In 2019 the Los Angeles Rams took Washington defensive back Taylor Rapp with 2nd round and the 61st pick overall making him one of two players in the NFL with an Asian heritage. Add Washington’s offensive lineman, Luke Wattenberg to that list. In fact, Wattenberg the only multi-ethnic Asian-American lineman ever drafted.
It only took 122 years.
The 5th round draft pick’s mother is Korean and his father is Caucasian, one Norwegian ancestry .
In Seattle Asians make up 24-percent of the population and 16-percent of the UW student body. But in the NFL, they comprise just 1.9 percent of its rosters. If Wattenberg can make the opening day roster for the Broncos he will move the needle a little bit more.
At 6-4 and 299 pounds, Wattenberg destroys defenders and any existing stereotype. In one practice last season, former Washington head coach Jimmy Lake had to remind “Watty”, as many of his teammates call him, that the person across from him was a teammate.
“‘Luke, what are you doing? That’s your teammate,” Lake recalled. “I’m trying to pull him back and pull him off guys.”
Perhaps it’s Wattenberg’s unique fusion of Norwegian and Korean ethnicities that makes him a fascinating draft pick.
Wattenberg’s nasty streak and athleticism have excited NFL scouts, and probably new Bronco QB Russell Wilson. According to MileHighReport.com Wattenberg posses a rare combination of size and speed. His Relative Athleticism Score is 9.57 out of 10 putting him at 24th out of 534 offensive centers in the NFL Since 1987.
“Wattenberg enters the National Football League at 6’4” and a gas station burrito under 300 lbs. He’s a good athlete who has the lateral quickness the Broncos look for in their lineman and projects as a very clean fit in the zone/duo run game Nathaniel Hackett’s coaching staff plans to implement.”–MileHighReport.com
Wattenberg is just the 4th Asian offensive linemen taken in the draft, joining Eugene Chung, Ed Wang, Eugene Amano. He is the only multi-ethnic Asian lineman ever drafted.
The former Husky center joins a Broncos team with mile high aspirations. The list of Asians with Super Bowl rings is brief. Super Bowl MVP Heins Ward with the Pittsburg Steelers, Tedi Bruschi a 3-time Super Bowl Champion and reigning Super Bowl Champion, and former Washington Husky Taylor Rapp blazed Wattenberg’s path.
Follow Mike Martin on Twitter @HowlinHusky
