Ex-Rebels quarterback King thankful every day of year

I’ve known Sam for almost 25 years. When we met, he was a UNLV football broadcast analyst and I was covering the team.

A few years before, in 1981, Sam had rallied the Rebels from 17 points down to defeat No. 8 Brigham Young and Steve Young, 45-41.

Sam did not lose often.

Sam never lost to Southern Utah.

I usually see him once a year, usually after a crushing Rebels defeat. Sam is thankful for a lot of things, but crushing football defeats by his alma mater do not rank among them. So that is why he called after the Southern Utah game. We met at the Olive Garden, as usual.

Before we could break (unlimited) bread sticks, Sam insisted we pray. He bowed his head and said thanks for many things, including he and I getting together to break (unlimited) bread sticks. Sam always says that, and though I am not religious, it makes me feel good.

A couple of weeks later, I heard from him again. This was unusual. This was before the Rebels lost to New Mexico.

Sam’s daughter, Sommer, had earned a volleyball scholarship to UNR. He wanted to share the good news. This was out of character, because though Sam grew up in poverty in South Central Los Angeles and went on from football to own his own insurance business, he is not a braggart or otherwise egocentric. This might have been the second time.

He was proud when his son, Sam Jr., walked on and ultimately earned a football scholarship at New Mexico State. Though he didn’t go on to become a star like his old man, Sam King Jr. earned his degree in hotel management. Sam King Sr. said that was much more important than becoming a football star.

Sommer King has a weighted grade-point average of 4.1, sings in choirs and was voted “Most Likely to Appear on American Idol” by her senior classmates at Green Valley High School. She ran track and played volleyball but couldn’t decide which sport she liked better.

Sam said she would have to choose one, because that’s just the way it is these days. Most colleges don’t give choir scholarships, even if one sings like Aretha Franklin or Beyonce or Jennifer Hudson.

So Sommer joined a traveling summer volleyball team, because that is also the way it is these days, if one wants to be scouted by college coaches. Meanwhile, her dad read up on volleyball.

It occurred to Sam that though Sommer stood 5 feet 9 inches and not 6-3, she might be better suited to play on the outside of the court, as a hitter, instead of in the middle, as a blocker. Because Sam knew his daughter could jump. And so the two of them worked hard, real hard, because that’s the only way Sam knows. And then the college coaches saw that Sommer could jump and hit a volleyball, too.

So when Sommer signed with UNR, it made Sam thankful, and happy. But Sam said Sommer’s high school coaches weren’t as happy, because they weren’t the ones who changed her position, and so there wasn’t a lot of fanfare when Sommer signed with UNR.

And I think that’s why Sam called.

Of course, I had to pry this from him with hydraulic tools, because Sam doesn’t want to be seen as a meddlesome parent, only as a parent who wants the best for his kid — for any kid, really. His mantra: Stand up for yourself, and for that in which you believe. But do it respectfully. And stay strong.

In a few months, when Sommer is away at college spiking the volleyball and singing rhythm and blues, Sam most likely will be working with somebody else’s kid, a young lady named Kamisha Richardson, one of Sommer’s club volleyball teammates. If Kamisha is successful in earning her own scholarship — or should the Rebels lose to another school with a direction or a hyphen in its name — I expect to hear again from Sam.

We will meet at the Olive Garden, and before we break (unlimited) bread sticks, he will say thanks for a lot of things, because this is what Sam King does.

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ron Kantowski can be reached at rkantowski@reviewjournal or 702-383-0352.