NFL player Taylor Rapp is selling NFTs to help fight anti-Asian hate

NFL player Taylor Rapp wants to jump into the NFT (non fungible tokens) craze, but for a good cause: combating anti-Asian hate. The LA Rams safety told Yahoo Finance that he's not going to miss out on the NFT craze.

“I just thought it would be a great opportunity to get in on the NFT marketplace,” Rapp explained. “And, you know, a great cause behind it, great meaning behind it to try to raise some money to help out my suffering Asian community.”

Rapp described the rise in anti-Asian attacks as “heartbreaking”

“All the victims are old, elderly,” he said. “Grandmas and grandpas that can’t defend themselves [and] are the most helpless, innocent, vulnerable people out there. It just breaks my heart, it seems like there's a new video every day that gets leaked on online, that we see these brutal attacks.”

The football player is no stranger to the racism that many Asian Americans face, from racist remarks to comments on social media.

“You can see more on social media — people hiding behind their keyboards and their phones... but it's certainly there,” Rapp said. “You know, it's sometimes even some of my good buddies, you know, they'll just crack a little Asian joke.”

Rapp’s NFTs go on sale Thursday, and lean on his ethnicity as a Chinese American. Titled the "Year of the Ox," 6 NFTs will be sold in the collection, including the “most prized possession of the drop” — a RARE 1-of-1 Taylor Rapp-Change The World "digital painting," featuring his favorite Chinese proverb and Ox tattoo his grandfather hand-painted. The purchaser of this NFT will also get a meet and greet with Rapp, tickets to a Rams game, a signed jersey, and more.

NFTs, Rapp said, are the “next big thing”.

“They're so cool to wrap your head around the idea of, basically, if you're buying a Taylor Rapp NFT... you're buying a stock into Taylor Rapp,” he explained. “If I go out next year and I have a great year, and I make a Pro Bowl, you know that Taylor Rapp NFT appreciates, just like a stock.”

Rapp called NFTs a “cool and innovative” way to connect with fans.

Looking ahead, Rapp believes that NFTs will be the way fans collect and buy sports memorabilia.

“I think the NFT market and NFT world could take on and take over the sports trading card world,” he said. “I wouldn't be surprised in three to five years if if every player in the NFL, every player in all major professional sports has their own NFT collection. So, you know, I'm a true believer in NFTs and I think this is just the start.”

Rapp himself invests in cryptocurrency, and is interested in getting paid with cryptocurrency in the future, like fellow NFL player Russell Okung.

“I'm gonna talk to my agent and I'm gonna call him and make sure the second contract that's something that we're definitely looking into,” said Rapp, referring to his contract with the NFL.

Kristin Myers is a reporter and anchor for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter.

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