Far From Sunday's Super Bowl, A Football Championship In China
It's halftime and the Warriors are leading the Nighthawks by a touchdown in the championship football game. Inside the locker room, wide receiver Chris Gardner from Minnesota urges everyone to stay cool.
"Do not sink to their level," Gardner says of the Warriors' crosstown rival. "They are losing. They are angry."
"They've got more injured players," says Owen Yan, the Warriors' 6-foot-3 defensive end. "They are more nervous than we are. Don't let them provoke you."
This sort of scene plays out every year in thousands of stadiums across America. But this isn't America. It's Shanghai. And Yan is speaking Mandarin, translating for his teammates, most of whom are Chinese.
The Nighthawks and the Warriors are part of the American Football League of China, a fledgling group of 10 grass-roots teams that have been playing for three seasons in a country with practically no history of the sport. Like pro teams in the United States, some here have colorful names, such as the Combat Orcas and the Chengdu Pandaman.
The players, all of whom have day jobs, learned about football by watching Hollywood movies, such as Adam Sandler's The Waterboy, as well as NFL games online.
When Yan, a 32-year-old pharmaceutical salesman, first saw football videos, it was a revelation.
"I was like, 'Wow! This is a game I want to play,' " he says. "It's exciting. It feels like the team is a family."
Some of China's most popular sports are individual ones that don't involve physical contact, like pingpong and badminton. Chinese players say football provides an opportunity to release their aggression.
Yan wears jersey number 75, which is symbolic.
"My favorite, 75, Deacon Jones," he says, brimming with admiration.
More than 3,000 fans turned out for the Shanghai championship game of the American Football League of China last month. The fledgling league of homegrown teams just finished its third season.
Deacon Jones was one of the great NFL defensive players of the 1960s and 1970s. He played for the the Los Angeles Rams, San Diego Chargers and Washington Redskins. He also coined the term "sack" — as in leveling a quarterback. When an American friend showed Yan videos of Jones in his prime, he thought, "This old guy was amazing."
That a Shanghai salesman is trying to model himself after an African-American Hall of Famer is a measure of globalization these days, as well as a sign of the increasing freedom Chinese have to define themselves in what not so long ago was a very conformist society.
Yan's parents have flown in for today's game from Chengdu, a city more than 1,200 miles away in southwest China. When he first told his folks he was playing football, they naturally worried.
"At the beginning, they felt this is dangerous, 'Don't hurt yourself,' " Yan recalls as he walks back to the field for the second half. "But after the first time they watched the game, 'Just go, boy! Just go! Keep fighting.' "
Not all players who come out for football teams here are as dedicated as Yan. Vladimir Emilien, a former safety at the University of Michigan, coached the Beijing Iron Brothers this season. Emilien, who came here on a fellowship that combines coaching and business internships, says some players joined his football team just to stand out from mainstream Chinese society and buff their image on WeChat, China's biggest social media platform.
"I had the positive guys who are very interested, but there are guys there who would possibly come just to try to take pictures and just to show it off," he says, roaming the sidelines of today's game in a hoodie and shorts. "They weren't interested in playing. They were just interested in the social media aspect of the game."
All the teams in the American Football League of China are majority Chinese. Some teams, like the Shanghai Warriors (wearing white) and Shanghai Nighthawks (wearing black), have conventional names. Others have more colorful names, such as the Combat Orcas and the Chengdu Pandaman.
Of the more than 3,000 fans who have come out to watch on this smoggy afternoon, not all are sold on the sport. A civil servant named Zhang has brought his 5-year-old son, Ziyan, who has been reluctant to try the game.
"Most kids in China are single children, so they resist team sports or sports that are physical and aggressive," says Zhang. "When we went to the first football class, he didn't even want to experience it with other kids."
Zhang doesn't expect football to catch on here, because it doesn't fit the Chinese temperament. Football, he says, emphasizes physical force in a sports culture that puts more emphasis on skill and finesse. But, Zhang says, the game could help toughen up Chinese boys.
"Today's boys aren't manly," says Zhang. "They should have a pioneering spirit and drive."
It's now late in the fourth quarter and time is running down in an exciting game that has featured breakaway runs and big pass plays. The Warriors are up by a touchdown. The Nighthawks have the ball in their own territory.
As the final seconds tick away, the Nighthawks' quarterback launches a Hail Mary — right into the hands of a Warrior defender, who runs it back nearly 50 yards before being tackled. It's an appropriate finish to a wild game.
Yan, the Warriors defensive end, rushes to the end zone with his teammates. They fall onto their backs and soak in the victory. After three seasons, the Warriors are league champs.
"Best day of my life," Owen says. "Best day of my life."
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Transcript
RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:
Today, we're going to focus on the big football game, no, not the Super Bowl, but another recent contest, the championship of the American Football League of China.
MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
In the past few years, a league has emerged in China. Chinese people have learned about football by watching Hollywood movies like "Waterboy" and watching games online. Now they've built their own teams from scratch and given them names like the Combat Orcas and the Pandaman. NPR's Frank Langfitt was there for the league's championship game.
(SOUNDBITE OF HORNS)
FRANK LANGFITT, BYLINE: So here at a stadium in the Pudong section of Shanghai, it's a smoggy day. It's the Nighthawks and the Shanghai Warriors, two Shanghai teams, and they're about to kick off.
(APPLAUSE)
LANGFITT: So he picks it up at the 5-yard line, and he's heading left around, and, oh, there he goes. Oh, not bad, he's up to the 30, the 35, the 40, not bad.
More than 3,000 fans have come out to root for the crosstown rivals today. Many are friends of players, like Wei Li. She's a neuroscience professor from Shanghai's Tongji University.
WEI LI: I have no idea about this game, and (laughter) this is the first time I watch the football.
LANGFITT: Well, what do you think so far? I know you don't know, but what do you think so far?
LI: I just found two bunch of people just like (laughter) crashed together and grab this ball something (laughter).
LANGFITT: That's not an inaccurate description.
If some spectators are perplexed by the game, the Chinese players are as passionate about it as any you'd find in the U.S. Like the nine other teams in this league, the Warriors are majority Chinese, though they also have many foreign players. After a wild first half, the Nighthawks are up by a touchdown. Back in the locker room, quarterback Tim Gomez from Florida speaks, followed by Chinese defensive tackle Mike Li.
TIM GOMEZ: Hey, as much as you're hurting, they're hurting even worse. So don't even think about quitting. Let's go.
LI: No quitting, we fight. We fight to the last minute, last minute.
LANGFITT: Wide receiver Chris Gardner from Minnesota urges everyone to stay cool.
CHRIS GARDNER: Do not sink to their level. They're losing. They're angry. They're going to get chippy.
LANGFITT: Owen Yan, a 6-foot-3 Chinese defensive lineman, picks up some of the translation for his teammates.
OWEN YAN: (Through interpreter) Guys, pay attention. We now have the lead. They've got more injured players. They are more nervous we are. Keep a good mental attitude. Don't let them provoke you. Don't argue with them, and don't fight.
LANGFITT: Like other players, Yan has a day job, in his case, as a pharmaceutical salesman. He said his first experience with the game came through videos.
YAN: First time I watch a football game is a website from Internet. I was like, wow. This is a game I want to play.
LANGFITT: Why?
YAN: I don't know. It's exciting. It feels the team like family.
LANGFITT: Some of China's most popular sports are individual and don't involve physical contact, like pingpong and badminton. Players say football provides an opportunity to let out their aggression. Yan's American friends taught him how to play.
So what position do you play?
YAN: Defensive end.
LANGFITT: Oh, that's a fun position.
YAN: It is, my favorite, 75, Deacon Jones.
LANGFITT: Deacon Jones.
YAN: Deacon Jones.
LANGFITT: How do you even know who Deacon Jones is?
YAN: From Frank, my friend, show me the video. I was like, wow, this old guy was amazing.
LANGFITT: For non-football fans, Deacon Jones was one of the great defensive players of the '60s and '70s. He played for the San Diego Chargers, the LA Rams and Washington. And he coined the term sack, as in sack the quarterback. That a Shanghai salesman has modeled his game on an African American Hall of Famer, well, that's globalization these days. As Yan heads out for the second half, he explains that his parents have flown in for today's game from Chengdu, a city more than 1,200 miles away in southwest China. Yan says when he first took up football, they were worried.
YAN: The beginning, they feel this is dangerous. Don't hurt yourself. But after the first time they watch a game, just go, boy, just go. Keep fighting.
LANGFITT: Not every player is as dedicated as Yan. Vladimir Emilien, a former safety at the University of Michigan, coached the Beijing Iron Brothers this season. He came to China on a fellowship that combines coaching football with business internships. Emilien said some players joined the team just to stand out from mainstream Chinese society, buff their image on WeChat, China's biggest social media platform.
VLADIMIR EMILIEN: I mean, I have the positive guys who are very interested, but there are guys there who would possibly come there to just try to take pictures and, you know, just to try to show it off.
LANGFITT: They weren't interested in playing.
EMILIEN: No, they weren't interested in playing. They were just interested in the social media aspect of the game. So that was...
LANGFITT: I didn't know there was just a social media aspect of the game.
EMILIEN: So they would just come to wear the jersey, come to just post it on their WeChats and stuff like that.
LANGFITT: Developing football players at a young age here will be challenging. In the stands today is a civil servant named Zhang who's brought his 5-year-old son, Ziyan. Zhang said he tried to get his boy interested in football but couldn't get anywhere.
ZHANG: (Through interpreter) Most kids in China are single children, so they resist team sports or sports that are physical and aggressive. When we went to the first football class, he didn't even want to experience it with the other kids.
LANGFITT: Zhang doesn't expect football to catch on here because it doesn't fit Chinese temperament. Football, he says, emphasizes physical force in a sports culture that puts more weight on skill and finesse. But, Zhang says, he believes the game could help toughen up Chinese boys.
ZHANG: (Through interpreter) Today's boys aren't manly. They should have a pioneering spirit and drive.
LANGFITT: It's now late in the fourth quarter. Time's running out. The Warriors are up by a touchdown, and the Nighthawks have the ball. I watched the final play with the league's commissioner, Chris McLaurin, a former tight end at the University of Michigan who helped build the league.
Whoa, hail Mary.
CHRIS MCLAURIN: Picked off.
LANGFITT: The Warriors have the ball, and he's still going. He's still going. He's to the 30, 40, wow, wow. That was an interception and, like, a, I don't know, 50-yard run back.
MCLAURIN: Game over.
LANGFITT: Owen Yan, the Warriors' defensive end, he and his teammates rush into the end zone. They fall on their backs and soak in the victory.
How you doing, Owen?
YAN: So good.
LANGFITT: Congratulations.
YAN: Thank you. This is the best day of my life, the best day of my life.
LANGFITT: The best day in Yan's 32 years, and after three seasons, the Warriors are league champs. Frank Langfitt, NPR News, Shanghai. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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