Arthur Matsu: Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month 2023

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and Defiant Takes will be highlighting players of Asian American and Pacific Islander descent.

As a kick-off to the month, it only felt right to put the spotlight on Arthur Matsu, the second Asian American player in the NFL and the first Asian American quarterback in the league.

Where It All Began

In 1904, Arthur Matsu was born in Glasgow, Scotland, to a Japanese father and a Scottish mother. The Matsu family moved from Scotland to Canada and then to America when Arthur was 13.

Arthur was a bit of an athletic prodigy; he would be a multi-sport star at East High School in Cleveland, Ohio. Cleveland was the milk and honey of young athletes in the early 20th century; Benny Friedman would also hail from the same city and attend high schools in close proximity (look at my Benny Friedman article here).

College Chaos

The young athlete’s journey through college would be turbulent at best. Arthur would be the first Asian American student at William and Mary College in Williamsburg, Virginia. He would be a multi-sport athlete at William and Mary as well. In addition to being the four-year starter at quarterback for the college’s football team, he also played basketball, baseball, and track.

Matsu would be named the “student who has done the most for the college” as a senior. Off the field, Arthur was a member of the Seven Society, two honors fraternities, and was the president of the Varsity Club his senior year.

While Arthur Matsu was an incredible asset to the school both on and off the field, he was actively being racially discriminated against in American society. Virginia passed the “Racial Integrity Act” in 1924 that would criminalize interracial marriages between white people and any other race than American Indians.

Not only did this bar Arthur from pursuing relationships like most college students, but it also made his parents’ union a criminal act, and he was a physical representation of this crime.

The school newspaper would write an editorial cautioning white Americans about the newfangled social equality concept that could only result in an interracial marriage, something that would result in lowering the higher race to the level of the lower. The Anglo-Saxon Club of America would open a branch on campus that stood for limiting immigration for the preservation of racial integrity in America.

This is an awkward stance for members of the school to support when their quarterback is both an immigrant and a minority. Society on campus and in America was simultaneously discriminating against people like Matsu and, on the other hand, singing his praises both for his on-field and academic capabilities. It has been speculated that his bi-racial appearance made him feel like less of a “threat” to the college campus due to him appearing partially Caucasian.

Arthur Matsu would be named the “triple threat man” because of his speed, throwing ability, and kicking strength. He may have been little (like Benny) at 5’7″ and 145 pounds, but his small stature didn’t hold him back.

We are unsure what Arthur Matsu felt about his time at William and Mary; he bottled up any emotions he had about being treated like a second-class citizen. Despite looking more white, he was also often defined exclusively by his Japanese heritage in sports media, and he likely found navigating American society to be painful and difficult.

The resources garnered for this section were exclusively from the William and Mary College campus; it is admirable to note that they were so brutally honest about the horrific racism that existed on their own campus, without any attempt to explain away or justify the atrocities of that time.

Professional Football 

Arthur Matsu would play in the NFL for one league, the Dayton Triangles, in 1928. He would play with the first Asian American in the NFL, Walter Achiu. Matsu would start four games. The Triangles would lose every game that season, and they were the worst team in the league.

The quarterback would play for a Virginia all-star team for the 1929–1930 season that did play against Benny Friedman at Richmond Stadium on January 1st, 1930. He would complete a 60-yard touchdown pass that game. A feat considering the ball was shaped like a misshaped watermelon balloon.

Life After Football 

Matsu would coach high school football in 1929 and 1930 and would be an assistant coach at Rutgers University for over 20 years.

In the 1950s, Arthur was ready to move on. He would be a real estate agent and a scout for Arizona State University for the remainder of his working years.

Arthur would die in 1987 and was survived by his wife, Eva, and his son and daughter, Arthur and Nancy. He was also a grandfather of three and a great-grandfather of one.

In 2022, William and Mary unveiled a historical marker honoring Arthur on campus. His great-grandson, Zack Hoisington, will represent the family at the ceremony and felt that the marker was a huge honor. Nancy Matsu is still alive and happy about her father’s being honored; the trip was just a bit too difficult for the 93-year-old.

Walter Achiu

This article would not be complete without mentioning Walter Achiu and his invaluable contributions to the NFL as the first Asian American in the league.

Walter Tin Kit “Sneeze” Achiu was of Chinese descent and grew up in Honolulu, Hawaii. Achiu would play football, baseball, and track at the University of Dayton from 1922 to 1927.

Walter would move on to the NFL in 1927 and play for two seasons for the Dayton Triangles as a running back and defensive back. He played in 11 total games and started five.

Despite Walter Achiu being the first Asian American in the NFL and the first minority to play in any major American professional sports league, not much is known about him.

After the NFL, Achiu became a renowned professional wrestler. He was inducted into the University of Dayton Hall of Fame in 1974 and would die in Eugene, OR, in 1989 at age 86.