Wang embraces his Chinese-American heritage
Published: February 25th, 2010 | Tags: 2010 NFL Scouting Combine, Ed Wang, Virginia Tech
INDIANAPOLIS — Virginia Tech offensive tackle Ed Wang has lofty goals. He knows there haven’t been very many Asian-Americans to become football stars, and he hopes to change that in the future.
“Yeah, definitely. That’s one of my goals.”
Wang’s parents immigrated from China in 1984, three years before he was born. They were members of the Chinese Olympic team in the 1970s (his dad was a high jumper and his mom a hurdler) and knew nothing about football when they arrived, but they knew they wanted their son to get involved in sports. He chose football, “because I was always a big kid, so we said let’s give football a try.”
He admitted it wasn’t easy in the beginning with no Asian-American role models to look up to in football, but said he and his parents grew to love the sport.
“To be honest, at first they didn’t really know much, we were just learning together,” said Wang. “But right now they know a lot. Basically we learned off each other. My parents love football.”
After a stellar four-year career at Virginia Tech, in which he started as a tight end, Wang now has a chance to get drafted in the first few rounds.
Wang is one of several players capturing his combine experience with personal video for NFL.com. Come back soon to see first-hand what some of the prospects go through.
– Jason Feller
