Sam Golla Selected Number 1 Overall Pick

With the Number 1 overall pick in the 2022 MLR Collegiate Draft, Dallas Jackals select Lock/Flanker Sam Golla of University of California, Berkeley. Raised in Denver, Colorado, Sam is returning to his birthplace of Arlington, TX to begin his professional rugby career.

Captaining the Cal Berkeley side in 2021 and 2022, the club went 27-1 in his senior year. Sam was selected as a Rudy Scholz Award Top 3 Finalist, an award given to the best men’s rugby player in the country. During his time at Cal, Sam was named to All Pac-12 1st Team for four consecutive years, selected Pac-12 Co-Player of the Year in 2020, and named U20 All-American. Three-time Pac-12 Sevens Championship, Sam played Second and Back Row through college. He was also a member of the Big C Society, UC Berkeley’s Varsity Alumni Network and LetterWinners Society. 

Attending Denver East High School, Sam began playing rugby as a freshman. He went on to win the State Championship and captained the team in 2017. 

Sam credits his mother for always pushing him and allowing him to grow his rugby passion. He says, “Without her I would not be in the position I am in today.” He continued about coming to Dallas, “I’m most excited about the Jackals because they are bringing in a ton of guys this year during the draft. That means I get a group of boys my age with the same intentions and motivations as me. All I think that does is bond us, make us closer, and if anything more of a threat on the field.”