Filipino American football player holds this year's NFL rushing title

Raider Josh Jacobs is one of the few Asian Americans playing in the National Football League.

Las Vegas Raiders' halfback Josh Jacobs rushed for only 45 yards in the last game of the season but that was enough to win the National Football League's rushing crown this year. The Filipino American capped off the season with a total of 1,653 yards.

Jacobs said it was the hardest game he's had to play in because his mind was on the health of his father who was recovering from a heart attack and surgery.

The week prior to the last game, Jacobs was at the side of his father in a hospital in Tulsa, Oklahoma. His father, Marty, had to undergo emergency heart surgery the Wednesday before the game after Jacob's 6-year old son called 911 when his grandfather was in pain.

“For me, family is always before anything, especially when you know the severity of what is going on,” Jacobs told reporters following a 31-13 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. 

“My dad had woken up and told me he wanted me to play, so that’s why I’m here.”

Jacobs booked a flight back to Las Vegas on Friday night and had little bit of sleep before the Saturday game against Chiefs, who eventually went all the way to win the Super Bowl.

“This is probably the hardest game I’ve ever played, not in the sense of physical or anything like that – just mentally, like trying to stay in it,” Jacobs said. “Being on the sideline and having too much time to think, think about what’s going on and think about being the rock of your family. It’s never easy when your rock is going through it, so it’s been an interesting time for me.”

Jacobs is a member of a small group of Filipino Americans in the NFL, a privilege he doesn't take lightly. Jacobs and Seattle Seahawks kicker Jason Myers were the only Filipino American representatives at this year's Pro Bowl that was played Feb. 5.

"It's definitely big, man," Jacobs said at the Pro Bowl, according to TFC News reporter Steve Angeles. "I mean, just because my grandma growing up and my dad kept us along with the culture out there and let us understand where we come from and things like that. So with not a lot of us in professional sports and things like that, it's good to be a prominent advocate for who we are and what we believe in, so that's dope."

Jacobs' rise to NFL stardom has is a rags-to-riches story, battling homelessness as a youth with his Filipino American father Marty.

Despite the struggles, the Oklahoma native landed a scholarship at college football powerhouse Alabama. After winning a national college scholarship, he was drafted in the first round by the then-Oakland Raiders in 2019, winning Rookie of the Year.

Because of his family's past hardships, he has an affinity with those who are struggling.

"I think it's very important just because there's a lot of guys where I come from that I see do good and I never see them come back. Growing up, I told myself, if I see a chance to be on a certain platform and touch and affect people's lives, that's what I'm going to do so I kind of do it," he said.

This offseason, Jacobs said he plans to visit with his grandmother's family in the Philippines.

"I’m just meeting with my family so I’m gonna go out there for like two weeks and go to Angeles City and be with my family so it’s cool," he said.

He'll also have time to ponder his future. He's a free agent and teams will be vying for the Filipino American. If the Raiders don't meet Jacob's terms, he'll try the open market. The 2023 NFL Year and Free Agency period begins at 4 p.m. EDT on March 15.

But Jacobs sounds like he'd like to stay with Las Vegas, especially if the Raiders sign quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who will also be a free agent after playing years with the Green Bay Packers.

Jacobs spoke with Stacking The Box, the Raiders' fan blog, and noted that he’d love Rodgers to come to Vegas and take the team to the next level.

“I definitely want to play with Aaron Rodgers,” Jacobs said. “He’s one of the top guys to ever do it. Really he’s one of the top guys left in the league. Just to be able to be around a guy who’s played a lot of football at a high level and be able to pick his brain on a day-to-day basis and be able to witness how he does his football.”

Jacobs told CBS Sports that if Rodgers came to Vegas, it would change how he views his own future as a free agent.

"I ain't gonna lie, I feel like that (would) change a lot of dynamics for me," Jacobs told CBS. "Especially with just like the contract talks and everything. I feel like when you bring certain guys in the building, you're willing to do things a little differently. It definitely would be a great day."

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.

Doug Baldwin disappointed and conflicted on new NFL rule on the anthem

SCREEN CAPTURE / YOUTUBE

DOUG BALDWIN

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS wide receiver Doug Baldwin, a Filipino/American, is clearly disappointed that the NFL owners have placed restrictions on player protests during the playing of the national anthem.

"The NFL just doesn't get it," Baldwin told KIRO-AM radio, the team's flagship station in Seattle, last week. Players began kneeling or sitting during the anthem following the example of former 49er Colin Kaepernick who said he was protesting the police killings of unarmed African/Americans and an unequal justice system.

The new rule states players can stay in the locker room or out of sight if they don't wish to stand for the anthem but if they are on the field, they must stand when thehe anthem's playing. If a player kneels on the field, the club will be fined.

"I don’t think people should be staying in locker rooms. But still, I think it’s good," Donald Trump said on Fox. "You have to stand proudly for the national anthem or you shouldn’t be playing, you shouldn’t be there. Maybe you shouldn’t be in the country. You have to stand proudly for the national anthem and the NFL owners did the right thing if that’s what they’ve done.

"I think the people pushed it forward. This was not me," he continued. "This country is very smart. We have very smart people. That's something that could have been taken care of when it first started. If they are doing that there, they are doing the right thing."

"He's an idiot -- plain and simple," Baldwin said when asked about Trump during Baldwin's press conference of 2018 last week. "I respect the man because he's a human being first and foremost but he's just being more divisive which is not surprising. It is what it is but for him to say that anybody that doesn't follow his viewpoints or his constituents viewpoints should be kicked out of the country, it's not very empathetic. It's not very American-like, actually, to me. It's not very patriotic. It's not what this country was founded upon. So it's kind of ironic to me that the president of the United States is contradicting what are country is really built on."eafness or the disconnect between the NFL and its players.”

Some of the San Francisco 49ers knelt last season to protest the inequities of the justice system.

The owners' actions were not unanimous. 49ers CEO Jed York told reporters that he did not support the policy and abstained from the vote. New York Jets CEO Christopher Johnson said Jets players are free to kneel and vowed his team would not fine players if the team is penalized.

"I do not like imposing any club-specific rules," Johnson Newsday. "If somebody takes a knee, that fine will be borne by the organization, by me, not the players. I never want to put restrictions on the speech of our players. Do I prefer that they stand? Of course. But I understand if they felt the need to protest."

EDITOR'S NOTE: Earlier versions of this post had a typo in the headline. Instead of "convicted," it should have said "conflicted."
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#Takeaknee goes viral

AFTER the weekend's dramatic display of solidarity when over 200 NFL players took a knee during the playing of the national anthem, it was not surprising that people do the same.

The company of Broadway's Miss Saigon took their final bow from their knees last night in to demonstrate their solidarity with the players.

Directed by Laurence Connor (the recent hit revival of Les Misérables, School of Rock), the Broadway return of the musical stars Filipino/Americans Jon Jon Briones as The Engineer, Eva Noblezada as Kim.

Cameron Mackintosh's acclaimed production of Boublil and Schönberg's legendary musical Miss Saigon continues its limited engagement at The Broadway Theatre (1681 Broadway) through Sunday, Jan. 14.

Celebrities such as John Legend, Stevie Wonder, Pharell, knelt during their concerts. The entire cast of Grey's Anatomy joined in as did the X-files leads Gillian Anderson and David Duchovney.

#Takeaknee went viral online.

Colin Kaepernick, the former 49er quarterback who started the demonstration, did it to bring attention to the racial inequality in American society and the police shootings of unarmed African/Americans.

When Donald Trump lambasted Kaepernick and other football players during a political rally in Alabama on Friday implying that they were disrespecting the flag and the U.S. militariy, it didn't take long for the NFL players and owners to react.

The unprecedented and powerful display by the NFL for the right to protest was on national TV Sunday and Monday.

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That darn football team that shall remain nameless

HERE'S THE GREAT commercial that aired during the NBA championship game on Tuesday (June 10).

If the National Basketball League can force Donald Sterling to sell the Cliippers after his racist rant was made public, the National Football League (NFL) can do no less.

The owners of the Washington DC NFL franchise fall back on "tradition" for ignoring the public pleas to change the name to something besides the racial slur that has been compared to the N-word.
Imagine a team named the Gooks, or the Slopes, Kikes, Wetbacks, or any number of racial insults. There would be unquestioned outrage, right?

The hollow argument of "tradition" falls apart when you consider that it was tradition that allowed southern schools to use the Confederate flag as its logo; tradition that kept blacks from playing on baseball teams with whites; tradition that kept country clubs lily-white; tradition kept women in the kitchen and blacks in the back of the bus, tradition allowed segregated schools and poll taxes to prevent African Americans from voting.

While many of those "traditions" have fallen by the wayside one-by-one, the current owners of the Washington team remain steadfast in their knuckle-headed refusal to join the 21st Century.

In the hullabaloo that followed Sterling's diatribe, it is almost forgotten the actions of the team's corporate sponsors. They didn't want to be associated with a racist and they began withdrawing their financial support. That may have been what really forced the NBA to act as it did.

Moral outrage is fine and can be a powerful force, but it is the threat of losing almighty dollars that may have forced the NBA to do the right thing. Maybe that same thing can happen if enough people tell the sponsors of the Washington franchise -- Nike, the brewers and the automakers -- that they disapprove of their association with a team named after a racial slur.