With the dog days of summer almost gone upon us, the closure of baseball season in the MLB starts to arise while the NBA and NFL begin their seasons in the fall. Football and basketball season are almost ready to commence while the MLB is set to enter its 118th playoffs. Perhaps for as long as organized American sports existed, Asian groups or players have been unrepresented. The challenges that Asian-Americans in general face definitely influence how little representation Asians have in sports. However, for each major American sport, some trailblazers continue to break the barriers in the NFL, NBA, and MLB. Younghoe Koo, Robert Saleh, and Kumar Rocker are all examples of Asian representation in sports that dearly need it.
Younghoe Koo, pronounced Young-hweh Koo, is a Pro Bowl kicker for the Atlanta Falcons in the NFL. He has been nothing short of tremendous in his career with the Falcons with an astounding career average of 88.7 for kicks made. Not everything went the way Koo wanted as he went undrafted and first signed with the Los Angeles Chargers. After being with several teams, Koo found his place on the Falcons, having an incredible 2020-2021 season while holding the league record for most points scored. Asian representation in football, especially the NFL, is most certainly destitute. Koo has shown and proved that Asians can play at the professional level. Even so, he showed that success doesn’t always come instantly, while his strenuous exertion paid off. Inspiring other Asians and people across the world using his work ethic and his personality, millions of people are waiting for Koo to triumph on the football field.
Known for his enthusiastic and passionate love for football, Robert Saleh of the New York Jets is now the NFL’s first Muslim American head coach. Beloved by most, if not all of his players, Saleh focuses on communication and unity on the football field. Saleh has worked through the lowest levels of coaching in the NFL to now a head coach in the biggest city in the world. His impact on the sport goes further than just football. As only one of the few minority coaches in a profession dominated by white men, the pressure will be on Saleh. Ahmad Abuznaid thinks differently, “It has been so inspiring to see a Muslim whose family is originally from southern Lebanon, coaching my team at such an elite level. I’ll be rooting him on with the Jets and I expect plenty of other Arabs and Muslims will, too.” Saleh will undoubtedly have his ups and downs as a head coach in one of the biggest media markets. On football Sundays, millions of Asians and Muslims will stand alongside Saleh, proud of the bar that he is setting for future generations.
Star pitcher for the Vanderbilt Commodores, Kumar Rocker was selected tenth overall by the New York Mets in the 2021 MLB draft this year. Rocker, son of a Black American father and an Indian American mother, is making himself a household name with his superb 1.93 earned run average with the team. South Asian fans began salivating at the idea that a bona fide superstar of Indian descent will be in the big leagues. Tracy Rocker, Kumar’s father, starred for Auburn University as a defensive tackle in the late 1890s. He currently is the defensive line coach for the Philadelphia Eagles. Lalitha Rocker, Kumar’s mother, is the daughter of Indian immigrants and is an instructional designer. Lalitha decided to name her son Kumar (which means \”prince\” in Hindi) as a nod to his Indian heritage. American University professor Gautam Rao said, “I hope that this is an opportunity for the Mets to see themselves as having a real potential market among the South Asian community. You\’re going to see little kids with Kumar Rocker shirts on. It\’s going to be legions of little Indian and Pakistani kids with that name on their jerseys. I think it can only really be a great thing.” Unfortunately for both the Mets and Rocker, both parties couldn’t come to an agreement for his contract. Because of this, Rocker will return back to Vanderbilt for another season. Even though it is an unlucky situation for both sides, when Rocker returns to the big leagues, he will have an impact on Asian generations to come.
These three trailblazers will impact our future representation of Asians in American Sports. Koo will inspire many Asians with his incredible work ethic on the field. Saleh was not frightened when racial profiling and racism entered his Arab community. He marched towards his NFL dreams, silencing those who didn’t believe in him. Rocker will provide and allow little South Asian kids to dream immensely, while he represents both the Black and Asian communities in a sport that lacks both representations. Participation follows representation, which leads to greater representation and participation in American sports that demand it. Due to the lack of visibility of Asian athletes in the American sports landscape, many people cannot fathom seeing a player of Asian descent impacting professional sports. Yet, this is not the time to stay silent. The present is the time to appreciate these trailblazers and give them a platform to influence the following generations.