First Names on Back of Jerseys in the NFL?

They were probably just too scared to tell him no.

Seriously though, maybe it was an AFL thing?

frick, nm he went to SD after the merger

I always thought it was racist Yao was allowed his first name on his jersey.

I think Ichiro and Yao are their last names.
Asia does shite backwards

With the names today the NFL would lose fans, and thus ratings and thus sponsors

Skip Wise

It's their last name in a sense that they say it last, not the way we think of last names. Ichiro = given name, Suzuki = family name. You introduce yourself family name first. Over there John Smith would introduce himself something along the lines of "I'm of the Smith family, my name is John."

Nice boner kupchak

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The best was in 1976 when Ted Turner decided to nickname pitcher Andy Messerschmidt "Channel" and put it on the back of his jersey (#17)to promote his brand new local TV station - WTBS.