Finding a tight end who stands 6 feet 3, weighs 240 pounds, has a 4.1 grade-point average and can catch passes as if his name were Tony Gonzalez is a pretty formidable challenge, but TaeVeon Le of Newport Beach Corona del Mar High fits the mold.

“As a receiver, you put it anywhere and he’ll catch it,” said Chase Garbers, a freshman at California who threw passes to Le last season.

Making his story more compelling, Le is a Vietnamese American whose mother, An, escaped Saigon as an infant in 1975 as the Vietnam War unraveled, put herself through law school, became a lawyer and raised two children as a single parent while moving around often and getting help from new American friends.

“From where we started from and all the adversity we faced, I’m extremely proud,” Le said.


There’s an American and a South Vietnamese flag in Le’s room. His family had deep ties to South Vietnam. His grandfather was a pilot in the South Vietnamese military. Le has never visited Vietnam even though he has family still there. He views himself as a role model for Asian teenagers wanting to play football.

“We’re a proud Vietnamese American family,” he said. “We want to do well not just for us but our people. I want to do well to show it’s possible. I talk to Vietnamese kids and dads. I tell them to shoot for the stars.”

Le’s younger sister, Tiana, is a sophomore at Corona del Mar and an actress appearing on the HBO show “Insecure,” so TaeVeon isn’t even the most famous member of the family — yet.

What he can do in a football game is enough to make any defensive back uncomfortable. Imagine what it’s like being a 5-9 cornerback and suddenly this big, powerful receiver who started dunking a basketball in eighth grade and also played volleyball goes up for the ball.


“Tae is a big-body athlete who can do damage anywhere on the field,” Garbers said.

Said Corona del Mar coach Dan O’Shea: “He came to us as a freshman having never played before. He was this raw, tall, big athlete. After his first season, he fell in love with football.”

Le mostly plays as a wide receiver for the Sea Kings because he’s quick enough and has the agility and athleticism to handle the role. Tight end is likely to be his position in college, and his versatility and willingness to block makes him an ideal candidate.

“In my opinion, you have to have the will to dominate on the line if you’re called upon to block,” Le said. “The tight end epitomizes the student-athlete where you have the highest level of intelligence and a high level of athleticism to complete the job.”


Le has received lots of interest from Ivy League schools because of his strong academics, which were ingrained in him at a young age.

“My mom demanded it,” he said. “I wanted to succeed on my own. Thankfully, she was rough at the start so I could be rough on myself later. She’s definitely threatened me a couple times.”

Now, if he can only teach his mother the basics of football.

“After all these years, she doesn’t get a lot of it,” he said. “She gets the important stuff. She knows first down, fourth down, touchdown, interception, fumble and sack.”


Le caught 78 passes for 1,294 yards and 22 touchdowns last season. He knows the example he’s setting.

“It’s a very proud moment to have someone of our culture, someone of our ethnicity go places,” he said. “We want to make sure any kid, maybe a Vietnamese kid who doesn’t think they can play football or a Japanese kid or whatever it is, they can look up to someone like me and be like, ‘That kid can do it, why not I?’”

eric.sondheimer@latimes.com


Follow Eric Sondheimer on Twitter @latsondheimer