Samuel Akem
Wide Receiver / Montana
Alex Khvatov: What are your measurements (height, weight and forty time)?
Samuel Akem: I am 6’4 and my weight is 210.
Alex Khvatov: How are you currently preparing for the 2020 season?
Samuel Akem: We began training now. It is the second week with the team. Before that, I was doing a lot of running and training with my girlfriend. Doing field work and giving myself an edge. I had no weight room, but the local YMCA opened up down the street. I went there to lift.
Alex Khvatov: Besides football, what other sports did you play in high school?
Samuel Akem: I ran track and played basketball my freshman year. I ran the 110m hurdles and the 4x100m relay.
Alex Khvatov: What positions did you play in high school?
Samuel Akem: I only played receiver. During my senior year, they moved me to DE very briefly. It didn’t work out.
Alex Khvatov: Coming out of high school, what programs showed interest in you?
Samuel Akem: I was born and raised in Oklahoma. During my sophomore year, we had an air raid offense. I played a little varsity and scored one TD. My junior year, we went to a run offense. We ran it 85% of the time. I had 16 catches my junior year. I had D-II offers. A couple of schools around signing day showed interest, but there were no full ride scholarships. Senior year, I had 30 receptions for 600 yards. We still had a power run offense. I was a late bloomer athletically.
Alex Khvatov: How did you wind up at Montana?
Samuel Akem: They showed interest the whole time. It was my only D-I offer. Montana actually offered me as a TE. Everyone was looking at me as a TE. You see all of the blocking on my junior film in high school.
Alex Khvatov: How would you describe your overall career?
Samuel Akem: I redshirted the first year. I came in as a TE. I didn’t think that I would redshirt. I was little. I weighed in 190 pounds. I ran good routes, but I wasn’t there physically as a blocker. Coach sat me down and told me that I would move outside to receiver at the end of the redshirt year. During my redshirt freshman year, I had a lot of drops and I needed to run routes better. As a sophomore, I had a breakout year. I didn’t even start the first five games that year. I continued to make plays on the field. I proved myself my sophomore year. I became the guy. It carried over to the junior year, but I got hurt in the 10th game of the season. I hurt my foot and missed the rest of the season. It was a lengthy recovery. It was tough.
Alex Khvatov: What can we expect from Montana this upcoming season?
Samuel Akem: We will come out every week and play hard. We will play Montana football. We will play for four quarters. We will be disciplined. We will play smash mouth football.
Alex Khvatov: What are your strengths?
Samuel Akem: My work ethic. It is better than most people. It sets me a part. I am very technically sound. I do the little things right. I am consistent. I show up every week.
Alex Khvatov: What areas of your game are you trying to improve upon?
Samuel Akem: My hands. I want to be able to catch everything. Also getting in and out of my breaks quicker. I have been working on ankle and hip flexibility. My footwork and my releases off the line.
Alex Khvatov: What is the highlight of your career up to this point?
Samuel Akem: My whole sophomore season. I was down on myself after my redshirt freshman year. The first game of the season at UNI, I made a back-shoulder catch. We got a FG before halftime. I was watching the clip. The commentator mentioned that 9 out of 10 times, he wouldn’t have caught that ball the year before. That stuff motivates me, and I want to prove people wrong. I always play with a chip on my shoulder. I was not a highly touted guy. My older brother was recruited heavily. He was a 4-star recruit. I have worked for everything. I can do it at a high level. I don’t think he knows it. But my older brother is my biggest motivator. I am trying to outshine him. I have a little brother complex. In high school when I was a sophomore in track, he told me one time on the bus that I would never beat him in a race in the hurdles. After the track meet, I looked at the times, and my time was faster. We ran in different heats. I told him about it on the bus trip on the way back. I won a state championship in 100m hurdles as a senior.
Alex Khvatov: Tell me about your older brother and his career at Oklahoma State.
Samuel Akem: He played LB in high school. He was a beast. He tore his ACL his sophomore year and dominated his junior year after he came back. Many schools came calling, and he had a bunch of offers. Physically, he was more mature than everyone else in high school. He was big and fast. He was a physical specimen. His love for the game went down in college. He fell out of love. He got his degree at Oklahoma State and has moved on with his life.
Alex Khvatov: Tell us about your teammate WR Samori Toure. How do you make each other better?
Samuel Akem: He is my best friend. He is a competitor, and I am a competitor. He makes a great catch, and I feel that I have to make a great catch. We compete every day. I will motivate him. I will push him to be better. He does that same thing for me. He is humble and laid-back. He lets the game do the talking. He is all business. He had a 300-yard game against SE Louisiana. I was hyping him up on the sidelines, and he was telling me to chill. It is great to see the success that he got.
Alex Khvatov: What is the biggest lesson that you have taken away from your coaching staff?
Samuel Akem: Discipline and paying attention to details. Well done is better than well said. Let the actions do the talking. Our coach always tells us that your actions speak loudly, I can’t hardly hear what you are saying.
Alex Khvatov: What is your favorite NFL team?
Samuel Akem: The Cowboys. Even though I am from Oklahoma, I have been in love with Texas. I loved the Longhorns as a kid. In 2005, I watched when Vince Young won the national championship against USC.
Alex Khvatov: Who is your favorite NFL player?
Samuel Akem: I like Michael Thomas. I am a lot like him. He is not a burner, but he has perfected his game. He runs great routes. His hands and great releases at the line. He has refined his game. He is very technical in every part of his game. I watch a lot of guys at my position. I actually love watching every receiver in college.
Alex Khvatov: What players on your team should we keep an eye on for this upcoming season?
Samuel Akem: WR Samori Toure, WR Gabe Sulser, transfer CB Omar Hicks Onu, LB Jace Lewis, and S Gavin Robertson.
Alex Khvatov: Who is the best player that you have faced on an opposing team?
Samuel Akem: CB Taron Johnson from Weber State. He was a true lockdown corner. He was great. As a redshirt freshman, but he was the best CB that I faced.
Alex Khvatov: What is the most important trait for a WR?
Samuel Akem: Consistency is the most important in any profession. Catching the ball, getting open, and knowing your assignment.
Alex Khvatov: What do you enjoy most about football?
Samuel Akem: I fell in love with the grind. I like to reap the benefits by playing well and winning. I just love the whole process of becoming a better player. You are watching film and have something to work for. I have developed that love in the last two to three years.
Alex Khvatov: What is your definition of a leader?
Samuel Akem: Somebody that leads by example and puts in the work. He doesn’t have to say too much. People follow him because he always does the right things.
Alex Khvatov: What are your hobbies?
Samuel Akem: I love video production. I play video games sometimes. I dedicate a lot of my free time to football.
Alex Khvatov: What makes you unique?
Samuel Akem: As a football player, my work ethic. As a person, it is my personality. I am one of a kind in terms of my personality.
Alex Khvatov: What do you want to do with your life after your football career is over?
Samuel Akem: I really enjoy the business aspect of things. I want to get into business endeavors. I am a psychology major. Being a sports psychologist would be interesting. It would be my dream to work with athletes.
Alex Khvatov: What five words best describe you?
Samuel Akem: Happy, perseverance, dedicated, disciplined, and hard working.
