Beyond the "Novelty": The Untold Origins of Asian and Pacific Islander Football Pioneers

When we think of Polynesian dominance in the NFL today, names like Troy Polamalu, Puka Nacua, and Marcus Mariota immediately come to mind. The islands have become a powerhouse for football talent, but the roots of this tradition go back much further than most fans realize.

In a recent episode of the Pigpen podcast, host Darin Hayes sat down with Tim Brown of Football Archaeology to uncover the forgotten history of the first Asian and Pacific Islander (API) players to lace up their cleats and change the game.

The Early Days: Foreign Nationals and Walk-Ons

Long before the 1960s brought major shifts in sports integration, a small group of Asian players was already making waves in college football. Interestingly, many of these early pioneers weren’t domestic recruits but foreign nationals.

During the late 1800s, wealthy families and government officials from China and Japan often sent their children to the U.S. and Europe for education. These students brought back more than just engineering degrees; they brought back a love for American sports.

1. The "Exchange Student" Athlete: Many of these students were natural athletes who joined football teams as walk-ons to better acculturate to American life.
2. A Multi-Sport Legacy: Tim Brown highlights one standout at the University of Pennsylvania who was not only a varsity baseball player but also one of the top tennis players of his era before trying his hand at football.

From the Islands to the Iron: Walter "Sneeze" Achiu

While Asian players appeared on the East Coast as early as the late 1800s, it wasn't until the 1920s that we saw the first identified Pacific Islander make a mark. That man was Walter Achiu.

Achiu’s journey is a fascinating look at the "hidden" pipelines of early football. A standout at the St. Louis School (then St. Louis College) in Honolulu—a Catholic school that still produces NFL talent today—Achiu ended up playing for the University of Dayton.

Why Dayton? It turns out both schools were run by the same Catholic order, creating a bridge from the tropical islands to the Ohio gridiron.

The First API Star in the NFL

Achiu was a dual-threat star, captaining the track team and playing halfback and quarterback. In 1927, he broke the ultimate barrier by joining the Dayton Triangles, making him the first Asian and Pacific Islander player in NFL history.

"His race was half of his football identity in the press. They’d call him 'The Chinese' or 'Native Islander'—it was a novelty to the media of the time, regardless of his actual skill on the field." — Tim Brown

His nickname, "Sneeze," reportedly came from his surname, Achiu (pronounced Ah-choo), which he told fans was "just like a sneeze" to help them remember it.

A Legacy Beyond the Gridiron

Like many players of the era, Achiu’s athletic career didn't end with the NFL. He transitioned into professional wrestling, a career he maintained into the 1950s. While he held an electrical engineering degree, the lure of the ring (and the better pay) kept him in the spotlight for decades.

Today, we see a heavy influence of Samoan and Hawaiian players across every level of football. While they are no longer viewed as "novelties" or "attractions," it is important to remember the pioneers like Walter Achiu who traveled thousands of miles to prove that the game of football belonged to everyone.

Want more football history?

Tim Brown has cataloged over 1,400 articles on the evolution of the game. Whether you’re interested in early rules, legendary players, or cultural pioneers, you can find it all at FootballArchaeology.com.

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He ends up becoming, he's the first Asian and the first Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander player in the NFL history.

That's a tremendously big statement in football history from our guest, Timothy B.

Brown, who joins us today, who's going to reveal this secret and more about the great Asians and Polynesian players in football history coming up in just a moment.

Check it out.

Pigskin dispatch video.

Yeah.

Woohoo.

You know, in the modern game of football, we have a lot of folks that are really good at playing football from the Polynesian nationality.

And, you know, people like Troy Palomalo and Puka Nukua and others, you know, they're, they're running rampant in the NFL and doing quite well.

Well, Tim Brown joins us today to talk about the first of these Polynesian folks that played the game of football.

Tim, welcome back to the Pig Pennsylvania.

Hey, Darren, good to chat with you.

And yeah, look, looking forward to covering this.

I think it's, you know, not well covered, especially the history of some of these fellows.

Yeah, I mean, like I, I, you know, Marcus Mariota and Troy Palomalo and these guys are like, fun to watch.

They're, they're fun players.

They're great players making some great plays.

But there's a tradition of these folks from the islands playing the game of football that I, I never knew, really knew till I read your recent tidbit on this that you have titled Pioneering Asian and Pacific Islander Football players.

And what can you tell us about these folks, Tim?

Yeah, well, you know, kind of like you said, I mean, we've, I think, you know, the, not that it's been researched enough, but, you know, there has been research and just general awareness obviously of the role of African Americans, black players in, in football, you know, and just like in other sports and society more generally, they were, you know, held back, banned.

You know, there was segregation, yada yada.

You know, that's when it really started changing.

But you know, there was also, you had the Carlisle and the Native American schools or Indian schools.

You know, we had, you know, and so those are kind of groups that were kind of, you know, there's maybe awareness of some of their issues.

But there's also there's been some groups like, you know, there's the Jewish hall of Fame, Athletic hall of Fame.

Now obviously that's sometimes people consider nationality or ethnic group, but anyways, I'm not going to get into that.

But there's, there's been a Polish American Halls of fame, you know, so there's been different groups where, you know, they've celebrated their, their culture and their athletic, you know, prowess.

But anyways, I was thinking about that and it was like, I've never, I don't remember seeing anything about Asian and Pacific Islanders, so I just decided to start looking into it.

So anyways, you know, it's not necessarily the easiest thing to find, but so it took a lot of, you know, just digging.

But, you know, what I ended up finding was that there a lot of the early, and I was focused on college football, right?

So a lot of the early college football players who, who were Asian and not Pacific Islanders initially, a lot of them were actually foreign nationals.

You know, they were like their dad was some kind of big, you know, government official or military officer or just somebody who was rich in China or Japan, right?

And to bring, you know, modern technology back, yada, yada.

So, so a lot of the early Asian players were actually foreign nationals who maybe were just good athletes.

And you know, there was one guy like at Penn who was, you know, played on their base.

He was a varsity baseball player.

He was one of the best tennis players around at the time.

And you know, he was anyways, but, you know, so they were good athletes or just wanted to become acculturated, you know, and so they joined the football team.

And that was back when most of, most of the football teams, even at the top schools, they were just walk ons, you know.

Yeah, they recruited some big stars here and there, but most of the guys were just, it's whoever showed up.

So, you know, you know, I compare, it's like the foreign exchange student, you say, yeah, okay, let me try this.

And then some of them just were talented enough that they, you know, they got some playing time.

So.

But, you know, so initially it was just, that was kind of the, what you saw, and especially that was the case in eastern schools, you know, because there just wasn't much in the US There just wasn't much an Asian population on the east Coast.

Asians first showed up on the west coast, you know, for kind of obvious, you know, geographic reasons.

And so then what you started seeing was some players of Asian descent who were like first generation kids living in California especially, who started playing high school.

You know, they're playing high school ball just like anybody else.

And so then they end up playing at Cal or Stanford or, you know, wherever.

And I did not find anybody before the 20s who was identified as a Pacific Islander, which is actually a little bit odd, but because, you know, they're, you know, Hawaii became and still produces a lot of, you know, really talented football players.

But, you know, Hawaii has a long tradition of football, and it's because of the US Military presence there.

You know, mean, it was a territory, not a state.

But, you know, the soldiers and sailors are playing football.

And so they started too, and they have, you know, they had this long tradition of barefoot football.

And so then some of them started playing.

You know, they're playing that in high school and eventually St. Louis School.

It was then St. Louis College, I think.

But anyways, it's a Catholic school in.

In Honolulu that still produces, you know, some of the guys you mentioned played there.

You know, they produce a lot of.

A lot of really talented players.

And so.

So there was this guy named Walter.

It's.

I think it's actually a chew.

So a C H I U.

And he.

He ends up going to Dayton.

You know, it's like, okay, well, why would somebody from Honolulu go to Dayton?

And it turns out that both of them, you know, the St. Louis School and then Dayton are run by the same Catholic order.

And so that is probably the reason he went there.

And then three of his classmates who are a year behind him end up going there the following year.

And so.

So then he ends up become, you know, he becomes a star.

You know, he's a really good athlete, faster than anything, and so he ends up captaining the track team, too.

But he was a running back, mostly halfback.

Played quarterback for him.

And.

But, like, all through his college career, and at the time, Dayton was probably playing, you know, maybe a little bit better than small college.

But, you know, most of their.

That's basically the level that they were playing.

And, you know, he was like.

People would write him up in the newspaper.

They always mentioned it was just like they used to do the same thing.

Like, if there was a colored player, you know, or a Negro player, they'd always mention his race, you know, and they did the same thing with him.

He's just, you know, they call him Chinese, whether the.

Or native Islander, because his father was Chinese from China and his mother was a, you know, native wine.

So anyway, so they'd always build like his race was half of his football identity.

You know, I mean, not that he made it so.

But that's the way the press reported it.

So anyways, he graduates, got an Electrical engineering degree from Dayton.

And he actually, he coached.

Well, he was a trainer, but any coach trainer, you know, is because he stayed an extra year.

But then that same year he's also playing semi pro ball and then starts playing for the Dayton Triangles who are in the NFL.

So he ends up becoming.

He's the first Asian and the first native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander player in the NFL history.

And Dayton Triangles played in the first NFL game where two NFL teams played each other that APFA.

He was in 26.

26.

Okay.

Yeah.

So he ends up, you know, he, he, you know, my sense is that he was like, he started probably half the time that he was in the NFL.

And the Triangles during his era, they weren't a very good team.

They only won like three, three games.

Tanya was there, but, but then like the NFL teams would promote, you know, like if you read the Green Bay Press Gazette, whenever the Triangles were coming to town, they'd always talk about this, you know, sneeze.

And I, I don't think I really built that up.

But because his last name was Achui.

I almost told you God bless you the first time you said it.

But I said, I'll hold, I'll withhold that.

But apparently like people had trouble pronouncing his name, so he would tell them it's just like a sneeze, a chewy.

Anyways.

And, and again, I may not have the pronunciation exactly, exactly right or at least the way it would be pronounced by a native.

But anyways, so he ends up playing in, in the 26th season and 27 season plays, you know, all season four.

And then what's funny is that I kind of came across.

I'd heard of him, but I didn't.

And he's listed there on the.

They show two players or the name two players.

One is a guy named Britain who had.

Was a fullback for, for Red Grange in Illinois.

And so okay, that makes sense.

Chicago Bears and everything.

And then, then the other guy is Achui.

And so, but what's funny about the story is that by the time.

So they were promoting a game like, you know, November 20th or something like that, but he had left the Triangles to go play for.

Play for, you know, what was then a semi pro team.

And so he wasn't Even on the team by the time that post.

Well, but he had left the.

He was off the triangles for like, three weeks before that poster came out.

So it's just kind of.

It's just kind of funny because it was still like, okay, well, we still got to promote, you know, this guy because he's like an attraction.

He's like a novelty.

Right.

And so anyways, so then.

Then he.

And once he retires from football, he ends up.

He was a pro wrestler for into the 50s.

And I've never figured out if, like, pro wrestling back then, was it, like, you know, how the NFL players had day jobs.

Like, you know, this guy's an electrical engineer, right.

So.

And I know, you know, there's coverage saying that he start.

At least started in that career.

So did he.

Was he doing that during the day and then wrestling at night or.

I'm not sure how, you know, just how that works, because that's what I know.

Like, Bronco.

Bronco.

Nagursky did both and end up quitting football because he was making more money wrestling, you know.

Yeah, yeah.

I mean, I don't think he was at Broncos level in terms of the wrestling thing, but.

But, you know, all those guys had day jobs, right?

I mean, so anyways, it.

So it's just an interesting story and just.

It's just kind of the.

At the time, the novelty of a guy being Chinese or Japanese or Pacific Islander was like, you know, that was the story, not necessarily his athletic play, you know.

Yeah.

It's interesting when you say, you know, that he went to date and, you know, how could somebody from Hawaii go to Dayton?

It immediately made me think of, like, Nick Herbig and I believe his brother Nate, too.

They came from Hawaii and played at Wisconsin, your Wisconsin team, which is even colder climate, you know, that's just crazy.

It's.

I would never think that.

I always think of, like, us in the colder regions wanting to go play in Florida or Hawaii or Southern California or something.

But.

Yeah, never the other way.

Herbig's brother.

I forget where he played.

He.

He didn't play Wisconsin.

Oh, he didn't play it in Wisconsin.

Okay.

Yeah, I thought he did.

I can't remember right now, you know, where he played, but.

Yeah, yeah.

So, I mean, here and there you get like, one of the Riola brothers was.

You know, they're from Hawaii, too.

And so one of them played it at Wisconsin.

His older brother had played for.

At Nebraska.

So anyways, yeah, it's an interesting thing.

And, you know, I mean, a lot of The.

A lot of the.

And then, you know, Samoans too, especially, you know, really become prominent.

I.

They've, I think, generally tended to be stayed on the west coast.

But yeah, it's like, go wherever you, you know, whatever works for you, man.

That's.

That's the way to do it.

Yeah, absolutely.

Well, you know, Tim, you never cease to amaze me.

The.

The end you go to find some football history.

You know, you talk about the gadgets and rules and, you know, legendary players, but now you're going culturally and talking about some people that don't get enough credit in the history of the game of football.

And I appreciate that you do that, and I'm sure the listeners do and your.

Your readers do as well.

But you.

You do this.

You.

You cover a lot of gambits of the game of football in your tidbits, and maybe you could share with folks where they can catch on to some of these.

Sure, just go to footballarchaeology.com it's a substack site.

You can either subscribe or follow.

If you subscribe, you'll get an email.

Every time I publish a new article or just, you know, bookmark it, visit whenever you want to.

And yeah, just how whatever kind of floats your boat, however you want to consume the information.

So, yeah, amazing stuff as always, and we appreciate it.

Yeah, folks, make sure you take advantage of that, that using that search function and you find in any question you have, you know, Tim's probably got it there somewhere or if not, send him a.

Send him an email or something.

So I'm sure he'll research it for you because he loves doing that.

But we love having you here on Tuesdays and we'd love to talk to you again next week.

Good.

Looking forward to it.

Thank you.

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