On NFL fields, there are secret Asian men…not too many have dawned the shield of the National Football League…but believe me there are some.

With my homework…I present to you the All Asian team, definitely  not have enough to fill a starting line up but, maybe if you’re Asian, you can earn a spot some day when you make it.

Requirement: Be Asian, and play in a regular season NFL game. Cut picks don’t count, sorry Timmy Chiang. Now some may ask why there are no Samoans and Tongans, it’s because they are Polynesian, they don’t like being called Asian. These players have lineage that can be traced to the continent of Asia.

Hit the Gong cuz here comes the names…

The Jackie Robinson of NFL Asians…Was a Chinese man who played for the defunct Dayton Triangles in 1927-28 (years before Jackie Robinson played baseball….Walter Tin Kit Achiu…known as “Sneeze” played 3 ways, Running Back, Defensive Back, and Returner. Not much stats are there, but he’s a pioneer.

The rest of the team:

Head Coach: Norm Chow, Chinese, currently the Offensive Coordinator at UCLA, but he’s got 3 years of NFL experience calling plays for the Titans. Though no head coaching experience…Chow has developed 2 Champion Quarterbacks in Jim McMahon and Steve Young.

Quarterback:

Roman Gabriel, the half-Filipino League MVP played for the Los Angeles Rams in the 1960s, owning many of the Rams’ passing records until Kurt Warner came along.

Runningbacks:

Chad Morton, Japanese running back who’s played for the Saints, Redskins, and Giants throughout his six year career. Was also a return man.

Rick Berns, Filipino, he lasted two years, but according to my research, he’s the first Filipino to win a Superbowl as Marcus Allen’s back up on the  Raiders.

Fullback: None

Tightend: None

Wide Receivers:

Hines Ward, Korean, former Superbowl MVP.

Johnnie Morton, Japanese, member of several awful Detroit Lions teams.

Offensive line:

Eugene Amano Full Filipino, starting guard for the Tennessee Titans.

Eugene Chung, full Korean, his NFL career only lasted 5 years on 3 teams, Patriots, Colts, and Jaguars.

Defense:

Defensiveline: None

Linebackers:

Tedy Bruschi, Filipino, with 3 Superbowl Rings and 5 Superbowl appearances, Pro Bowl Defensive Leader of the New England Patriots, got a comeback player of the year award after he bounced back from a stroke.

Dat Nguyen, Full Vietnamese, was the starting middle linebacker for the Dallas Cowboys, leading the team in tackles several times throughout his career. Dat is now an assistant coach for the ‘Boys.

Kailee Wong: Chinese, starting linebacker for the Minnesota Vikings and Houston Texans during his 8 year career.

Ben Leber, Korean, has had a solid but not stellar, career as a starter for the Chargers and Vikings.

Saints Linebacker Scott Fujita is an honorary Asian, he’s full white but adopted by Japanese who raised him Asian. Since I’m talking about Asian genes in my previous rant, he can’t count, but I give him props. Same situation for Filipino-Born Tim Tebow, who won’t make the list when he’s in the NFL, as a Filipino born person myself, much love and respect to his commitment to the Philippines, ironically, he’s gone back more times than me.

Kicker: John Lee, Full Born South Korean,             drafted in round 2 of the 1986 draft, and kicked one year in the NFL for the Saint Louis Cardinals.

Defensive Backs:

Kevin Kaesviharn, Thai, Scott Fujita’s teammate, the former XFLer and Arena Leaguer has been a great utility DB for the Saints.

Will Demps, Korean, the hard hitting Texans safety with movie star looks, missed joining Tedy Bruschi, Hines Ward, and Rick Berns as the only Asians with a Superbowl Ring when he joined the Ravens 2 years too late, and left the Giants a year too early.

Aaron Francisco, mixed Hawaiian with Filipino, I got this tip from his agent, also a Fil-Am who owns a few semi pro teams that I played for. He was a Pro Bowl Special teams alternate, and picked off a pass that he fumbled in the NFC title game.

Haruki Nakamura, Japanese, the Ravens rookie safety had his shots at Hines Ward last week, and saw a lot of game time filling in for injured Ravens.

That’s all the Asians I know of. I hear a rumor kicker Jason Elam is half Japanese, can’t find anything to verify, but he has a chance to get in the Hall of Fame eventually, and unless Gabriel finally gets his recognition, he could become the first.

A few years ago I had the pleasure of interviewing San Jose Team Captain Matt Castelo for the Filipino Channel, he was an undrafted rookie for the Seahawks this year, but did not make the final team. Hopefully we see him there soon.

As you see, there’s only 18 Asians, no defensive linemen, only 2 offensive linemen, no tightend, no fullback. Many Defensive Backs, but none of them are Corners. Only a handful have reached Pro Bowl level. Hopefully as we evolve as a community, we can fill up this roster.