As an avid football fan, the NFL Draft marks one of my favorite days of the year, on par with opening kickoff for my beloved Green Bay Packers and the weekend of wild card games marking the beginning of the playoffs. It sets the beginning of the future for each individual franchise, the true ray of hope for each team before the season begins. Today was the first day of a new beginning for all 32 NFL teams, tomorrow will be the first time a Chinese American is inducted into the National Football League.
Virginia Tech’s starting left tackle this past season Ed Wang declared for the NFL draft and is projected by CBS to be the 11th best offensive tackle, hoping to be selected in the third round. At 6’5, 315 pounds, Wang owes much of his athletic prowess and physical gifts to his bloodline, as both of his parents were Olympics track athletes in the 70’s, whose strict guidance helped him earn a scholarship to Virginia Tech years before, thereby beginning his conversion from tight end to offensive lineman.
In reality, Chinese-Jamaican safety Patrick Chung of the New England Patriots broke barriers just years before, but if Wang is drafted, he would be the first player of 100% Chinese descent to be the NFL, granting Asian Americans another role model in the NFL; putting him in the likes of Hines Ward, Vietnamese Dat Nguyen and Korean Eugene Chung (also a former Virginia Tech player)
Personally, I think it would be awesome if Green Bay drafted him. I would instantly purchase his jersey if the Packers selected him tomorrow. Despite the resigning of long tenured offensive lineman and the drafting of Iowa star Bryan Bulaga, the Pack still have a very great need at offensive tackle.
The draft resumes tomorrow at 6PM EST. It might be a marathon, but if you have enough patience, you just might see history being made.
