Do you think there will ever be a full-blooded Asian in the NFL at the running back position (not fullback, I'm talking about the running back/tailback position) as a STARTER??? Almost all the athletes at that position are black. I've heard the "cultural" arguments why this is so, but I think it's a bunch of BS. Why do I say that??? First of all, there are many, many, many white athletes on the offensive line in the NFL, but ALMOST NO white starters at the running back and cornerback positions. Why is this? Some cultural reason that whites are forbidden to play running back? Sorry, I can't picture a white parent saying to their kid, "now Jimmy, when you grow up, you have to play on the offensive line in the NFL because you are white; you can't play running back or cornerback because that's only for black people."

I'm part Polynesian (I'm mixed Chinese, Japanese, Hawaiian, Samoan) and I'll say that Polynesians are in the same boat as whites in the NFL--they very rarely can match the speed of the fastest black athletes. Samoan Kelsey Nakanelua represented American Samoa in the 2004 Olympics in the 100 meter dash. His fastest time in the 100 meter dash is 10.59 seconds. That's just sad, because African-American Justin Gatlin won the gold medal with a time of 9.85 seconds. Last year, there were over 40 polynesians in the NFL. Read this article about polynesians in the NFL:
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/print?id=13...&type=story
I have followed polynesian players for many years at the high school, college, and NFL levels. There have been hundreds of polynesians in the NFL in the last three decades: Junior Seau, Chris Naeole, Vince Manuwai, Lofa Tatupu, Siupeli Malamala, Jesse Sapolu, Toniu Fonoti, Al Noga, Niko Noga, Itula Mili, Dan Saleaumua, and many many more. But guess what, NOT ONE polynesian has been a starter at running back or cornerback. Do you think that polynesians don't WANT to play those positions? Of course they do. It's just that black athletes are the best at those positions because of their faster short distance speed, plain and simple. In polynesian culture, like african-american culture, sports is seen as a way to fame and fortune. I live in Hawaii and at the high school level, there are many polynesian running backs because of our large population of polynesians in Hawaii. But guess what, they're so freakin slow, and very few of them can make it at running back at Division 1 colleges, and zero polynesians have been starters in the NFL in the NFL's history (Mosi Tatupu was never a starter; he was famous for his special teams play; Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala was a big power back, not a speed back, and he only filled in for Jerome Bettis when Bettis was injured). In all these years, out of the hundreds and hundreds of polynesian players that I've followed, only ONE polynesian athlete could run the 40 yard dash in under 4.5 seconds and that's Troy Polamalu. There are huge numbers of black athletes that run the 40 yard dash in under 4.5 seconds, literally hundreds if you count college football and NFL athletes--go read Street and Smith's pre-season football magazine, or Sporting News, or Pro Football Weekly. So the cultural argument is pure b.s.

I don't think that there will ever be a 100% Asian RB as a featured starter in the NFL. If polynesians can not do it, whites very rarely, then I really don't think an asian will ever do it.

One more thing, I mean the featured starter at running back, a regular starter. Like I said above Fuamatu-Ma'afala filled in when Bettis was hurt, but he was never the regular starter.

your wrong bro. theres a running back who is polynesian who i think started some games in the NFL. he plays for the eagles. mahe is his last name.

Mahe is not the featured running back. He's filling in for injured players. I think Westbrook is suppose to be the regular starter. Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala started three games in a row for the Steelers a few years back, but it was only because the regular starter Jerome Bettis was HURT. Fuamatu-Ma'afala was NEVER the featured back, no matter how much I wished he was.

but you got to give him a little credit. hes a "small" guy and he plays running back in the NFL. all of the other polynesians playing or have played running back were full-back type backs. mahe is a half-back.

Actually Fuamatu-Ma'afala played halfback and fullback. While he was with the Steelers, he was the back up at halfback to Jerome Bettis. He started three games when Bettis was injured a few years back, but when Bettis was healed, Ma'afala went back to the bench. Ma'afala also played at fullback when injuries at the fullback position (I believe FB John Witman was the starter at the time) necessitated moving him to that position for a few games. Ma'afala also spent time as the third down back catching passes out of the backfield (pretty good for a 252 pound back--actually he was as heavy as 285 pounds in college but lost weight before he was drafted in the sixth round in 1998), until Zeroue was drafted and became their third down back.

but still that is beyond the point. there are some polynesians playing running back in the NFL. so just because your polynesian this means that it is not impossible for you to reach such a high level cause other polynesians have done it before.

it probably won't happen
the chances of becoming a star nfl rb is pretty slim in itself, and narrowing it down to an asian doing it makes it even more unlikely. and add in the fact that interracial relationships are getting more frequent, an asian doing this seems really improbable

Well probability wise... it has to happen sometime...
Well actually I don't believe it will
a) "Star" runningbacks are hard to come by in the first place
Asians don't have as much interest in football
c) To be full blooded is a hard thing because the whole world is mixing
d) This may be stereoptypical, so I count this as an almost unimportant reason. But Asian parents in general I think are kind of against sports, well compared to academics I mean.... Therefore the chances of an Asian getting into a sport, especially football which few Asians play anyways is slim

Asian running back has hpapened, good Asian running back will happen, star Asian running back might happen

no, cause we're not built like that.........

not this again......

you started a thread like this last year. and it got closed.

antares, if u ever watched Rugby you would know that there are loads of Polynesians of Samoan, Tongan, Fijian or Maori origin who can clock under 5 secs for 40 metres, which is about 44 yards, and is an indicator of a 40 yard time around 4.5 secs.
Joe Rokocoko has been electronically times over 40 m at 4.63 secs, and 10.5 for 100m, and weighs 220lbs. Soseni Anesi, born in Apia Western Samoa and plays (sometimes - not a regular) for the NZ All Blacks has supposedly run 4.53 secs, although I'm not sure if I believe this, but that's what the stats say. Polynesians have a natural combo of speed and size which is hard to beat. If you had access to bigger populations of Polynesians than those on Hawaii and American Samoa, you'd know there are loads of Polynesians who are not only massive but also very fast. Think - Jonah Lomu (Tongan) at the age of 18 weighed 265lbs and could run 100m in 10.7 secs. I don't know what the population of Polynesians on Hawaii is, but I doubt it's huge. The Population of American Samoa is only 70,000, by contrast NZ has at least 600,000 Maoris, another couple of hundred thousand Polynesians of Samoan/ Tongan origin etc, and 50% of their "Caucasian" population also has substantial Maori ancestry. There are also 200,000 Polynesians on Western Samoa, nearly a million Fijians, and 100,000 Tongans. If the NFl had access to a Polynesian population of that size which was brought up playing Football I'm sure there would be many more Polynesian running backs in the NFL.

Being a NFL running back is probably the worst job on a football field. You are definitely not the highest paid player on the field, probably 4th or 5th highest paid player if you are healthy enough to become a free agent.
I remember my parents didn't like the idea of me playing football in HS but I did for one year anyway. I believe most Asian parents feel the same way. So I don't think there will be a full blooded asian carrying the ball in NFL.

Can you name a famous navy seal now?

Until i see a 6'2'' 250 lbs asian guy with a 4.4 40, i don't think so.

I always wondered this...actually today too when me and my friend were discussing our options at the team. I think its either that asian guys are too academically minded to play football in college or there are size problems like they are too small to play CB or RB, or are too large to do so. My friend Allistair is full Japanese and played line for four years at our school, then was picked up by some Division II team.

Yeah I really can't think of a white RB at this time. However, I cannot just simply think of a great great black QB when the list of all time greats are filled with white QBs like Dan Marino, Steve Young, Johnny Unitas, Joe Namath, and Dan Fouts. RB greats are like Emmett Smith, Jim Brown, Barry Sanders, etc. Tje most dominating QB's in the current era would be all white: Peyton Manning, Carson Palmer, Tom Brady, Drew Brees, and even my man Brett Farve. RB's ARE all black: LT, Larry Johnson, Portis, And Droughns.

I have to agree with antares that alot of Polynesian RBs here are slow, like Ilaua or however you spell his name for Manoa, he's a wrecking ball in the NCAA and can burst through holes but at the NFL level he'll be facing must faster DE and MLB. Alot of Manoa's OL guys I think aren't big enough or aren't fast enough to keep the pocket for any NFL QB. Plus I guess Manoa hasn't been playing that strong teams other than Purdue, who isn't that much of a strong team anyway at 8 -5, and Alabama who recently fired Bowen.

Alot of the football players at my school are Polynesian or white, with some asian's like my friend Bubba who played TE for two seasons. He's only 5' 5" and 170, so he'd be undersized for a WR in the NCAA not to mention way to slow. Our RBs are both Polynesian I believe. Last last year we had a asian scrambling QB though, but I think this years was a Polynesian that had a pretty good arm.

Its not impossible, but seeing a non-black RB is a very rare sight.

Droughns?? Are you serious? He just got benched. Current era QBs: Mcnabb, Mcnair.

Pats got a white running back, Heath Evans.

Maybe he's not a great great quarterback, but former Bucs and Redskin QB Doug Williams won a Super Bowl with Washington sandwiched between the times the all-time greats you listed above played. He's not going to compare with the all-time greats in overall career stats but being the first black QB to win a Super Bowl is an accomplishment. Heck, he accomplished something Marino and Fouts weren't able to do.

Yes.

Very true.

Referring to the running game, NFL scout Bruce Kebric said "a six yard gain in college translates to a one yard gain in the NFL."

And that's because, in general, the athletes in the NFL are faster than college athletes. The NFL is the highest level you can get.

man..nothing gets by you.

Speaking of Mahe, here is a rather humorous article about him,

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?sectio...&id=1881702

Hmm well I am watching the USC and UCLA game and I think there's a Asian Center for UCLA.

Who got caught for holding and caused a safety.

But anyway, I vaguely remember a Dat Nguyen that played OLB in the NFL, but I don't know much about him at all.

emmanuel moody of USC may be the closest to an Asian running back having at shot at the NFL. (he's half Korean/half black)

Yes, linebacker Dat Nguyen.
There also was OG Eugene Chung who played a few years in the NFL, but he wasn't very good.

One more - Kailee Wong, a linebacker. I don't know if he played this year, but he was playing for the Texans last year. I think he attended Stanford.

^ He played in a few games, not that impressive though. Saw his days with the Viks.

Hmm is Scott Fujita asian? Looks sort of hapa if anything to me I guess, plays for Saints and went to Cal.

fujita is caucasian and was adopted by a japanese family (well..the father is japanese american..mother caucasian). check out espn the magazine for his story.

Yes, he's caucasian, but interestingly I remember reading an article about him where he considers himself asian...

I first saw Kailee Wong play when he played for Stanford. It was a game against Utah back in 1996 (or was it 1997?). I saw the game because I followed closely the career of Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala, who played for Utah. Wong played defensive end at Stanford, I thought he was an okay player. I never read his biography, but Wong looks like he's mixed asian, maybe polynesian/asian (like me, plenty of them here in Hawaii).

Heath Evans is a fullback, not a running back/half-back.

And besides, like I said in the first post above, I said "almost no" white starters, and "whites very rarely"
It is very rare to see a non-black running back as a regular starter in the NFL. Now I'm not a total bookworm, I don't know every aspect about every NFL team in history or anything, but from memory, off the top of my head, the only white featured back/regular starter that I can think of is Travis Jersey who started some games for the Packers about 10 years ago.

Now you guys can add to the short list if you can help me with it...

but really, I bet there's like less than 10 white guys who have been regular starters at running back/half-back (not fullback) in the last 15 years in the NFL. All the rest have been black. And please don't mention samoan Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala starting for three games a few years back, because he was not the featured running back. As soon as Jerome Bettis healed up, Fuamatu-Ma'afala went back to the bench. I'm talking about a regular starter at RB.

who cares what color the running backs are? as long as they play for my teams, i don't care if they are white, yellow, black, purple, red....just hold on to the rock and take it to the end zone.


craig james

Pats equal opportunity running backing...

Yeah, now I remember...the Pony express at SMU...Craig James was part of the one-two punch along with Eric Dickerson

I think that was before SMU was given the death penalty...that was in the mid, late 1980s I think, wasn't it???

I think SMU had to disband it's football program for two or three years...before the death penalty, SMU was considered a college football powerhouse, then after they brought their football program back, they were terrible as you would expect...

Yes of course I know that Polynesians are born with better natural athletic ability than most. That's why I've followed them for many years. When Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala was a sophomore at the University of Utah, he weighed 280 pounds, and he was timed by NFL scouts in the 40 yard dash in 4.68 seconds, which is pretty amazing. His older brother Nick Ma'afala was an even better athlete than he was. In 1985, when Nick was a defensive lineman at the University of Hawaii, he was 6'2" 275 and ran the 40 yard dash in 4.58 seconds and he had a 38" vertical jump. But in his sophomore year, he quit the team to get a job because his wife gave birth, and he never returned to the team. When Nick flew to Utah to watch Chris play in the BYU-Utah game in 1996, Utah’s bench press record at the time was 540 pounds (I believe it was former Ute, Luther Ellis). Nick put on 540 lbs (well actually 495 lbs on the 45 pound bar) and REPPED IT SIX TIMES!!! SIX TIMES!!! Very scary. But the NFL was not in the cards for Nick. And he died a few years ago from leukemia. Chris dedicated a season to him a few years back when he was with the Steelers.

My best friend is Hawaiian/Samoan. I’ve known him since we were 8 years old. For his whole life, even to this day, he was never one to exercise. He had basically the same fast food diet as I did. But when we were 13, he was 6’0” 270 pounds and when we played basketball in P.E. he was faster and quicker (change of direction) than everyone else in my school (mostly asian guys), many of them small guys 1/2 of his size literally. That was the only time I ever saw him run around, but in that small time frame, you could see that he was athletic. And my friend is not someone that I consider an athlete, and quite frankly, he never wanted to be one either. Just a random polynesian guy as an example. I think that some races/ethnic groups are naturally more athletic than others. I think that some people are brainwashed by that “politically correct” nonsense that all races/ethnic groups are created equal.

Having said that about polynesian athletes, for some reason, polynesian athletes are tremendous only when they are about 240 pounds or heavier. Polynesians are just NOT impressive in the 180-220 pound weight range. This is the weight range of most NFL running backs and cornerbacks, and both these positions are almost completely dominated by black athletes, and both positions are speed positions. Your example of Joe Rokocoko would be an exception if your information is accurate (I don't watch rugby), and my example of Troy Polamalu is another exception, speed wise.

In terms of absolute speed, look at the men's 100 meter dash at the Olympic level. That event is completely dominated by black athletes. Even when the athlete is from a predominantly white country like England, or Canada, the athlete who represented the country is black. Every time. Some examples are Linford Christie who ran for England, but was born in Jamaica; Donovan Bailey, who ran for Canada, but was born in Jamaica. In the 2004 summer Olympics, African-American Justin Gatlin won the gold medal in the 100 meter dash with a time of 9.85 seconds. Heck, every athlete in the finals of the men’s 100m dash in the last 4 Olympics were black athletes. Where are the whites? Where are the asians? Where are the latinos, etc.?? They are nowhere to be found. They are too slow.

You mentioned polynesians running the 100 meter dash in 10.5 and also 10.7 seconds. But again, African-American Justin Gatlin won the gold medal with a time of 9.85 seconds. The current world record is held by Asafa Powell who is from Jamaica, he ran the 100 meter dash in 9.77 seconds.

And most of the fastest black 100 meter sprinters are in that weight range of 180-220 pounds (some a little lighter). See my point?

I don't believe I'll see that happen anytime soon. To be a star RB, you'd not only need speed, but the ability to withstand the pounding and beating. It's probably the most brutal position to play. I think there would be a star asian cornerback before there will be a star rb.

Warren Moon was the best black QB in case some youngbucks didn't know. Doug williams is not even in his class.

if dat nguyen can be a defensive back, then fosho an asian can be a runningback...

Know your facts kid. Dat was a middle linebacker. Way too slow to play defensive back.

well my point is, that if someone as small as dat can be a linebacker...then there is a chance for a runningback that is asian

there is a big difference between dishing the hits, and getting hit. Dat was dishing out the hits, and as a middle linebacker, physical skill is just as important as reading the offensive set. When you are a running back you have two jobs, block, or take the hand off and hope to God that somebody doesn't take your head off.

well i wanna know where you guys put Hines Ward
though he is mix...would you guys say he is a starting asian reciever??

and in todays NFL....runningbacks have 3 jobs
block, take handoffs and catch balls

there are rarely any pure running backs anymore

Somewhat like Mauia and Ilaua this year for the Warriors lol.

I'd say they are better than West Kelekipi, who my grandpa would say "would run straight into blockers and fall down after first hit" lol.

I agree...

As a running back, unless you score a touchdown or run out of bounds, you are going to get hit on every play that you touch the ball. Sure, other positions take hits, quarterbacks take hits, but it's really not that often, unless you have a really crappy offensive line. But yeah, RBs take a lot of pounding.

what about that hawain QB, whats his face, Timmy Chang or whatever.

im a star RB...in madden 07

^ Ah Timmy Chang. NCAA Career Passing yards record holder. NCAA Career Interceptions Thrown record holder XD.

He was picked up by the Eagles for a time but they chose Koi Detmer over him, and I must say that God they have Jeff Garcia because Koi is just horrible.

Yeah, Dat Nguyen would be too slow for running back or cornerback. When Dat Nguyen was in Mel Kiper Jr's draft guide, it said that he ran the 40 yard dash in the upper 4.6 range. Not impressive at all, especially for a smallish 225 pound linebacker (his weight coming out of Texas A&M).

Just a comparison, Herschel Walker weighed 225 pounds and he was timed in the 40 yard dash at 4.27 seconds. And there's Bo Jackson, I remember reading in Sports Illustrated back when Bo Jackson was a senior at Auburn university, he weighed 222 pounds and he was timed by NFL scouts in the 40 yard dash in 4.12 seconds!!! 4.12!!!

And Mr. Wyowang will probably get technical on me and say that it wasn't an electronic timing. No, it wasn't an electronic timing, it was hand timed. But it was by NFL scouts, whose job it is to know how fast prospective NFL draftees are, before their team spends millions of dollars on contracts and signing bonuses. And he was hand timed by scouts under 4.2 before (4.19 and 4.17 seconds)

And speaking of this, do you guys remember there was one game, Raiders vs. Seahawks, back when Brian Bosworth played LB for the Seahawks. Now Brian Bosworth was a workout warrior, running the 40 in 4.42 at 245 pounds at the NFL combine the year he was drafted. There was a play where Bo Jackson got to the sidelines on a sweep. There was a point where Bosworth was right behind Jackson hugging the sidelines, just out of his reach. But Jackson just turned on the jets and he made Bosworth look SLOW, like he ran a 5.2 or something. It was amazing. Even the commentator said "Oh Lord" as Jackson sped away. 4.12 in the 40. Unbelievable speed.

Then there's rookie TE Vernon Davis, he is 6'3" 258 pounds, at the NFL combine he ran the 40 in 4.38 seconds and he had a 42" vertical jump. He also bench presses 530 pounds. What a beast of an athlete.

Anyway, if the day comes when I see an Asian guy weighing 222 pounds while running a 4.12 40, like Bo Jackson, or in the same class of athlete as Vernon Davis, that will be the day that I say that an Asian could be a starter at RB in the NFL. But that will never happen. Again, I'm part Asian (I'm mixed Chinese, Japanese, Hawaiian, Samoan), and I might sound a bit harsh against my own race/ethnic group, but I'm just being realistic.

In interviews, he says he considers himself asian...but yeah, he's half-black

works for me.





again...i could care less if there is an asian RB in the NFL, as long as he's helping my team...i don't care what he is.

There was a pretty dominant white RB that I forgot about, The Dolphin's Larry Csonka, the Jamal Lewis/Jerome Bettis type runner from the 60s - 70s.

I believe he's in the Hall of Fame.

The level of athleticism has increased dramatically since the time of RB Larry Csonka. On the other side of the ball on defense, there were less linebackers with 4.5 40 speed, and fewer DBs with 4.3 speed than today, so a running back had a little easier time back then. As Deion Sanders said in an interview before the 49ers destroyed my beloved Chargers in the Super Bowl back in January 1995, when he was talking about how great Junior Seau was, and the overall speed of the modern NFL, he said (rather disrespectfully) that guys like Hall of Famer Dick Buktus wouldn't be very good in today's game with running backs that are much faster than the ones that played in the 1950's, 1960's, 1970's (there were more white guys playing back then, fewer blacks).

I happen to agree with Deion Sanders. If Dick Buktus played in today's NFL, he would come out of the game on third downs. He would be a liability against today's much faster third down scatbacks. Now if you think about the opposite, and you insert Junior Seau back in the 1950's, 1960's, he would destroy everyone with his athleticism.

I was talking about RBs and CBs, not QBs
But on the subject of QB Chang:
#1 he's mixed asian, like me

#2 he was more a product of UH coach June Jones pass oriented offense than anything else.
NFL scouts saw through this, and as a result Chang wasn't even drafted. The NFL scouts were not fooled by his big numbers.

^ Plus the guy looked pretty small on the NFL field. Too bad he didn't make it. He could've represented my lastname in the NFL Did you guys know that if you create a player in MADDEN with the lastname "Chang", Al Michaels would actually say it.... ex. "Tackle made by Chang" etc. Pretty cool. I wonder how "Chang" made it into the game lol...this was before Timmy Chang was even at Hawaii.