Chinese American Taylor Rapp drafted by the Los Angeles Rams

SCREEN CAPTURE / NBC

Safety Taylor Rapp at the NFL combine wher ootball prospects display their skills to NFL scouts.

University of Washington safety Taylor Rapp was selected by the L.A. Rams in the second round of the NFL draft, thus becoming one of the handful of Asian American professional football players.

Projected to be selected early in the second round of the draft by one of the 32 teams, Rapp had to wait until 60 other college football prospects were picked before his name was announced. Having skipped the first round due to trades, Rapp was the Rams first action in the draft.

Concern about a hip flexor injury which appeared to slow his time in the 40-yard dash may have lowered lowered his value to teams.

“Got (the hips) checked out by the Rams’ doctors and physical stuff there, so it’s completely healthy,” Rapp said. “I’m ready to play ball now. I’m ready to get to work.”

The Rams' newest safety will bring with him an acute sense of his privileged position as a highly paid and highly visible sports figure shaped by his experience growing up as a community north of Seattle with few Asian Americans.

“They make fun of how you look ― your eyes, the widened, slanted eyes. There were a few instances where I was called the Ch-word. It was offensive to me. It made me embarrassed of who I was,” he said. “That’s why I never embraced it growing up. I was different than everyone else, and I didn’t want to be.”

Since then, Rapp has grown to be proud of his heritage, displaying several conspicuous Chinese tattoos. And with guidance from fellow players who could relate to Rapp’s struggle, as well as the encouragement of Asians on social media who look up to the player, Rapp is now looking to be a role model for others.

“To me, it’s about gaining a platform that will help inspire a generation of Chinese and Asian American kids,” he told NFL.com. “I don’t want to be just an answer to a trivia question; I want to inspire and have a real impact.”

This year is a banner year for Asian American football players and  breaks down the stereotype that Asian Americans can't excel in football.

The No. 1 pick in the draft is Kyler Murray is part Korean, the Heismann Trophy winnr as the best football player in college football. The 5'10" quarterback was selected by the Arizona Cardinals football team.

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Historic NFL draft: Asian American is No. 1 pick

Kyler Murray's mother congratulates her son.

UPDATED April 27, 2:30 a.m. to incude Taylor Rapp's draft status.

When the Arizona Cardinals selected Kyler Murray as the No. 1 pick in the National Football League draft Thursday evening, the team made history by with the Asian American quarterback.

His father, Kevin Murray, is African American but his mother, Misun (Missy) Murray is half Korean. Kyler’s mother is used to people noting the differences in appeerance between her and her son. 

“I know a lot of people are like, ‘What is he?'” said Murray. quarterback for the Oklahoma Sooners. “I get asked that a lot myself. So we do subtle things to represent that.”

In late 2018, Murray wore a black dragon-imprinted kimono jacket. He wore that traditional Japanese jacket knowing that people would notice the choice because of his Asian features. Here’s how Missy explained it to the press:

“When we saw the jacket it was like, ‘Gotta have it,’” Missy said. “Cause we’re all about representing our Asian culture. That subtle statement ... came across as kind of a strong statement, but it’s awesome.”

Murray has had quite a year, first getting drafted by the Oakland Athletics and then  winning the Heisman Trophy as the best college football player in the country. As an athlete, Murray faced the dilemma of having to choose between football or baseball for a prefessional career.

By choosing football, he will likely get a contract from the Cardinals higher than the $4.8 million contract that he signed for the A's.

Another Asian American player, Taylor Rapp, a Chinese American safety from University of Washington was drafted in the second round by the Los Angeles Rams.

“There’s not a lot of Asian Americans in sport,” he said in his installment of the "Rolling With The Rookies" video series sponsored by Hyundai. “In football there’s none.

“My mission is to inspire Asian American kids who don’t have someone to look up to. I want to be that role model that they can be inspired by.”

“There was really no one that I could really look up to in football specifically,” he said.

Taylor Rapp and his mother

Evidently, Rapp didn't do his homework. Although there have not been many other Asian American to play in the NFL, there have been a handful. He need only look at his hometown team, the Seattle Seahawks, who have Filipino American Doug Baldwin, an all-pro wide receiver.

Rapp's statements also drew a polite understated response from the Pittsburgh Steelers' Superbowl champion Hines Ward, who’s also of Asian descent.

Korean American Ward, who dealt with his share of racism during his time in the NFL, had some uplifting words for Rapp in a video.

“I know you’ve heard it before: ’Asians can’t play football,’” Ward says in the video. “I still remember the first time I heard it. But I learned something too. those words can be a gift. You can feed off that energy. Turn that hate into wins.”

Ward concludes: “So Asians can’t play football, huh? I’d say we’re pretty darn good.”

Rapp humbly tweeted:

Rapp's teammate on the UW Huskies is Cambodian American Jojo MacIntosh is also hoping to picked up in the later rounds of the NFL draft.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Views From the Edge will post a separate article when Taylor Rapp is drafted.

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