“I’m me because of the people who came before me,” the 49ers placekicker Greg Joseph once said about his ancestors. Clearly, the man respects them for everything they did for the family. The value system that his forefathers instilled in their family helped him excel at every step of his life. The 6-foot 208 lbs player has played for many teams in his 6-year NFL career.

He even won Super Bowl LV in 2020 when Tom Brady signed with the Buccaneers. Although he remained on the practice squad for the entire season except for the week 15 game against the Falcons, they gave him the medal. Another special mention in the family legacy.

What is Greg Joseph’s Ethnicity?

The placekicker was born in 1994 in Johannesburg in South Africa, and immigrated to the USA in 2001. However, he originally belongs to Eastern Europe. In a bid to nurture his Jewish culture, Greg Joseph often visits the Holocaust memorials. In March 2023, he toured the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.

Additionally, he has visited numerous Holocaust memorials across Europe. In 2022, he also took part in the NFL goodwill tour, visiting one Naval base and 11 Army bases in Poland. These experiences of witnessing hardship firsthand continue to inspire him, motivating him to overcome challenges in his everyday life.

While in Poland, he visited the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews, where he saw the oldest standing synagogue and Fort VII—one of the first locations where Zyklon B gas was tested as a weapon of genocide. Greg Joseph grew emotional and said, “I wasn’t leaving Poland without taking myself to see Auschwitz. Just being there—the history of it, everything that I’ve learned—I wasn’t leaving without experiencing that.”

His ancestors endured unimaginable hardship, courageously facing hunger, fear, and death. He knows he wouldn’t be here today without their strength and sacrifice.

What are Greg Joseph’s family roots?

The 49ers placekicker originally hails from Lithuania. Both of Greg Joseph’s maternal great-grandparents fled Lithuania as Jews faced increasing persecution. Between 1922 and 1937, his great-grandmother, Minnie Ger Friedman, relocated from Panevėžys, Lithuania, to Kyiv before eventually boarding a boat to South Africa. His great-grandfather, Boris, also left present-day Lithuania—then still considered part of Russia—and moved to London. He later arrived in South Africa in 1929.

Proudly reflecting on his ancestors’ bravery, he said, “I’ve seen the documents that had my great-grandfather’s name on the boat’s manifest from London to Johannesburg, which is super cool.” However, not everyone was fortunate enough to escape persecution.

His great-grandmother’s twin sister was separated from the rest of the family in Lithuania, and they never heard from her again. His father, who is half Lithuanian, a quarter German, and a quarter Polish, has done a wonderful job of preserving and passing down the family’s cultural heritage. Greg intends to do the same. Speaking about his roots, he summed it up perfectly: “That knowledge and that closeness to my family is important because I’ll be able to pass it down to my kids someday.” His future definitely looks bright with such strong roots.