Desis in the NFL, Super Bowl edition (updated)

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Brandon Chillar

While Americans watch four hours of ads lightened up with a couple minutes of football, let’s take a look at the desis in the NFL. First up is Brandon Chillar, a St. Louis Rams linebacker whose parents are Indian and white:

After graduating from high school, he played college football in the Pac-10 for the University of California, Los Angeles, where he gained prominence on the Bruin defensive unit. After graduating from UCLA, he joined the Saint Louis Rams in 2004. Having a father, Ram Chillar, of Asian Indian descent, Chillar became one of the handful of Indian Americans or Asian Americans in the NFL. [Link]

Has a well-developed frame with good muscle definition… Also lettered in track, competing in the 100, 200 and triple jump. [Link]

The first thing he wants to buy for himself is a Cadillac Escalade… [Link]

Chillar is 6’3″ (190 cm), 253 lbs. (115 kg) and 23 years old. Before Chillar, there was Sanjay Rajiv Beach, a wide receiver whose parents are Indian and Jamaican:

Sanjay Beach… spent six years in the National Football League as a wide receiver for the San Francisco 49ers, Green Bay Packers, and New York Jets. He now is an investment banker with Dain Bosworth, Inc. in Denver. He and wife Kristy have a 3-year old daughter, Kalpana, and a 6-month old son, Makis. [Link – PDF]

Beach is 6’0″ (183 cm) with a playing weight of 189 lbs. (86 kg). He’s now 39.

Update: Bobby Singh, a Fiji-Canadian from B.C., played for the St. Louis Rams in ’99 (thanks, Tidbit). He’s now an offensive lineman for the B.C. Lions and serves on the school board in Richmond.

Bobby was born on the Fiji Islands and moved to Richmond when he was two years old. His proud parents, Malkit and Mindy… decided to migrate to Canada…

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p>He signed as a free agent with the St. Louis Rams, where they won a Super Bowl championship in 1999. Unfortunately he had back surgery and was released after the season…

Bobby and Alexis live in Steveston where they are raising their three children, Bobby Jr… Kameron… and Alyssa… [Link]

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p>Singh has a Super Bowl ring from his year on the practice squad of the St. Louis Rams… [Link]

Related post: Leaving it all on the field

51 thoughts on “Desis in the NFL, Super Bowl edition (updated)”

  1. why the hell should I get so excited over a “desi” being in the NFL? Football is probably one of the worst sports in the world…only one country plays it and they still call it “word championship”. Talk about arrogance.

  3. talk about ‘there IS more sport out there than cricket’….

    its good for the community that its diversifying…..and the trend is irreversible……just yesterday came back from a weeding reception and one of my first geners friends there who just had a baby boy was busy twisting and twirling his lttle one to prepare him for ‘the league’…..

    indian kids always knew there could be more to life than being a doctor/engineer,its nice to see the current crop of indian dads beginning to realize that too….

  8. My God! That picture of Dalip Singh is awesome! What an amazing man! A Human Everest!

    xXx

  9. Our Indian genes are probably too timid and puny for the NFL 🙁

    uhh… come to British Columbia and see some of the brothers there.. they are broader than a garage with attitude to match… and just to prove a point – the current lieutenant governor of alberta is of chinese descent – and ex winning quarterback with two CFL teams… – so much for stereotypes –
    my stars didnt align – but my genes are nationals-level – my kids will be champs… – skiers or racers

  10. wonder if its even possible for a kid who is Indian on both sides to play in the NFL. Our Indian genes are probably too timid and puny for the NFL 🙁

    I’d say that desis are at a disadvantage for a sport like American “Foot”-ball, genetically speaking. One would think that we would be pretty good a this ‘coz when it comes to participating in a brawl, especially mob violence, we always rack up a pretty impressive bodycount. The problem is our usual props are not permitted (no sharp objects on the field) and the refrees are off limits (wassup with that?) and the rules…the fu***&g rules. I think its is the “rules” that turn the desis off when it comes to NFL, else we would be “world champions”.

  12. Football and brownies are two of those special things that I took an instinctive liking to in the US. And that means something since I came here after a looong time in India. Unfortunately one of the consequences of taking a liking to football is the irrational dislike that comes with it. The popularity of football among desis of all stripes in the US and Canada is stunning. Ranging from the Jatt types to the Maami/Maama types and of course the Wests and the Easts it is hard to find a silent type when the game is on.

  13. I want a shirt which says “No One but Colts”. But Steelers are okay. Even though they defeated Colts but still better than Seahawks.

  14. I think the gene excuse is a bunch of crap. In college football, there have been a handful of Indians to play who have two Indian parents. In my opinion, the lack of desis in football is more cultural (e.g. college degree being more important than “petty” sports) than genetic.

    Go 49ers!

  15. Tom – that was hilarious!

    Word to our half desi brothers on the gridiron. It’s nice to see that the National Spelling Bee isn’t the only ESPN activity featuring a hint of browness.

  16. It’s nice to see that the National Spelling Bee isn’t the only ESPN activity featuring a hint of browness.

    I think there was a guy on the “Poker World Series” (not that it helps the genes argument). He was brown-looking, don’t know if he really was. Plus, of course, on Dream Job.

  17. If I’m not mistaken, Dalip Singh is the same guy who used to be seen in all of the Ramsay brothers’ ‘horror’ flicks (with some nice Ramsay brand of make up).

  20. talk about ‘there IS more sport out there than cricket’….

    Absolutely! If desi’s want to break out of that typical generic “what is expected of them mold”…

    Then more power to them!

  22. Our Indian genes are probably too timid and puny for the NFL 🙁

    My brother, a full-blood malu, is 6 foot 9 and is a jacked 250; if we had grown up exposed to sports at an earlier age and he liked football, I think he coulda been a contender. He played a lil’ bball at his D3 college; now he coaches girls bball at the boarding school he teaches at. I think Indians can definitely excel at sports requiring heft– there are a bunch of huge indian first-genners; we just need a little more social conditioning.

  24. A typical NFL game lasts for about three hours, with a 60-minute game clock, yet has only about twelve minutes of actual ball-in-play action.

  27. it is all about the cojones guys… we all know size doesn’t matter…right ladies? and some [gentle]men?

  28. A freind of my sister’s here has a family freind whose son just went to Rice University in Houston on Football scholarship. His jersey will say “Patel”.

  29. Bobby Singh actually won a Super Bowl ring with the St. Louis Rams. He was like a third-string guard or tackle and like a monstrous 325 lbs and around 6’4″. I believe he was from Fiji originally.

  31. A freind of my sister’s here has a family freind whose son just went to Rice University in Houston on Football scholarship. His jersey will say “Patel”.

    Did his Dad own a motel with a gym in it ? I am kidding before you guys jump all over me.

  32. whoa! i know vinnie iyer! his mum and sis came over for lunch during christmas break! he’s actually a big guy himself….

  33. There’s a half desi guy in the NHL as well. His name is Manny Malhotra and he’s a hottie: http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/players/1/1757/

    He once scored the game winning goal when he played for the Rangers. I worked for FoxSports at the time and was blown away by the fact that Madison Square Garden was chanting for a brown guy. I never thought I would see that happen

  38. manish, i didn’t bother reading the last five comments– have you heard of manny malhotra? you should like, do a story on him.

  40. A lot of the comments to this post make me smile. I never realized how big a chip people outside the US carry on their shoulder about the NFL until I moved abroad to Europe from the east coast. A select few of the memorable quotes I have heard:

    “The games are all about marketing and commercialism”

    umm…take a look at a soccer or rugby jersey…they put NASCAR to shame

    “The games are so long and they are constantly stopping and starting and calling timeouts”

    Ok….soccer and rugby are generally much shorter, and there is a lot of continuous play. But the comparison is apples and oranges. Football, and baseball for that matter, are games based on set plays/pitches/downs. Basketball would be more comparable to soccer and rugby

    “The players wear pads, so they can’t be that tough”

    Give me a break. Soccer players (footballers) are incredibly conditioned athletes, I won’t argue that. But I see plenty of Oscar-worthy acting going on in attempts to either draw or block a red/yellow card from the ref.

    Rugby players, again, are in incredible shape, and generally all are built pretty tough. But after watching several games in the 2007 Rugby World Cup, here is what I do know:

    Rugby players have very strong legs/arms/backs with which they push and grab their opponents. They do not fy into and level wide receivers, visciously sack quarterbacks, or run at lightning speed through a line of giants to find room and break free for either a hard fought 4 yards or a highlight reel worthy 50 yard TD.

    I like sports of all types. I have an open mind. And I love the NFL.

  41. Oakland Raiders have named Sanjay Lal there new WR coach, just saw this on the NFL network right now.

  42. Charlie Batch of the Pittsburg Steelers – born to an Indian father and an african-american mother. Winner of two Superbowl rings !

  44. Nice moderating in this post

    This is a volunteer-run site. We don’t patrol five years worth of blogging, 24 hours a day; we can’t. This post is from 2006.

    If you see something, say something. As you can see, we’re happy to address it and grateful for the assist. Sarcasm isn’t necessary or helpful.

  45. Charlie Batch of the Pittsburg Steelers – born to an Indian father and an african-american mother. Winner of two Superbowl rings !

    Does anyone have a link for this? I can’t find anything about his Dad, except that he tried to call Batch on Draft day and Charlie didn’t pick up the phone (since his father walked out when he was 18 months old).

  46. As an Indian-American, I have to admit that my favorite team is the Browns. I remember in ’91 after moving from Hyderabad, I was freezing my rear-end off working in aerospace and fluid dynamic engineering for GE in Lansing, MI, watching Bernalam Kosarmanian (ex-Browns QB) drive them down the field against the Patriots. It really resonated with me and now every Sunday we catch the game with a few friends and some large plates of delicious panni purris. Really takes me home.

  47. Good stats about Indians in the NFL!!

    As an avid NFL fan/Packer Fan…I am excited about Brandon Chillar having an Asian Indian descent.He is a beast in the GB Defense scheme and respected a lot here….I hope he gets signed by the Packs this year also!!

    NFL is not all brute power only….(although thats a big factor)……but accuracy,speed,scheme makes it one of those fun team sports to watch!!

  48. all hindus are cheap and dirty as fuck all u fkers come over to our country for money and a free ride I say fuck all you free loaders until you actually do something good for people other than make money and stash it in the local bank I hate all u cheap fukers u should alll be poor and feel what it is like to be born poor

    eh, ever thought aabout how many people in the world are poor? 40% of the worlds lower class only controls about 5% of the words wealth. as opposed to the top 5% of the worlds upper class controling 37% of the worlds wealth… now u tell me is that fair? all republicans are lying dousche bag that only want to help themselves no one wants to help the poor anymore please help the poor I want to save the world some day so please help the poor vote democrat in the next election if you want to save some lives (or donate blood at americanredcross.org)

    • you realise that the british robbed the wealth of india for centuries.but the indians still gave up their lives in two world war.indians helped to build the railroad in this country and most indians still help to builread and reserch firstd this country dont get your facts wrong but

    • all hindus are cheap and dirty as fuck all u fkers come over to our country for money and a free ride I say fuck all you free loaders until you actually do something good for people other than make money and stash it in the local bank I hate all u cheap fukers u should alll be poor and feel what it is like to be born poor

      There’s no need to be mean about it even if it is true that Hindoos are all cheap & dirty. Why are you so angry?