IRVINE – For Taylor Rapp, being drafted by the Los Angeles Rams is not just about getting to play under the NFL lights. For the 21-year-old of Chinese descent, it’s also about being able to be the role model he never had growing up.

Drafted in the second round – he was the 61st pick – Rapp will join a modest contingent of Asian-American players to make it to the NFL, including veterans Hines Ward, Dat Nguyen, Johnnie Morton and Eugene Chung. Among 2019 draftees, Rapp joins Kyler Murray of the Arizona Cardinals as the only Asian-American players chosen for the league.

Los Angeles Rams safety Taylor Rapp, top, works against defensive back Jake Gervase during an NFL football training camp in Irvine, Calif., Tuesday, July 30, 2019. (AP Photo/Kelvin Kuo)

Los Angeles Rams safety Taylor Rapp participates in drills at NFL football training camp in Irvine, Calif. Monday, July 29, 2019. (AP Photo/Kelvin Kuo)

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Stanford’s Bryce Love pushes back on Washington’s Taylor Rapp on a carry during the second half of a game Saturday, Nov. 3, 2018, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

Los Angeles Rams rookies, including Taylor Rapp, center, gather for a meeting before touring the new LA Stadium construction site in Inglewood on Friday, June 7, 2019. The stadium will open for the 2020 NFL season and will be home to the Rams and Chargers. (Photo by Scott Varley, Daily Breeze/SCNG)

Los Angeles Rams rookies Taylor Rapp, left, and David Long, Jr. watch a video about their new stadium before touring the new LA Stadium construction site in Inglewood on Friday, June 7, 2019. The stadium will open for the 2020 NFL season and will be home to the Rams and Chargers. (Photo by Scott Varley, Daily Breeze/SCNG)



Los Angeles Rams rookie Taylor Rapp, right, has a laugh as he tours the new LA Stadium construction site in Inglewood on Friday, June 7, 2019. The stadium will open for the 2020 NFL season and will be home to the Rams and Chargers. (Photo by Scott Varley, Daily Breeze/SCNG)

University of Washington safety Taylor Rapp, seen at the NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium on March 4, 2019 in Indianapolis, was selected by the Rams in the second round of the NFL draft Friday. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)

Washington’s Byron Murphy #1 and Taylor Rapp #7 collide with Utah’s Solomon Enis and force him to drop the ball during the Pac-12 championship game on Friday night at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Standing in his white jersey with a large 24, Rapp took a break from a nearly two-hour practice during the Rams’ training camp last week at UC Irvine to talk about his ambitions for playing safety for the Rams and giving younger Asian-American athletes a success story to look up to.

“Ever since I got to college, I realized I can play at this high level and that I could possibly play at the next level,” the former University of Washington Huskie said as an expectant crowd in blue and yellow lined the 12-acre Crawford Field.

Rapp and his rookie counterparts arrived July 24 to their first training camp session, two days earlier than the rest of the team, which wrapped up its UC Irvine training camp on Sunday.

Born in Atlanta and raised in Bellingham, Washington, Rapp’s interest in football began when he was young, he says. He started playing flag football when he was in elementary school.

Rapp played safety for Washington where he also studied at the Foster School of Business.He started 10 of 14 games his freshman year – despite breaking his left hand early on and having to practice in a cast.

Rapp earned himself Pac-12 Freshman Defensive Player of the Year and All-American honors. During his final season at Washington, he led his team with five sacks.

“Growing up, every kid wants someone they can relate to,” Rapp said, speaking over the hollers of fans hoping to attract players’s attention.

“It was kind of hard for me with sports because there’s a lack of Asian representation in all pro sports, especially football,” Rapp said.

With the NFL hopefully as his platform, Rapp wants to help change that.

“I’m just trying to fill that role that I didn’t have as a kid,” he said. “Just being that figure and role model for those kids who might’ve been in my position. Someone they can relate to, someone to inspire them.”

In recent years, NFL rosters have listed fewer than 45 Asian-Americans players, according to the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport’s 2018 Racial and Gender Report Card. The lack of representation extends to the league’s management levels with less than 10% in the positions of office management, coaching and administration.

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Rams running backs Cam Akers, Malcolm Brown fighting injuries “With his platform as a high draftee playing America’s sport and having a public platform, he has the ability to greatly change how Asian Americans are viewed in the context of sports and the public eye,” said Pranav Iyer, a Cuptertino native who recently played free safety for Chapman University in Orange for three years.

Iyer, who is Indian-American, said when he got into football he, too, sought someone to emulate.

“You don’t see people that look like us, whether it’s coaches, analysts, athletes,” Iyer said. “That plays into the idea that Asian Americans aren’t involved in sports.”

“It’s great that (Rapp) is embracing his Asian American identity, instead of shying away from it,” he said. “I hope that along with the success he will have in the league (it) will help to normalize the concept of an Asian American being a star athlete and a celebrity.”