The Stewart Street bridge
'Joined in Hope' quilt making
Victoria's Secret Fashion
American football gaining popularity with Japanese
Former Miami head coach John Pont says it's only a matter of time before a player from Japan is in NFL.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Former Miami head coach John Pont scrolled through Japan's roster for the 2007 American Football World Cup.
"Yamagishi-san and Murakami-san. These were two of my players," said Pont, who coached in Japan for 13 years before retiring in 2005. "They're both around six-foot-five, 270 pounds. A lot of these linemen can hold their own with almost anyone."
Extras
"Almost" is the operative word.
Japan has an untapped talent pool that has expanded to nearly 400 teams and more than 18,000 players. No Japanese player has ever made an NFL roster.
But Japan has "held its own" against the likes of France and Mexico in World Cup competition, taking the crown in the inaugural event in 1999 and winning again in 2003. But because the U.S. didn't compete in either event, Japan carries perhaps the most misleading distinction in sports: world champions of American football.
For the 2007 World Cup in Japan, the U.S. has patched together a team of amateurs that includes only 12 current or former Division I college players out of the 45-man roster. This is hardly a select crop. Still, for Japan, a win over this U.S. team will resonate far more than its 48-0 victory over France in the July 7 opening game, which drew an attendance of 12,336.
"I think it's only a matter
of time that (a Japanese player) makes the NFL," Pont said. "(Football) is getting bigger there. But it doesn't compare to Sumo or the baseball playoffs."
Pont coached Miami from 1956-63 and Indiana from 1965-72. He started coaching in Japan in 1992, spending six months out of every year away from his residence in Oxford.
"When I first went there, I rode the train to the office every day and I'd stand over 75 percent of the people," said the
6-foot Pont. "Five years later, only about one-third of the people were shorter than me. People in Japan got bigger."
The first team he coached played in division-five, the lowest-quality division in Japanese football.
"I was as big as my biggest lineman," he said. "The only people that came and watched were girlfriends and family."
By 2000, his team — Gakusei Engo Kai Rocbull football club – was promoted to division-one and played in Japan's biggest stadiums like the Tokyo Dome and Yokahama Stadium.
"In Japan, they use a lot of shotgun. Their quarterbacks are real quick, but they're all around six-foot ... Their linemen, there's no 300 pounders, but they get up to 280 or 290," Pont said.
The American roster includes four Ohio players: Capital College quarterback Rocky Pentello (Columbus), Toledo receiver Steve Odom (Columbus), Wooster offensive tackle Rick Drushal (Lakeville), and California (Pa.) tight end D'Monn Baker (Cincinnati).
Contact this reporter at 937-225-9391 or edawisha@DaytonDailyNews.com.
