Racking up a superlative touchdown
He, a running back for Arizona State, adds another laurel in his sport voyage
He Peizhang’s unlikely journey in American football has culminated in a storybook moment. He, who has taken the name Jackson He in the United States, is believed to be the only Chinese-born player in the Football Bowl Subdivision, the most competitive level of intercollegiate football in the US.
On Dec 11 night, He, a reserve running back for the Arizona State University Sun Devils, added another distinguishing mark as the first Chineseborn player to score a touchdown at the top level of college football.
The touchdown was ASU’s final score in its 70-7 victory over archrival Arizona in a pandemic-shortened season.
He is a walk-on player, a non-scholarship athlete who was not recruited out of high school but nonetheless has a love for the game.
What is perhaps most emblematic of He’s journey is seeing his name in Chinese characters stitched to the back of his jersey.
He pointed to his name on the jersey after his touchdown, in which he broke a tackle, bulled his way across the goal line and was then mobbed by his teammates in celebration.
It was a scene reminiscent of the legendary 1993 American sports film Rudy, about a determined player who walked on to play for the renowned team of the University of Notre Dame in the 1970s.
“I’ve already received a lot of messages,” said the sturdily built He (175 centimeters, 99.8 kilograms). “I strongly feel their love for this game and for me. I’m so grateful.”
ESPN, a major US sports network, recognized the novelty of the moment and interviewed He after the game.
“It’s not me. It’s all the linemen in front of me,” He said modestly, complimenting his blockers in typical running back fashion. “I call them ‘The Great Wall’ because they protect me, and I just got in.”
His Instagram page says “made in China” under his name. Of his uniform displaying Chinese characters, He said after the game: “It’s unreal. I’m representing something different. Having this name on my back. … When I first saw it, tears were coming out.”
ASU starting running back Rachaad White intentionally went out of bounds on a run near the goal line in the third quarter on Dec 11 because he believed Coach Herman Edwards was going to put He and other reserves into the lopsided game.
“He’s a close friend of mine,” White told The Arizona Republic. “I’m happy to see him score and get the opportunity.”
Edwards told reporters, “Jackson
He was the sideline favorite, and we put him in the game and, lo and behold, he was able to score a touchdown, and that’s a lot for a kid that is a walk-on and has been here two years.”
The ASU website says He “has picked up the game extremely quickly, having only started playing football five years ago”.
In addition, it says he is “one of the nation’s only college football players from China, impressing the coaches with his ability to immediately learn the offense and the language”.
There have been Chinese Americans who have played football at major US colleges and in the professional-level
National Football League, but He is believed to be the first major US college football player born in China — and definitely the first to score a touchdown.
He’s American football story began when his parents sent him from Shaoguan, Guangdong province, at age 17 to attend high school in the San Diego area.
“It took a lot of effort to even tell my parents that I was going to play football,” He told azfamily.com. “All they heard about football in China was broken bones and concussions. They didn’t want me to play.
“I played first then told them,” He said, chuckling.
He then played at a small university in North Dakota, where he was not fond of the cold weather, and eventually returned to China in 2018, where he played for the Foshan Tigers in the American Football League of China.
But with his passion for US football still burning, He applied to Arizona State and eventually talked the Pac12 university into letting him join the team.
In a Nov 4 post on Instagram, He wrote: “I am a pioneer leading the way for all of my people back home.”
His English first name is a nod to the late US pop superstar Michael Jackson.