Just one week after suiting up for his first game ever, Arizona State’s Jackson He Saturday scored his first touchdown.
The first Chinese-born player ever to play for a major college football team thus became the first player born in China to score a touchdown for a FBS team.
He scored on a one yard run, getting into the end zone on sheer determination.
“It’s unreal, it’s unbelievable, like…it’s crazy. All the support of my teammates, the love from everyone on the team, yeah,” he said to reporters during a virtual post-game news conference.
He’s parents sent him to the United States to get an education while he was still in high school. He chose the American name Jackson after his favorite music star, Michael Jackson. He explains his surname sounds like the sound of excitement the pop star squeals while dancing and singing.
He’s already become a fan favorite. He’s trending on Twitter and the stadium played Jackson’s mega hit Beat It as he entered the game. He said if he could dance better, he would have broken out in a few moves.
“I am the first one, but I’m not the last one,” he promised about being the first China-born player to score. “There’s going to be more Chinese stepping on this stage and scoring,” he said.
He wrapped up his news conference by saying thank you in Chinse and pointing to the Chinese script on his t-shirt which he said means “everything is possible.”
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