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Patrick Chung has played for the New England Patriots since 2009 — the year he was drafted. Today’s Super Bowl will be Chung’s fifth in his career, winning rings with the team in 2015 and again in 2017.
Over the years, people have been curious about Chung’s ethnicity, mainly because he is dark-skinned but has an Asian name. He was born in Kingston, Jamaica, to Ronald Chung and Sophia George-Chung. He moved to the states when he was 10 years old.
Here’s what you need to know:
His Mom Is Jamaican
Chung’s mom, Sophia George-Chung, is Jamaican. She was a reggae singer and even had a hit single in her home country in 1985. Since Patrick was born in 1987, he missed the height of his mom’s fame.
“He was pretty young. He didn’t get to see me perform. He was quite young when all of that was going on. I think he looks at me as his mom, not this reggae singer. There are times in the house that sometimes the kids play my songs. They have it on the computer. He has some of it on his iPod,” Sophia George-Chung told Boston.com back in 2009.
Patrick Chung lived in Jamaica until he was 10. His family then moved to Florida and then to California, where he attended high school.
These days, Patrick Chung is extremely close to his mom, who is often on-hand whenever he’s doing a charity event or playing in a huge football game. Chung’s parents will likely be attending this year’s Super Bowl and may be spotted out on the field if the Pats manage to pull out a win against the Rams.
His Dad Is Half Jamaican & Half Chinese
Patrick Chung’s dad, Ronald, was also born in Jamaica but is half Chinese. He spent his life in Jamaica and worked as Sophia’s manager — which is how the two met.
Back in 2015, Patrick Chung posted a picture of his parents singing together and poked fun at his dad.
“Mr. Miyagi singing Bob Marley,” he wrote, in part.
Though not too much is known about Ronald Chung, the Patriots safety has referred to his dad as a “wise Chinese man” on at least one occasion.
According to Yahoo! Sports, Ronald worked as a real estate courier. In that 2011 report, Yahoo! Sports revealed that Ronald would soon be leaving the job, as he was of retirement age. Ronald Chung is now in his early 70s.
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