The First Asian American NFL Player Ever: AAPI Heritage Month

In honor of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, we will highlight the first Asian American NFL player ever. Meet Walter Tin Kit Achiu, also known as Sneeze. Our information on Achiu is limited, but we will spill all the deets that we know. Achiu is one of the first minorities in American sports ever, so he absolutely deserves a highlight. Let’s get into it!

What’s With The Sneeze

In typical American sensitivity, Walter Achiu was nicknamed Sneeze. Did he have chronic sinus infections, or what? Nay, it’s a twist on the American pronunciation of his last name at the time. Allegedly, when people struggled with Walter’s last name, he would say, “Sneeze, and you’ll get it,” which led to the nickname.

For reference, phonetically it does somewhat resemble “achoo.” One way to say the name is one I can pronounce that sounds like ‘ock-I-U,’ and another that requires sounds not in the English alphabet that sounds more like “och-ee-u.” Being one of the first minorities in sports in 1920s America would probably lead to a snarky response that is fairly spot on.

The Origin Story

Walter Achiu was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, to a Hawaiian mother and a Chinese father named Leong from Shanghai. Don’t forget to catch the first edition of AAPI Heritage Month, where we discuss former NFL star Patrick Chung, who also has a Chinese father here. Baby Walter was born in 1902, just four years after Hawaii became a U.S. territory.

Although we don’t know hardly a thing about Achiu’s parents other than their ethnicity, it’s fair to assume that Mrs. Achiu was Native Hawaiian. This is noteworthy because the updated version of AAPI Heritage Month is Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

Walter Achiu’s multi-ethnic background is fully encompassed by the heritage month, which is lovely. I had a ‘zoomer’ moment even though I’m neither, and I didn’t hear about the new title until the end of the month, so we will have the new, inclusive name in our titles next year.

College Choices

Ohio doesn’t seem like a desirable destination for most, so it was an interesting choice for 20-year-old Walter. However, he came of age in 1920 when things were breaking loose in Hawaii. It was during a time called “1920 Politics” or “Jim Crow” in Hawaii. Picture segregated schools, attempts to strip culture and religion from people of color, and keeping people in lower economic standards firmly in poverty. We’ve heard this song and dance before throughout American history everywhere, all the time.

A lot of us are not aware of Hawaiian culture, so this might be new to you like it was to me. For a full description of the 1920s situation in Hawaii, read more here. It becomes abundantly clear why even Ohio might be a better environment for Walter Achiu.

Achiu wasted zero time, becoming a four-sport star at the University of Dayton from 1922 to 1927. He played football, track, wrestling, and baseball. Being a multi-sport athlete was far more common in the 1920s for all students. Some sources indicate that Achiu was a running back, and others a halfback. He likely was both. Specialized positions weren’t a thing until WWII and after. In 1925, Achiu got an All-American honorable mention for football.

Walter Achiu Goes Pro

Walter got in on the NFL action in the 1927 and 1928 seasons, when the league was in its infancy and still working out all the details. It was a far less glamorous and profitable position to be in back in the late 1920s. But the Pro Bowl is the Pro Bowl, so we’re going to celebrate it. Becoming a member of the Dayton Triangles made good regional sense, so post-graduation it was a natural choice for Achiu.

The running back, halfback, defensive back, drop kicker, end, and wingback played in 11 total games for the Triangles, starting in five. For context, things were a little more up in the air in the 1920s NFL. Teams were collapsing and starting on any given week, and games were cancelled with little notice. Transportation was also a limiting factor, with cars still being a novelty at the time.

The Dayton Triangles played eight games in 1927, losing six. Despite their abysmal performance, they were still 10th out of 14th in the league, which is unsettling. In 1928, the schedule shows that the Triangles played seven games and lost them all. Achiu played in 73% of the games. 11 games in two seasons would look a whole lot different in the modern NFL with 100 games a season.

Wrestle Mania

Walter Achiu knew a sinking ship when he saw one and dipped out after two seasons. Instead, he got married at least twice and picked another one of his college sports, wrestling, to pursue. Achiu went full-time in the 1930s and wrestled into his 50s, with a regular schedule of two matches a night, six nights a week. It is truly a medical marvel that Achiu was not only healthy enough to wrestle but also to live for several more decades.

Achiu had real chops when it came to wrestling. He was World Junior Middleweight Champion for two weeks after winning his first championship in Eugene, Oregon, in 1931 against four-time winner George Pete. In 1936, Achiu became Pacific Coast Middleweight Champion for three months after defeating a wrestler nicknamed “Crybaby.” Achiu traveled to Texas to compete to become the first World Junior Light Heavyweight Champion of the National Wrestling Association. He won the competition but only held the title for four months. It was stripped from him for unstated reasons—although it wouldn’t be hard to guess why.

After giving Texas a try, Achiu moved around Kentucky and Ohio a bit before heading back to greener pastures in Oregon. As of 1938, Achiu worked with Oregon promoter Herb Owen. Achiu toured around with another wrestler signed with Owen, “Gorgeous George,” and the two were a duo for a decade. Achiu worked with Owen and toured around Michigan solo until he hung up the cleats in 1951. At that point, Walter Achiu mostly disappeared from the public eye before passing away in 1989 in Eugene, Oregon. One exception was being enshrined in the University of Dayton Athletic Hall of Fame in 1974.

Racism Walter Achiu Experienced

Walter never really talked about the racism he experienced. However, wife #2, Susan McKinney-Achiu, described Achiu’s career in wrestling and football as being tainted by constant discrimination. For example, on a jaunt to New York, the team was described as the “Team of Immigrants,” which was not a compliment. It clearly pointed at Achiu since diversity was so limited in the 1920s. An immigrant from another American state—what an uneducated barb. Although bigots aren’t known for their intellect, as we know.

The NFL labeled Walter Achiu as a Hawaiian-American-Caucasian. It’s unclear what that actually means, but it erases an entire side of Achiu’s ethnic background and adds an ethnicity he doesn’t even have. This was an attempt to get around some of the segregation rules some teams had that would require Achiu to be housed in separate lodging and eat apart from his teammates.

It appears that this actually worked. It’s not that we didn’t know how arbitrary the bigoted rules of the 1910s and 20s were; we covered it in this Arab American Heritage Month article about NFL coach Richard Kotite here, but we should move on before we drown in this giant pool of depressing ignorance. My heart goes out to Walter Achiu—he deserved so much better.

Final Thoughts

Our forefathers and mothers paved the way so that America is a better place today. Walter Achiu faced constant racism in the sports world so that other Asian American and Native Hawaiian players can go through the league without the same level of discrimination. We appreciate the contributions that Achiu brought to the sports world and America in general. Achiu reminds me of where we were and where we don’t want to go back to.