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2003 Silver Pigskin Recap

The 2003 Silver Pigskin Gala was held in December at the KUSI-TV studios. Marion Catholic running back Patrick "P.T." Gates was the fifth name to be called by Paul Rudy as the winner of the Silver Pigskin trophy.

Winner: Finalists:
 * Patrick Gates (Marian Catholic High School)
 * Patrick Gates had arguably the most decorated career of any San Diego High School football player ever. He went undefeated his Junior and Senior years with back-to-back CIF Championships. While at Marion Catholic (now Mater Dei Catholic) he amassed 5,039 rushing yards. He next played at Saddleback College, where as a Sophomore, he rushed for 1,059-yards and 16 touchdowns. During that year, he was named a first-team Junior College All-American. He would finish his college football career at Grand Valley State University in Michigan, where he earned his degree in Criminal Justice in 2010.
 * Arian Foster (Mission Bay Senior High School)
 * Originally from New Mexico, Foster did not arrive in San Diego until his junior season. But it did not take long for Foster to become elite, piling 2,093 rushing yards and 24 touchdowns his senior year, including six kickoff returns. That led him to the SEC where he played running back at the University of Tennessee from 2004-2008. In his four season’s Foster graduated as the Volunteers second all-time leading rusher. He signed with the Houston Texans as an undrafted free agent in 2009. Taking over as the Texans’ starting running back in 2010, he returned to great Buccaneer of old, winning the NFL’s rushing title with 1,616 yards. He hasn’t slowed down since, becoming the third-fastest player to reach 5,000 yards in a career. As of the 2015 season Arian Foster has made four Pro-Bowl’s being voted one of the NFL’s best running backs, He signed with the Miami Dolphins in the 2016 off-season, before retiring from the NFL mid-season.
 * DeMarco Sampson (Castle Park High School)
 * After a great senior season with the Trojans, Sampson played wide receiver at San Diego State University from 2005-2010, missing two years of football with a  foot injury. Sampson charged back from the setback to catch 67 passes for 1,220 yards and 8 touchdowns, earning him a first team All-Mountain West Conference slot. Sampson was selected by the Arizona Cardinals in the 2011 NFL Draft with the  249th pick, and played there for parts of two seasons. In 2013 Sampson played for the Buffalo Bills, in 2014 the San Francisco 49ers, before finishing his football career with the Los Angeles Kiss of the Arena league. Demarco Currently is a high school teacher in the Sweetwater Unified School District, and is currently the boy’s track and field team at Hilltop High School.
 * Fevaea'i Ahmu (Serra High School (San Diego, California))
 * In his senior year at Serra Ahmu recorded 75 tackles and 12 sacks. He was named the Western League Defensive Player of the year, and 1st Team All-CIF. Ahmu also participated in the CaliFlorida Bowl ineHe went on to play defensive tackle at Washington State University from 2005-2008, where he started 33 games and recorded 91 tackles.