Photo/Illutration Hidetora Hanada on July 18 (Photo by Issei Sakakibara)

Instead of racking up wins in the dohyo and ascending in the traditional sumo, Hidetora Hanada wants to make history in a wildly popular U.S. sport.

The former amateur sumo champion has his eyes set firmly on playing in the National Football League.

As a first step, Hanada, 21, will transfer to play American college football at Colorado State University, an NCAA Division I program. 

He will join the Rams starting in August.

“I would regret it on my deathbed if I never even tried,” the “amateur yokozuna" told a news conference on July 18. “I will make a spectacular showing so I can get close to my goal of playing in the NFL.”

Hanada, who won the all-Japan amateur sumo championships as a university freshman, had thought about competing in the professional sumo ranks.

The fierce scrimmage skirmishes in NFL games he had watched on TV when he was a junior high school student, however, never left his mind.

“That’s so cool,” he said he thought. “And I don't take a backseat to anyone when it comes to pushing and shoving.”

Hanada decided to leave the dohyo because many football players hit their peak years in their early 20s.

“Now is the only time for me to take the plunge,” he said.

Martial arts were always a familiar presence since childhood for the native of Wakayama, the capital of Wakayama Prefecture, who was born to a former wrestler father and a former judoka mother.

He began participating in sumo when he was a second-grader in elementary school. He went on to win the Junior Sumo World Championships as a senior high school student and entered the powerhouse Nippon Sport Science University.

While he immersed himself in sumo, he also took part in a tryout held jointly by football league clubs in Japan.

By position, Hanada is a defensive linemen, whose duties include clashing with offensive lineman and stopping the run and pressuring quarterbacks. 

His sturdy build, which measures an imposing 185 centimeters in height and 133 kilograms in weight, along with his strong thrusts, overwhelmed Japan’s national team members and others during his tryout.

Hanada has, since last summer, devoted himself to football. He has also been studying English for a total of six hours a day on mornings and evenings.

Hanada has a namesake in a former rikishi: Masaru Hanada, who went by the ring name of Wakanohana as a yokozuna. Both Hanadas have a kanji for “tiger” in their given names.

Hidetora said he is not related to Masaru, although he is often asked about possible family ties because of the resemblance of the names.

Former American football players, who dreamed of joining the NFL, are supporting Hidetora’s rare venture by coaching him during drills and advising him on his career.

Producing an NFL player has, in fact, been a long-held ambition of Japan’s football circles.

“I am shouldering the expectations of those who wanted me to make a career in professional sumo,” Hidetora said. “I want to prove that I am strong.”

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