The ceiling still hasn\u2019t been touched for Kansei Matsuzawa.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Despite years of international initiatives and development routes like the International Player Pathway Program, no Japanese-born player has ever made a final 53-man NFL roster. Many have reached training camps. Some have landed on practice squads. None have crossed the final line. That history lingers quietly in the background, especially for specialists, where opportunity is narrow and patience thinner still.<\/p>\n
Shortly before kickoff at the American Bowl All-Star Game, Matsuzawa spoke<\/a>\u00a0about the journey that brought him here. There was no sales pitch. No rehearsed confidence. Just reflection.<\/p>\n Asked what first set him on this path, Matsuzawa pointed to one person.<\/p>\n \u201cMy special teams coordinator is the biggest reason why I committed to the University of Hawaii.\u201d<\/p>\n During the recruiting process, that belief came from a single source. Hawaii head coach Timmy Chang, who took the time to reach out and see him before anyone else did.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was the only head coach who FaceTimed with me,\u201d Matsuzawa said. \u201cHe talked to me about him, his program, and everything I was interested in.\u201d<\/p>\n MORE:\u00a0Meet Abella Danger\u2014The one Miami celebrity fan Curt Cignetti won’t tell you to Google<\/a><\/p>\n One conversation, in particular, stayed with him.<\/p>\n \u201cHe told me, \u2018You can be a bridge between Japan and Hawaii,\u2019\u201d Matsuzawa said. \u201cAnd he also told me, \u2018You can be the next Shohei Ohtani.\u2019 I was never thinking like that.\u201d<\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t the comparison that mattered. It was the belief behind it.<\/p>\n MORE:\u00a0Ex-Deion Sanders five-star Sa\u2019vell Smalls: Playing at Colorado nearly left me paralyzed<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThere was love and energy,\u201d he said. \u201cEverything I wanted to be a part of the program. They helped me grow as a man and a player. He\u2019s a real guy. I really love him.\u201d<\/p>\n Born in Tokyo, Matsuzawa never followed a traditional football path. His original plan was to play college soccer in Japan, but after failing a required examination, his direction shifted. A 2018 trip to the United States, highlighted by attending a Monday Night Football game, changed how he saw the sport, and himself.<\/p>\n First Japanese player in NFL history?\u00a0<\/p>\n If he was going to chase the NFL, he realized, the most realistic route would be as a placekicker.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m from Japan,\u201d Matsuzawa said. \u201cNo Japanese ever made it to the NFL.\u201d<\/p>\n So he studied. Quietly. Intentionally.<\/p>\n \u201cI had to watch the best kickers,\u201d he said. \u201cI watched a lot of NFL kickers.\u201d<\/p>\n One stood out.<\/p>\n \u201cJason Myers Seahawks kicker, is one of them,\u201d Matsuzawa said. \u201cHow he kicks and how he performs on Sunday really inspired me. I want to be like him one day.\u201d<\/p>\n