In the history of the NFL, there have been three players of South Asian descent. We will be honoring South Asian players in this article as a part of Defiant Takes Football’s Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month 2023 series.
South Asian QB Gibran Hamdan – Michael Rosa/Xiphias Photography
We have showcased the lone player of Pakistani descent, Gibran Hamdan, in this previous article.
Besides Hamdan, the other players of South Asian descent are of Indian descent.
Sanjay Beach
Sanjay Beach appears to be the first NFL player of Indian descent in the league.
Sanjay was born in 1966 at Clark Air Base in the Philippines. He would play high school football at Chandler High School in Arizona and college football at Colorado State University. Beach would graduate with a bachelor’s degree in communication.
The wide receiver appeared to be brought onto the Dallas Cowboys team as an undrafted free agent in 1988. He was cut by the Cowboys the same year after he experienced a knee injury. In 1989, Sanjay played with the New York Jets, where he played in just one game. Beach was a San Francisco 49er from 1990 to 1991 and again in 1993. He got the majority of his field action in San Francisco.
Sanjay Beach’s football career lives on in the Chandler Museum Archives – Chandlerpedia
Of note, Sanjay Beach, as a Green Bay Packer from 1992 to 1993, would catch Brett Favre’s first NFL completion. Not counting Brett Favre’s first, when he threw the ball and caught it after it was deflected. Sanjay would experience career success as a Packer as well.
Beach would take a spin with the European NFL in 1995, playing for the Amsterdam Admirals.
After his stint in Europe, Sanjay received his MBA at Colorado State and is a financial advisor in Ohio.
Brandon Chillar
Brandon Chillar was born in Los Angeles, California, in 1982 to his father, Ram. Brandon’s mother is Italian and Irish, and Ram hails from East India. Chillar is the only other Indian American player besides Sanjay Beach to have played in the league in the past or present and the third South Asian overall.
A track and football star in LA, Brandon would go on to be a University of California, Los Angeles Bruin. Chillar would start 49 games out of 49 as a linebacker for the Bruins. Brandon was named first-team All-Pac-10 as a senior and led the team with a career-high 683 tackles, 72 of which were solo.
A huge defensive lineman Brandon Chiller (54) and a dog – Argentumdogos.com
Chillar would play for two teams in the NFL from 2004 to 2011: the St. Louis Rams and the Green Bay Packers (just like Sanjay Beach!). Drafted in the 4th round of the 2004 NFL draft, Brandon was a rock on the St. Louis Rams team, incrementing his way from starting in five games and playing in all 16 in 2004 to then starting in seven games and playing in all 16 in 2005. In 2006, he started 14 games and played in 16, and in his final year as a Ram, he started 14 games and played in 15. He would tackle 254 times as a St. Louis Ram.
Known as AJ Hawk’s replacement on the Packers team, Brandon would make a name for himself there as well, playing from 2008 to 2011. In total, he made 422 tackles, with eight passes defensed and eight sacks.
Post-retirement Brandon Chillar would invest in and advise the Elite Football League of India, a South Asian American football-style league. Chillar would also give coaching a shot, becoming a defensive coordinator for his former high school.
South Asian NFL Players Of The Future?
Becoming the first South Asian football player at Syracuse University, Ahmad Masood walked on the team in 2021. Masood has been looking around football fields since he started playing and has never seen someone who looks like him. Amhad wasn’t surprised, but he did see the importance of creating representation in football.
Not one to avoid a challenge, Ahmad Masood would work hard and play football harder. His passion for the sport overcame any concern he had regarding Asian Americans being so underrepresented in football at any level, and he also convinced his family to get on board with his dreams despite their focus on academics.
DL Ahmad Masood #59 – Ahmad Masood/Twitter
We can’t wait to see what Ahmad’s DI college football career looks like—maybe we will see him in the NFL someday as well.
