NextSharkNextShark.com

Lo van Pham becomes the first Asian American NFL game official

Lo van Pham becomes the first Asian American NFL game official

Lo Van Pham is set to make history as the first Asian American to officiate in the NFL.

May 4, 2022
SHARE
Editor’s note (5/5/21): A previous version of this story stated that Pham was born in Vietnam. The story has been corrected to show he was born in Laos.
Lo van Pham is set to make history as the first Asian American to officiate in the NFL.
In a tweet on Tuesday, the football league shared a list of its newest game officials. One of its recruits is Pham, who will serve as a side judge.
View post on Twitter
Subscribe to
NextShark's Newsletter

A daily dose of Asian America's essential stories, in under 5 minutes.

Get our collection of Asian America's most essential stories to your inbox daily for free.

Unsure? Check out our Newsletter Archive.

Pham was an official for the Big 12 Conference before being tapped by the NFL. Born in Laos, Pham and his family of five lived in a refugee camp in the Philippines before moving to Amarillo, Texas, in 1979 when he was 7 years old.
View post on Twitter
Pham has been passionate about the team sport ever since he was a child.
“I have that gene that wants to be outdoors and being around the competitiveness of sports and being around the guys,” Pham told the Amarillo Globe-News in 2016. “Football taught me to do a task for the greater good of the overall team goal. It taught me a lot of discipline and doing your job when it came time to do it.”
Pham was a student at the University of Colorado and a defensive back for Palo Duro in the 1990s. He volunteered to officiate Pee Wee football after obtaining his bachelor’s degree, then became a back judge after returning to Amarillo in 2000.
He got his first break in 2006 when he was chosen to work for the Lone Star Conference. The following year, Pham started rising through the ranks as a Division 1 on-field official for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). In 2015, he officiated his first Big 12 Conference game.
 
MOST READ
    HAPPENING NOW
      Bryan Ke

      Bryan Ke is a Reporter for NextShark

      SHARE THIS ARTICLE:

      RELATED STORIES FROM NEXTSHARK

      Support
      NextShark's
      Journalism

      Many people might not know this, but NextShark is a small media startup that runs on no outside funding or loans, and with no paywalls or subscription fees, we rely on help from our community and readers like you.

      Everything you see today is built by Asians, for Asians to help amplify our voices globally and support each other. However, we still face many difficulties in our industry because of our commitment to accessible and informational Asian news coverage.

      We hope you consider making a contribution to NextShark so we can continue to provide you quality journalism that informs, educates, and inspires the Asian community. Even a $1 contribution goes a long way. Thank you for supporting NextShark and our community.

      © 2023 NextShark, Inc. All rights reserved.