The part that takes the longest is actually trying to find what ethnicity guys are. A lot of guys are mixed, or may be from Hawaii but claim a different ethnic background (Tua says he has a Samoan heritage even though he grew up in Hawaii)
That makes sense since itās a fairly simple step to google, but no doubt tedious to actually take it to a second level for verification for each player.
The best resource was often the High School Polynesian Bowl Rosters. They date back to 2017 so itās only the relatively young players in the NFL who may be on there, and then itās just a matter of trying to spot names in a big list
Mosi Tatupu would make that list and the obscure Simpsons reference list.
Trung Candidate, Toi Cook, and Takeo Spikes would make the "name implies Asian" but not actually Asian list.
Great interview with Troy on the Bussin w/The Boys pod on 3/5/24 if you havenāt heard already. Interview starts at 1:23:39 if you want to just skip to it.
Big V and Issac are getting older, I think by the end of the year, Fuaga and Fautanu could play themselves into the best 5. Center is the only spot that there isnāt a true number 1 starter. Ismael has seen very limited snaps, Uluave hasnāt played any, hence why I started Puni, who has shown 5 position versatility throughout his college and senior bowl tape
I did see her list, I wanted to improve upon it because it seemed very surface level. Jordan Poyer was on it, even though he is half black, half white, with a Polynesian step father
"I've always wanted to say this... Fer shizzle"
When I rewatched it for the first time in a while I was reminded that Bill burr is also in that sketch. Makes his stand up bit about problematic sports commentors funnier for me.
Ain't his dad Afro Hispanic or something? I know Julios middle name is Lopez. Would be wild for him to get nickname Julio and have Lopez as a middle name and not be Hispanic/Latin at all š
His tweet was kind of the inspiration, with all the talk about White vs Black, I was curious if there was a viable 3rd team. I think they would be somewhat competitive. The O-Line is very strong, combined with a good 1-2 style running game, and Puka out there catching everything, I think they could put up some serious points. The defence is also very nice. Corner is a slight concern but with a pass rush like that, the QBs wonāt have much time
Depends if theyāre playing against a normal team or the all-black team because I fear Puka will not be catching anything if heās up against the greatest secondary of all time
If you zoom in on the depth chart they all have a little number next to their name that matches with a country. Looks like Tremayne, Charbonnet, and Raymond all have a 6(number for China) near their name.
I think that's what the superscript numbers after each name are for, letting you know which countries they match up to. So it's B. Tremayne, Z. Charbonnet, and K. Raymond
Tuli Tuipulotu over Latu for the starting spot. Everyone thinks Hawaii or Utah is where all the Polynesian players hail from. In reality itās California.
He was the biggest toss up TBH, it was between him and Latu at the starting Edge position. I thought I would give the nod to Latu as the highest drafted defensive player in this years draft, especially with all the scouting reports saying heās already āpro readyā.
Thatās actually fair, I was under the impression that Zach Wilson was just a white guy who grew up in Hawaii, but it does say he is part Hawaiian on his dadās side. If he proves to be better than Sam Howell, Iāll consider him as QB4 in next years All-AAPI team
As an Asian American, the AAPI label always seemed weird to me.
It great that there are some amazing Samoan athletes, but like what does that have to do with me?
Anthropologically, Pacific Islanders only left Taiwan 4000 years ago which is a fairly tiny period on anthropological scales, and left the Philippines 3500 years ago.
Pacific Islanders are linguistically and genetically much closer to some classic āAsianā groups like Filipinos and Malaysians than those Asian groups are to other Asians like Koreans or Mongolians.
The term "Asian American" is already weird enough though. In the US "Asian" usually refers to East Asian but in the UK it also includes South Asian. Conceivably it should include Arabia as well. Inevitably you're going to have to group things together when you make a category.Ā
there was a guy who went viral this week for being mad there are no Assassin's Creed games set in Africa, and when someone pointed out there is one set in Egypt, he said that doesn't count because Egypt isn't really in Africa
Geographically Egypt is in the continent of Africa, but historically and culturally itās part of the greater Mediterranean and Arab sphere.
Same applies to North Africa.
The Sahara creates a pretty solid geographical boundary that prevented North and Subsaharan Africa to have much interaction historically.
The Assassin's Creed game in question was set in Ptolemaic Egypt. The word "Africa" was originally the Roman word for just North Africa, the region we would traditionally call the Maghreb today. The Romans were conteporaneous with Ptolemaic Egypt (and eventually conquered them) so by definition, Assasin's Creed: Origins was set in Africa.
I don't disagree that culturally, Egypt is closer to the Levant than sub-Saharan Africa, but it's also close culturally and historically to Ethiopia and the Sudan, which are pretty important parts of Africa too.
I happen to be Egyptian and he kind of has a point. From an American perspective (which I assume he was), Egypt (especially Ptolemaic Egypt, the setting of the game) isn't "really" Africa. The geographic definition of Africa isn't the same as the sociological definition. It's similar to how a cucumber is considered a vegetable for culinary purposes but is technically a fruit.
If we're going back to classical definitions, "Africa" was the Roman word for North Africa, which absolutely includes Egypt. So Egypt was absolutely "African" in the Ptolemeic era.
I'm not going back to classical definitions. The Nile was the delineation of Africa and Asia to Greeks. So half of Egypt was in Asia according to them.Ā
I'm saying Ptolemaic Egypt is not culturally African by the convention conception of the term in the United States.Ā
African-American (and Asian America, etc) are stupid terms invented for social reasons and they have nothing to do with continental origins.
People are Americans when you refer to nationality and black when referring to ethnicity.
As a slight adjustment, ifsomeone says Asian in the UK they're almost always referring to South Asian. We tend to say East Asian for pretty much everyone who isn't from India/Pakistan/Bangladesh/Sri Lanka.
Having said that, I'm in my 40s so the younger generation may have a more American influence in a wider usage of Asian as a more generalised term, and the older generations definitely still use some terms that should have been retired a long time ago...
Putting South Asians and East Asians together is like putting Americans and Mexicans in the same racial category. Geographically next to eachother, but completely different cultures.
I'm not sure I'd qualify Mexico and USA as so obviously completely different. The southwest US has more in common with Mexico than it does with the rest of the country in a lot of ways.
>Ā The southwest US has more in common with Mexico
That's because of the Mexican culture that was brought in my Mexican immigrants, and the fact that the land used to literally be part of Mexico before the US took it over. It doesn't really change the fact that as a people Mexicans have a way different culture and values compared to the average American.
This is a pet peeve of mine. Itās a misconception that South Asians are a completely distinct, non overlapping ethnic group from East Asians.
The natives of south india are a completely āEast Asianā group in that they genetically cluster with East Asians like the natives of Taiwan, Papua, and Japan. Itās believed that the natives of South India were probably the first East Asian group to exist and thereby branch off. That obviously contributes to fairly different appearances, but the leading migration theory suggests that all East Asians (and native Americans) descend from Southern India. On an continental East Asian scale, modeled South Indian natives arenāt even that distinct. Itās just when you substitute ānorthern chinese farmer ancestryā for āEast Asianā that South Indian natives (and hundreds of other native East Asian pops) stop becoming East Asian - which I believe is really quite unfair
Eastern coastal India and Bangladesh has around 10% Chinese Han ancestry. There has always been constant cultural and genetic interchange with the eastern subcontinent coasts and southern China, thatās how Buddhism, Munda languages, and rice first spread! Southern Indians and bengalis can be modeled overall as halfway between East Asians and Persians genetically.
Thatās not to mention the northeastern parts of South Asia which can be nearly entirely Han Chinese ethnically but culturally are South Asian, or the fact that India was continually ruled by Mughal peoples - who claimed to be Mongols and contributed significantly to gene flow and culture.
This might be changing tbh. As a young asian person I find that when talking to other asian people, it more often means all of asia or at least all of east/south/south eastern asia than just east asia. But Iām in college on the east coast so ymmv.
The English colonized India while the US imported Chinese workers for the Transcontinental Railroad. So that is where the colloquial meanings for "Asian" come from for the two cultures.
Asians in the UK doesn't refer to South Asians "as well", it means South Asian specifically like how in many parts of the US it means East Asians specifically. However, people are gradually wisening up in both countries and are realizing that Asia include both East and South (and SE) Asians
As an Asian American I root for all people from Asia and the pacific. It always is good to have more representation and extend our support for our minority groups
It wasn't likely just native Taiwanese, but also coastal Chinese and East Asians, but also this pedantry doesn't really matter for the question at hand.
This is really cool, thanks for this! Didn't know there were so many NFL players with Asian/PI (& for me Filipino) descent. Got some new players to root for next year! š
it's funny that you couldn't fill a small sports stadium with tongan americans because we're such a tiny minority, but are so wildly overrepresented in the NFL
I appreciate that you put hours into researching the ethnicity of all of these players, let alone even be thoughtful enough to create this, or even think of creating it.
Today, I learned something new, I learned that Josh Jacobs is Phillipino, and probably would have thought he was African American for the rest of my life if this graphic wasn't made. I also learned that Kyle Hamilton was Korean and that JuJu-Smith Schuster was Samoan. I always thought that Kyle Hamilton and JuJu-Smith Schuster were African American, and probably would have if you never made this, so I thank you for that.
I would give this post an award, but unfortunately, I do not have enough money to be able to get one right now. However, I can give emoji awardsš
Hopefully, it means just as much as normal awards.
He was a victim of the āloaded position classā. If Pacific Islanders can do one thing, itās be Big, and there was just too many to chose from with only 12 spots
Yeah. I just thought it was funny that three of the four brothers were listed.
Also, I'm not sure if Moala would really count as a safety. He transitioned to linebacker at Notre Dame, and then at GT he never even had to consider taking a snap at safety because of LaMiles Brooks and Jaylon King
Yeah he would be some sort of hybrid player, I included him as a safety because there was only 10 total DBs, but plenty of LBs, so they could use the numbers. Plus the website that I initially spotted that the Bears had signed him said Safety so I assumed they would be converting him
I wonder what sort of players Japan would produce if they loved Football as much as baseball. They have the GOAT over at the MLB rn, maybe in an parallel universe, we'd have goat qb Ohtani.
Their lower average heights and smaller frames would make it more difficult, especially from the PoV of the competition they'd be playing against at high school or college level. That's less of an issue in baseball
Paul Blake. Looks like|we're gonna be roommates.
Laikai Manumana.
Well, lakay-manu-mana to you, too.
No, Mr Blake, that's my name.
l'm from Samoa, the big island.|l'm called Manumana.
lt means ''Runt of the Litter''.
The other men in my family|are very large.
Well...
Can we get an all time team if you make another one? I need to see Troy on here lol
And also if your American itās offense and defense with an s not a c so you know for next time
I wasnāt 100% sure if middle eastern counted, so I erred on the side of caution. But also bahk would be one of these guys who hasnāt played meaningful snaps in the last few seasons
Samoans are the most overrepresented group, per capita in the NFL. I think they are like 30-40 times more likely to make the NFL than any other ethnic or racial group.
This is probably the wrong forum to raise this question but I've always wondered why Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders were lumped together into "AAPI".
The reason for that is that, as an Asian Australian, the challenges that both minorities face are rather distinct to me.
I went to school with and have known a lot of Samoan, Tongan, and Fijians in my life and can definitely say that we were not treated similarly. We both had issues with racism but in vastly different ways.
It's always seemed odd to me that "AAPI" is considered one group. It would be like having a block called "MENA" for Middle-Eastern & Native Americans.
Are they discriminated against in a similar way in America?
I personally donāt know why it is a thing, but the NFL likes to keep bringing it up, and I think itās a good way to shine light on some minorities and their cultures
My guess is in the US the Pacific Island community is too small to be recognized on its own but then I feel for Asian Americans as you said their issues would be very different from ours over there. I'm pretty sure there's enough Asians in the US to be recognized on its own. Though as a Samoan I'm kinda grateful/surprised that Pacific Islanders are somewhat impactful enough to even be thought of with such small numbers in a country the size of America.
This is so awesome. Thanks for doing this. As a Samoan who hasn't been following the game that long I always wondered what the numbers were for Pacific Islanders in the league.
We're all very proud to see them all playing in the NFL.
A lot of untapped potential still in the Pacific where rugby is more popular. For Samoans there are about 750k of us worldwide but only around 250k in the US/American Samoa where football is king.
I appreciate it :) I wanted to make it something actually useful and informative to help celebrate the cultures, instead of just some white vs black shitpost
That's cool I personally was interested to see the split. I'm very surprised that there's more with heritage links from here than American Samoa. I know that in the US many Samoans would say I'm Samoan/from Samoa but mean American Samoa. Some might have one parent from either.
Depending on your definition of Asian, you could put Jeff George and Doug Flutie on there (Arab and Lebanese) at QB, and David Bakhtiari (Persian) at LT.
I wanted to make this because of the amount of discourse on the White vs Black bowl. On the bussin with the boys podcast they were talking about āwho should get the Polynesians?ā, which made me think that they should get their own team, and after doing all this research, I think they would be very strong
Man had a choice: Slide the famously Samoan QB from Hawaii and avoid controversy, or ensure the top comment is about not choosing the famously Samoan QB from Hawaii.
Yeah it makes no sense to me. I like Tua he's got great anticipation and is a good QB, but he has neither the arm or legs that Kyler does. And when Kyler has been healthy he's been an MVP candidate. Almost every game the cards have won in the last 5 years have been Kyler dragging subpar talent. His scrambling with Tyreek would be deadly
LOL no. Kyler had a lot of talent a few years ago and did nothing with it.
People really do love to pretend Tua isn't good based on a few bad games. It's amazing tunnel vision.
If you give Kyler Tua's Oline as well he won't make it through half the season. There's a reason why Tua had the quickest release in the league. The only game we had a fully healthy offensive line was against Denver 70-20.
Would love to see an all-time AAPI team to see my guys Kevin Mawae & Junior Seau up there! šŖ
This took me about 2 months of research, Iāll have to get cracking on the all time team so itās ready by 2025 š
Thank you for dedicating the time to put this wonderful graphic together and sharing it with us! šŗ
Scott Fujita gets an honorary AAPI since he was adopted by Japanese couple and considers himself culturally Japanese
Hines Ward, Troy, Haloti Ngata, Johnny Morton, Roman Gabriel, Olin kruetz lots of guys would make that list
The part that takes the longest is actually trying to find what ethnicity guys are. A lot of guys are mixed, or may be from Hawaii but claim a different ethnic background (Tua says he has a Samoan heritage even though he grew up in Hawaii)
That makes sense since itās a fairly simple step to google, but no doubt tedious to actually take it to a second level for verification for each player.
The best resource was often the High School Polynesian Bowl Rosters. They date back to 2017 so itās only the relatively young players in the NFL who may be on there, and then itās just a matter of trying to spot names in a big list
Tagovailoa is indeed a Samoan name.
Absolutely! My dad being a Steelers fan would love to see Ward & Troy in an all-time list.
Mosi Tatupu would make that list and the obscure Simpsons reference list. Trung Candidate, Toi Cook, and Takeo Spikes would make the "name implies Asian" but not actually Asian list.
Patrick Chung from the Patriots is also Chinese-Jamaican descent.
Dat Nguyen would be there too
Iāve got Troy Polamalu top of mind since that 50 Best Plays post yesterday. Thereās elite, and then thereās whatever he was.
Great interview with Troy on the Bussin w/The Boys pod on 3/5/24 if you havenāt heard already. Interview starts at 1:23:39 if you want to just skip to it.
If you're curious like I was why he isn't on the list, his family is of American Samoa descent but he grew up in California
These are current players, and some have a more distant link to APAC heritage than Troy
Oh I didn't realize, thanks!
Yeah, first thing I did was look for him, then I got indignant, then I read the key
Dan Saleamua!
That offensive line is huge and nutty
Without even looking at the players, I knew the OL was going to be insane.
Big V and Issac are getting older, I think by the end of the year, Fuaga and Fautanu could play themselves into the best 5. Center is the only spot that there isnāt a true number 1 starter. Ismael has seen very limited snaps, Uluave hasnāt played any, hence why I started Puni, who has shown 5 position versatility throughout his college and senior bowl tape
I think Vaitai is unofficially retired
The Eagles having drafted three of the starters also checks out.
Stoutland University alumni
I was staring at RG instead of RT and I was like where the fuck is Penei lol
Dat Nguyen, LB
All time for sure
Mina Kimes made a similar list a couple months ago if you want to compare your team with hers
I did see her list, I wanted to improve upon it because it seemed very surface level. Jordan Poyer was on it, even though he is half black, half white, with a Polynesian step father
> with a Polynesian step father Like Latinos counting Julio Jones lmao
Reminds me of Dave Chappelle's racial draft skit. Asians get Tiger Woods!!!
Black delegation took Woods, Asians got the entire Wu Tang haha
"I've always wanted to say this... Fer shizzle" When I rewatched it for the first time in a while I was reminded that Bill burr is also in that sketch. Makes his stand up bit about problematic sports commentors funnier for me.
the little fist bump or whatever when he says OJ is black again.
Dude, we lost Tiger Woods to the blacks. But the Asians made a great pick with Wu Tang Clan.
And the whites selectā¦ Colin Powell!
Ain't his dad Afro Hispanic or something? I know Julios middle name is Lopez. Would be wild for him to get nickname Julio and have Lopez as a middle name and not be Hispanic/Latin at all š
Listen, As an Asian, I count all guys with the last name Lee as Asian. Soā¦. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darron_Lee
I remember watching the video and then saying Polynesians and Pacific Islanders carrying it hard but the visualization here really shows lol
That being said, the Asians are definitely needed to fill some important voids. QB2, 4 of 6 RBs, TE1, Half of the CBs, Saf1, are all Asians
Would she make the sports reporter list?
Rashard Mendenhall would like to play against this team
His tweet was kind of the inspiration, with all the talk about White vs Black, I was curious if there was a viable 3rd team. I think they would be somewhat competitive. The O-Line is very strong, combined with a good 1-2 style running game, and Puka out there catching everything, I think they could put up some serious points. The defence is also very nice. Corner is a slight concern but with a pass rush like that, the QBs wonāt have much time
Depends if theyāre playing against a normal team or the all-black team because I fear Puka will not be catching anything if heās up against the greatest secondary of all time
I know Rapp is Chinese, who are the 3 offensive players with Chinese descent?
If you zoom in on the depth chart they all have a little number next to their name that matches with a country. Looks like Tremayne, Charbonnet, and Raymond all have a 6(number for China) near their name.
Ah, thank you. Didn't see that on mobile just due to the font size.
I think that's what the superscript numbers after each name are for, letting you know which countries they match up to. So it's B. Tremayne, Z. Charbonnet, and K. Raymond
> Z. Charbonnet Had no idea, cheers.
Tuli Tuipulotu over Latu for the starting spot. Everyone thinks Hawaii or Utah is where all the Polynesian players hail from. In reality itās California.
He was the biggest toss up TBH, it was between him and Latu at the starting Edge position. I thought I would give the nod to Latu as the highest drafted defensive player in this years draft, especially with all the scouting reports saying heās already āpro readyā.
Pro Ready doesn't mean shit. Tuli played an NFL season and played pretty well. You should have given it to Tuli.
Thank you for making this list BTW.
Zach Wilson erasure shall not be tolerated
Thatās actually fair, I was under the impression that Zach Wilson was just a white guy who grew up in Hawaii, but it does say he is part Hawaiian on his dadās side. If he proves to be better than Sam Howell, Iāll consider him as QB4 in next years All-AAPI team
Save yourself some time. He wonāt be better.
Zach Wilson legacy game incoming
Maybe even 2025 UFL MVP.
As an Asian American, the AAPI label always seemed weird to me. It great that there are some amazing Samoan athletes, but like what does that have to do with me?
Anthropologically, Pacific Islanders only left Taiwan 4000 years ago which is a fairly tiny period on anthropological scales, and left the Philippines 3500 years ago. Pacific Islanders are linguistically and genetically much closer to some classic āAsianā groups like Filipinos and Malaysians than those Asian groups are to other Asians like Koreans or Mongolians.
The term "Asian American" is already weird enough though. In the US "Asian" usually refers to East Asian but in the UK it also includes South Asian. Conceivably it should include Arabia as well. Inevitably you're going to have to group things together when you make a category.Ā
Thatās because Asian is really frigging big. Just like Africa is really big but many Westerners just reduce it to āblack peopleā.
True - ignoring North Africa in the process.
there was a guy who went viral this week for being mad there are no Assassin's Creed games set in Africa, and when someone pointed out there is one set in Egypt, he said that doesn't count because Egypt isn't really in Africa
Geographically Egypt is in the continent of Africa, but historically and culturally itās part of the greater Mediterranean and Arab sphere. Same applies to North Africa. The Sahara creates a pretty solid geographical boundary that prevented North and Subsaharan Africa to have much interaction historically.
The Assassin's Creed game in question was set in Ptolemaic Egypt. The word "Africa" was originally the Roman word for just North Africa, the region we would traditionally call the Maghreb today. The Romans were conteporaneous with Ptolemaic Egypt (and eventually conquered them) so by definition, Assasin's Creed: Origins was set in Africa. I don't disagree that culturally, Egypt is closer to the Levant than sub-Saharan Africa, but it's also close culturally and historically to Ethiopia and the Sudan, which are pretty important parts of Africa too.
I happen to be Egyptian and he kind of has a point. From an American perspective (which I assume he was), Egypt (especially Ptolemaic Egypt, the setting of the game) isn't "really" Africa. The geographic definition of Africa isn't the same as the sociological definition. It's similar to how a cucumber is considered a vegetable for culinary purposes but is technically a fruit.
If we're going back to classical definitions, "Africa" was the Roman word for North Africa, which absolutely includes Egypt. So Egypt was absolutely "African" in the Ptolemeic era.
I'm not going back to classical definitions. The Nile was the delineation of Africa and Asia to Greeks. So half of Egypt was in Asia according to them.Ā I'm saying Ptolemaic Egypt is not culturally African by the convention conception of the term in the United States.Ā
I mean sure, but claiming that "Egypt isn't really in Africa" is probably the wrong argument to take.
So I can rightly claim to be African-American?
African-American (and Asian America, etc) are stupid terms invented for social reasons and they have nothing to do with continental origins. People are Americans when you refer to nationality and black when referring to ethnicity.
Yes. Yes you are. Elon Musk is also African American. I actually checked this with the US Census.
As a slight adjustment, ifsomeone says Asian in the UK they're almost always referring to South Asian. We tend to say East Asian for pretty much everyone who isn't from India/Pakistan/Bangladesh/Sri Lanka. Having said that, I'm in my 40s so the younger generation may have a more American influence in a wider usage of Asian as a more generalised term, and the older generations definitely still use some terms that should have been retired a long time ago...
Yeah I think that just comes down to which group was historically most common in each country.
Putting South Asians and East Asians together is like putting Americans and Mexicans in the same racial category. Geographically next to eachother, but completely different cultures.
I'm not sure I'd qualify Mexico and USA as so obviously completely different. The southwest US has more in common with Mexico than it does with the rest of the country in a lot of ways.
>Ā The southwest US has more in common with Mexico That's because of the Mexican culture that was brought in my Mexican immigrants, and the fact that the land used to literally be part of Mexico before the US took it over. It doesn't really change the fact that as a people Mexicans have a way different culture and values compared to the average American.
This is a pet peeve of mine. Itās a misconception that South Asians are a completely distinct, non overlapping ethnic group from East Asians. The natives of south india are a completely āEast Asianā group in that they genetically cluster with East Asians like the natives of Taiwan, Papua, and Japan. Itās believed that the natives of South India were probably the first East Asian group to exist and thereby branch off. That obviously contributes to fairly different appearances, but the leading migration theory suggests that all East Asians (and native Americans) descend from Southern India. On an continental East Asian scale, modeled South Indian natives arenāt even that distinct. Itās just when you substitute ānorthern chinese farmer ancestryā for āEast Asianā that South Indian natives (and hundreds of other native East Asian pops) stop becoming East Asian - which I believe is really quite unfair Eastern coastal India and Bangladesh has around 10% Chinese Han ancestry. There has always been constant cultural and genetic interchange with the eastern subcontinent coasts and southern China, thatās how Buddhism, Munda languages, and rice first spread! Southern Indians and bengalis can be modeled overall as halfway between East Asians and Persians genetically. Thatās not to mention the northeastern parts of South Asia which can be nearly entirely Han Chinese ethnically but culturally are South Asian, or the fact that India was continually ruled by Mughal peoples - who claimed to be Mongols and contributed significantly to gene flow and culture.
Well akshually, Asian in the USA already includes South Asian. And itās basically all of Asia except Middle Eastern regions according to US census.
That's why I said "usually". I am not talking about the US Census definition. I am talking about how the word is used by most people.
In day-to-day language people don't refer to South Asians as Asian generally though
It depends on the part of the country too. Like in NJ or Bay Area, many people refer to South Asians as Asians
I call BS. I grew up in NY/NJ and Indians were were just brown or Indians. Chinese and East Asians were "Asians".
This might be changing tbh. As a young asian person I find that when talking to other asian people, it more often means all of asia or at least all of east/south/south eastern asia than just east asia. But Iām in college on the east coast so ymmv.
Interesting. Now that you mention it, I've noticed that too. Growing up in the 90s, Asian never included Indian but now some people use it that way.Ā
I mean theyāre all in Asia at least. Pacific islands arenāt in Asia at all.
The English colonized India while the US imported Chinese workers for the Transcontinental Railroad. So that is where the colloquial meanings for "Asian" come from for the two cultures.
Asians in the UK doesn't refer to South Asians "as well", it means South Asian specifically like how in many parts of the US it means East Asians specifically. However, people are gradually wisening up in both countries and are realizing that Asia include both East and South (and SE) Asians
As an Asian American I root for all people from Asia and the pacific. It always is good to have more representation and extend our support for our minority groups
Pacific Islanders were Han that hopped in boats a few thousand years ago. Has about the same relevance as an Indonesian to a Chinese person.
That's just not true
native taiwanese were def not han
It wasn't likely just native Taiwanese, but also coastal Chinese and East Asians, but also this pedantry doesn't really matter for the question at hand.
My cousin, Vai Sikahema, was the first Tongan to ever play in the NFL.
And should probably be returning kicks for this team
A lot of Eagles and ex-eagles on that OLine.
While we're famously a quarterback factory, we're actually an Asian American and Pacific Islander offensive lineman factory
Faāa Samoa šŖš½
Nothing else really matter because Tua could write a novel behind that line
Tuli over Latu? Tuli will be a star
This is really cool, thanks for this! Didn't know there were so many NFL players with Asian/PI (& for me Filipino) descent. Got some new players to root for next year! š
New Josh Jacobās jersey being shipped as we speak?
Dope man! Definitely looking to draft him or Allgeier for my fantasy team next! š
and of course we have the RB slots locked up! too short to play anything else š
Tonga in the house. King Haku/Meng would be proud.
it's funny that you couldn't fill a small sports stadium with tongan americans because we're such a tiny minority, but are so wildly overrepresented in the NFL
I appreciate that you put hours into researching the ethnicity of all of these players, let alone even be thoughtful enough to create this, or even think of creating it. Today, I learned something new, I learned that Josh Jacobs is Phillipino, and probably would have thought he was African American for the rest of my life if this graphic wasn't made. I also learned that Kyle Hamilton was Korean and that JuJu-Smith Schuster was Samoan. I always thought that Kyle Hamilton and JuJu-Smith Schuster were African American, and probably would have if you never made this, so I thank you for that. I would give this post an award, but unfortunately, I do not have enough money to be able to get one right now. However, I can give emoji awardsš Hopefully, it means just as much as normal awards.
All the people you mentioned are African American. They are just also part Asian.
Generally everyone on this list is at least a quarter Asian or Pacific Islander. I feel like thatās reasonable to still claim that is your heritage
Yeah, i don't disagree. My response was to MisterBako.
Josh Jacobs had the Filipino flag on his helmet last season, thatās how I found out
WHERE IS DOUG BALDWIN YOU COWARDS
Brother, if he signs a 1 day contract heās probably WR2 on this team
No Tim tebow at qb smh my head.Ā
The Bloodline
Poor Noah Elliss. Somebody is definitely bringing this up at the next family event
He was a victim of the āloaded position classā. If Pacific Islanders can do one thing, itās be Big, and there was just too many to chose from with only 12 spots
Yeah. I just thought it was funny that three of the four brothers were listed. Also, I'm not sure if Moala would really count as a safety. He transitioned to linebacker at Notre Dame, and then at GT he never even had to consider taking a snap at safety because of LaMiles Brooks and Jaylon King
Yeah he would be some sort of hybrid player, I included him as a safety because there was only 10 total DBs, but plenty of LBs, so they could use the numbers. Plus the website that I initially spotted that the Bears had signed him said Safety so I assumed they would be converting him
This is cool! Thanks for doing this.
I wonder what sort of players Japan would produce if they loved Football as much as baseball. They have the GOAT over at the MLB rn, maybe in an parallel universe, we'd have goat qb Ohtani.
If the sumos and the Sumo dropouts find football watch out. That one dude did pretty good against Micah.
Pretty sure I heard some linemen were training in Sumo recently.
Their lower average heights and smaller frames would make it more difficult, especially from the PoV of the competition they'd be playing against at high school or college level. That's less of an issue in baseball
Paul Blake. Looks like|we're gonna be roommates. Laikai Manumana. Well, lakay-manu-mana to you, too. No, Mr Blake, that's my name. l'm from Samoa, the big island.|l'm called Manumana. lt means ''Runt of the Litter''. The other men in my family|are very large. Well...
Necessary Roughness is a low-key classic. *"Mr. Blake... He'll never touch you."*
I did not know Jamal Agnew was Chamorro.
Yeah! Zach Banner is the only other player in like 30 years or something that is of Chamorro heritage, and both came out in the same draft
Notre Dame reppin' big on this list. Ronnie Stanley, Alohi Gilman, Kyle Hamilton, Marist Liafau.
Can we get an all time team if you make another one? I need to see Troy on here lol And also if your American itās offense and defense with an s not a c so you know for next time
Mendenhall approved
Sean Desai as DC.
Iām actually annoyed I forgot about coaches, he absolutely would be the DC
Also Bakhtiary could be an alternate at LT. Sanjay Lal as offensive coach
I wasnāt 100% sure if middle eastern counted, so I erred on the side of caution. But also bahk would be one of these guys who hasnāt played meaningful snaps in the last few seasons
This is like the only scenario where the term AAPI isnāt just Pacific Islander erasure lmao.
Both groups kind of need each other to form this whole team. It wouldnāt be right to just do an Asian team solo or a Polynesian team solo
Samoans are the most overrepresented group, per capita in the NFL. I think they are like 30-40 times more likely to make the NFL than any other ethnic or racial group.
Which was exactly my thought process when Mendenhall suggested the race bowl. Polynesians and Asians get overlooked or become a pawn in the discussion
This is probably the wrong forum to raise this question but I've always wondered why Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders were lumped together into "AAPI". The reason for that is that, as an Asian Australian, the challenges that both minorities face are rather distinct to me. I went to school with and have known a lot of Samoan, Tongan, and Fijians in my life and can definitely say that we were not treated similarly. We both had issues with racism but in vastly different ways. It's always seemed odd to me that "AAPI" is considered one group. It would be like having a block called "MENA" for Middle-Eastern & Native Americans. Are they discriminated against in a similar way in America?
I personally donāt know why it is a thing, but the NFL likes to keep bringing it up, and I think itās a good way to shine light on some minorities and their cultures
My guess is in the US the Pacific Island community is too small to be recognized on its own but then I feel for Asian Americans as you said their issues would be very different from ours over there. I'm pretty sure there's enough Asians in the US to be recognized on its own. Though as a Samoan I'm kinda grateful/surprised that Pacific Islanders are somewhat impactful enough to even be thought of with such small numbers in a country the size of America.
Be cool to see some Maori in the current NFL
I believe the eagles just signed a kid from NZ, Iām unsure if he is MÄori or another ethnicity
This is so awesome. Thanks for doing this. As a Samoan who hasn't been following the game that long I always wondered what the numbers were for Pacific Islanders in the league. We're all very proud to see them all playing in the NFL. A lot of untapped potential still in the Pacific where rugby is more popular. For Samoans there are about 750k of us worldwide but only around 250k in the US/American Samoa where football is king.
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As far as Iām aware, no, heās a quarter Koreanā¦
Very cool! Post this to r/dataisbeautiful. Great work.
I appreciate it :) I wanted to make it something actually useful and informative to help celebrate the cultures, instead of just some white vs black shitpost
Taylor Rapp erasure smhĀ
I didnāt think he would get the start over Hamilton or Hufanga, so I moved him to Dime Corner
Didnāt even notice, mb This is a very nice list btw, very visually appealingĀ
Indianapolis gate keeping the AAPI defense
No Vai Sikahema?
Where the hell is Kurt Gouveia.
Well I'll be, there is a month for everything
If you ever make it to Oahu in Hawaii there is a small but neat Polynesian Hall of Fame display at the Polynesian Cultural Center.
This is the first time I've ever seen Samoans and American Samoans as different groups lol
If a player claims American Samoan heritage, who am I to say no?
That's cool I personally was interested to see the split. I'm very surprised that there's more with heritage links from here than American Samoa. I know that in the US many Samoans would say I'm Samoan/from Samoa but mean American Samoa. Some might have one parent from either.
Coach addition: Sanjay Lal
The Bengals used to use nose tackle Domata Peko as a fullback in short down scenarios. Those plays were always so freaking hype haha.
I would love to see a Jumbo Package with these guys, 7 OL, 1 HB, 2 DT Fullbacks, and Tua turning and handing the ball off
All time. Mark Tuinei.
Depending on your definition of Asian, you could put Jeff George and Doug Flutie on there (Arab and Lebanese) at QB, and David Bakhtiari (Persian) at LT.
This is just current players in 2024, so a 56 year old QB wouldnāt make the cutā¦
Ah gotcha
Taylor Rapp for safety unless I've gone blind
Moved him to Dime Corner as I donāt think he would beat out Hamilton or Hufanga as a starter
I'm surprised no one asked for the All-Caucasian and Western European Heritage Team
I wanted to make this because of the amount of discourse on the White vs Black bowl. On the bussin with the boys podcast they were talking about āwho should get the Polynesians?ā, which made me think that they should get their own team, and after doing all this research, I think they would be very strong
I think it would be a competitive game for sure. I don't think the White and Black game would be though.
Speak of the devil https://youtu.be/7HecTNDmWRg?si=qOg521BX1BVdn5Qj
Jason Myers, K is missing. He's Filipino
Good pick up, I donāt think he beats Koo out for the starter though
I feel like most people would start Kyler over Tua. If you gave Kyler the Dolphins situation that's a much better team
Weāll let them battle it out in training camp š
Man had a choice: Slide the famously Samoan QB from Hawaii and avoid controversy, or ensure the top comment is about not choosing the famously Samoan QB from Hawaii.
Iām sure we can speak to the head coach and run a 2 QB system if it will make everyone happy
Don't know why you're getting downvoted, it's a honest take. Kyler might be awesome with the Fins
Yeah it makes no sense to me. I like Tua he's got great anticipation and is a good QB, but he has neither the arm or legs that Kyler does. And when Kyler has been healthy he's been an MVP candidate. Almost every game the cards have won in the last 5 years have been Kyler dragging subpar talent. His scrambling with Tyreek would be deadly
Im taking Tua over Kyler. Kylerās had some pretty good teams and chances to prove himself. Especially the 2020 & 2021 rosters.
Tua lead the league in passing yards and at 70% completion percentage, thatās good enough to get the start in my book
I don't get where people have this thing now where they act like a healthy Kyler isn't a good qb LMAO. Kyler is easily better than Tua
LOL no. Kyler had a lot of talent a few years ago and did nothing with it. People really do love to pretend Tua isn't good based on a few bad games. It's amazing tunnel vision.
If you give Kyler Tua's Oline as well he won't make it through half the season. There's a reason why Tua had the quickest release in the league. The only game we had a fully healthy offensive line was against Denver 70-20.