Best Asian Football Players to Play in the NFL

Although the majority of players in the NFL are born and raised in the United States, and to a lesser extent Canada, there has been a recent influx of players born from outside of the United States.

With the NFL being the most popular sports league in the United States, with an estimated 17.1 million viewers per game, NFL games ranked as 48 of the top 50 shows on television during the 2021 regular season. And with the NFL’s total revenue exceeding $11 billion, its popularity appears to be growing incrementally year-over-year and it should be no surprise that the majority of its players are from the United States.

However, the NFL has recently instituted the International Player Pathway Program, which looks to recruit and draft international players to the league. In an effort to increase the NFL’s status globally and as an opportunity for the league to increase its talent pool, the International Player Pathway Program also hopes to increase fandom in the sport and league on a global basis.

And although Asian football players have been historically a minority group within the league, their numbers are steadily rising. And as the NFL’s popularity continues to grow globally, more-and-more Asian players will begin to enter the league and showcase their individual talents.

Below, we are going to review the best Asian football players to play in the NFL. These are both current and former players to have played in, or represented the league in an official capacity.

Hines Ward

Hines Ward is, perhaps, the most famous Asian NFL player. Born in Seoul, South Korea, Ward’s mother is Korean and his father is African-American. However, at the age of one Hines Ward would move to Atlanta, Georgia.

A gifted athlete, Hines Ward would attend the University of Georgia and would play the wide receiver position. His 149 career receptions for 1,965 yards placed him second in team history. He also played tailback and totaled 3,870 all-purpose yards, second only to Herschel Walker in Bulldogs history.

Following his time at the University of Georgia, Ward would be drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the third round of the 1998 NFL Draft. He would play his entire professional career for the Steelers and he became the team’s all-time leader in receptions, receiving yardage and touchdown receptions.

Hines Ward was voted MVP of Super Bowl XL and upon retirement was one of eleven NFL players to have at least 1,000 career receptions. Ward is often regarded as one of the best wide receivers of the 2000s, as well as one of key figures for the Steelers success during the 2000s.

Will Demps

Will Demps is a former NFL safety who was signed by the Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted free agent in 2002. His mother is Korean and his father is Puerto Rican and African American. As a young child, the family moved from South Carolina to California.

Being in California, Demps would be a walk-on at San Diego State University. He would be a two-time All-Mountain West first-team selection. During his college career, Demps recorded 229 career tackles (135 solo), including 15 tackles for loss, and five interceptions.

In addition to playing for the Baltimore Ravens, Demps would also play for both the New York Giants and the Houston Texans.

John Lee

John Lee was born in South Korea and is a former placekicker in the NFL. As a young child, he played baseball and would play in the Little World Series regional qualifying tournament. When he was in the sixth grade, his family moved from South Korea to the United States and he would begin playing football as a freshman in high school.

Following high school, Lee would play college football at UCLA where he was a two-time All-American. The first Korean to play in the NFL, Lee would be selected by the St. Louis Cardinals with the 32nd pick in the 1986 NFL Draft.

Tedy Bruschi

Born in San Francisco, California, Tedy Bruschi’s paternal grandparents were from Italy and his mother is of Filipino descent. He attended the University of Arizona and played for the Arizona Wildcats from 1991 to 1995 where he would record 185 total tackles (137 solos), with 74 tackles for losses, six fumbles and recovered five others and tied the NCAA Division I-A sack record with 52 sacks.

He would be recognized as a consensus first-team All-American in 1994 and 1995, and won the 1995 Morris Trophy as the Pacific-10 Conference’s best defensive lineman.

Following his time at the University of Arizona, Bruschi would be selected by the New England Patriots in the third round of the 1996 NFL Draft.