Lo van Pham’s journey to the NFL began when he fell in love with sports upon arriving in Texas after living in refugee camps with his family.
More than 40 years later, van Pham is set to become the first Asian American to officiate in the NFL.
“I never dreamed about being the first of anything,” van Pham said on the AP Pro Football Podcast. “It’s just a great honor. People reaching out to me, reminding me of how special this is, and I just want to do the right thing and carry whatever message I need to carry to represent not only our Asian culture and Asian friends, but also really to represent all minorities, whether Middle Eastern, just different backgrounds, different people that are out there.