BALTIMORE — His skin is coffee with two creams, and his high cheekbones and small eyes are some kind of Asian. Fans of the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens — and even teammates and opposing players — aren’t sure where he’s from. He’s heard it all: Chinese, blend of Asian and something else, even Colombian.

But what outsiders do know for sure is that No. 47’s name is Will Demps, Jr., and he’s the starting strong safety for one of the league’s most feared defenses.

The Ravens finished the 2002-03 regular season with a disappointing 7-9 record and missed the playoffs just two years removed from winning the Super Bowl. At the time of this interview last December with KoreAm, the team was still in the playoff hunt. The next morning Demps will wake up at 7 and spend a few hours lifting weights and watching reels of film with the rest of the Ravens defense. He will put on pads and practice on the field late into the cold, Baltimore night.

Demps worked hard to get where he wanted, even if it meant sacrificing hanging out and drinking with friends. At practices, the 23-year-old would already be sweating from sprints before teammates arrive. He even broke up with his girlfriend before training camp to focus on football.

“I was brought up working hard. I had to focus on football,” says Demps from his Baltimore apartment. “It’s part of being part Korean. I learned it from my mother.”

As a youngster, Demps grew up as part of a military family. His father, Will Demps, Sr., started out as an officer in the Air Force in Victorville, Calif., where he met his wife, Kye. Then the couple moved to South Carolina — where the younger Will was born — and later to Busan, for their first stint in South Korea. After a couple stops in Europe, the family returned to Korea and settled in Daegu.

Photos by Phil Hoffman/Courtesy of the Baltimore Ravens

Life in Korea was a series of explanations and bit tongues for the Korean-African American family. Demps’ mother was shunned for marrying an African American man. The family experienced overt racism.

“Korean culture is not as accepting,” says Demps. “When people were American, they were supposed to be Caucasian. Being part African American, it was pretty hard at first. People look at you different.” 

Though the initial reception might have been difficult, Demps eventually endeared himself to some of the locals. He recounts that when he would order chajangmyun with friends, he could hear the locals around him comment on his mixed looks while he waited for the food to arrive. Instead of running away or getting upset, Demps would talk in his broken Korean with the curious onlookers.

“When they saw people like me and saw me trying to understand the culture, they liked me because I was different,” he says.

At Daegu American School for his fifth- and sixth-grade years on the base, Demps discovered a place where he could lose himself, develop his athletic talents and fuel his competitive fires. Without American football in Korea, Demps started playing what is known as football to the rest of the world.