Sneeze Achiu
Achiu, circa 1938 | |||||||
| Personal information | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born: | August 3, 1902 Honolulu, Hawaii | ||||||
| Died: | March 21, 1989 (aged 86) Eugene, Oregon | ||||||
| Height: | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | ||||||
| Weight: | 169 lb (77 kg) | ||||||
| Career information | |||||||
| High school: | Saint Louis School | ||||||
| College: | Dayton | ||||||
| Position: | Running back | ||||||
| Career history | |||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||
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Walter Tin Kit "Sneeze" Achiu (Chinese: 徐天杰) (August 3, 1902 – March 21, 1989) was an American football player of Chinese descent. He was a graduate of The Kamehameha Schools and Saint Louis College (now Saint Louis School) in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Achiu is most well known for being the first person of East Asian descent to play in the National Football League. He was one of the first people of a minority to play in any major American professional sports league, preceding Jackie Robinson's entry to Major League Baseball by twenty years.
He was elected into the University of Dayton Athletic Hall of Fame in 1974.