Iranian American Named NFL's Best Pass-blocking Offensive Tackle

Oct 18, 2018

Iranians in Diaspora , Sports

Independent Aggregator of Iran-related News/Events, Kodoom.com: As Trump has imposed new sanctions on Iran and a Republican Senator has insulted Iranian Americans by joking about the "terrible" Iranian genes (story link), many Americans may be shocked to learn that not only the CEO of Uber is an Iranian American but also NFL's best pass-blocking offensive tackle is proud to call himself half-Persian (NFL, The National Football League, is a professional American football league popular with many Americans despite recent evidence it causes chronic brain trauma in many players).

Bakhtiari (left) with team mates at Green Bay Packers

According to ProFootball Focus, David Bakhtiari, the (Wisconsin's) Green Bay Packers' 6-feet 4-inch 310 pounds half-Iranian left tackle has earned a pass-blocking grade of 96.4 since the start of 2016 which is by far the best record in the NFL.

David Bakhtiari was born in San Mateo, California as David Affrasiab Assad Bakhtiari (his full Persian name) to an Iranian father, a real estate business owner in California. His older brother Eric Bakhtiari went on to play defensive end at the University of San Diego and for the Tennessee Titans. Bakhtiari is not ashamed to hide his Persian heritage. He says in an interview: "My dad’s dad he came over from Iran so my dad is first generation (American) and I'm second generation. I'm half Persian, half Icelandic."

Prior to being drafted into NFL, He played for the University of Colorado and majored in Communications while playing for the Colorado Buffaloes football team from 2009 to 2012. He dated Kerra Schroeder, who used to play for the Colorado University volleyball team.

Bakhtiari (right) and Schroeder

Bakhtiari was responsible for reaching out to director Elizabeth Banks and the casting of a group of Packers players in the movie "Pitch Perfect 2."

Related to Iranian Americans: