qjdgzo said:
Good read. Really wishing him the best of luck.

I love how our staff goes after these guys with diverse backgrounds, but they all have the same competitive fire.

And with the diversity, just finding the guys who have survived hardship and made something of themselves, in this case hardship of surviving in another country and coming to the USA

You moved to America when you were nine years old. What do you remember about growing up in Albania?

It was cool. It gives you a different outlook on life coming from a little country like that, because you learn to appreciate things more when you're here. In Albania, my family weren't very poor, but it was tough. Things weren't as available. One time, I remember, as a present I would get a banana from my grandma. As a gift. I would be very excited to get that. Then I remember coming here at the age of nine, my parents told me "You can eat as many fruits as you want! Anything that's in the fridge or available, you can eat as much of it as you want." That was pretty big, just hearing that.

Being the first Albanian-born player in the NFL, do you feel any additional pressure to do well for your country?

Honestly, I don't look at it like pressure, man. Nothing against Albanians, I love 'em, I have a lot of Albanian pride, but the way I look at it is five, ten years ago, when I was grinding it on my own, Albanians didn't know about me. This has been my dream for the last ten years, I've literally sacrificed and given everything to make this happen and I'm just going to keep going down that road, keep football first, keep God first and keep working hard every day to be the best center I can be in the NFL. I think the rest will fall into place. I think it would be amazing to become a Pro Bowl NFL player and represent my country in a positive manner. Obviously it's been very exciting getting the support that I've gotten already from the Albanian community

OkieHawk · May 29, 2015

Great read, thanks for posting that.

Kristjan Sokoli's American Dream: From Albania to the NFL

ivotuk

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Scottemojo

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Jerhawk

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byau

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OkieHawk

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