Koorifuu 459 Posted January 23 The pessimistic take is that Hanada is being given a spot on the roster mostly due to PR & marketing but nobody truly expects him to have a chance at this stage. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Inside Sport Japan 653 Posted January 24 15 hours ago, Koorifuu said: The pessimistic take is that Hanada is being given a spot on the roster mostly due to PR & marketing but nobody truly expects him to have a chance at this stage. That would be Koji Tokuda you are thinking of. Like Hanada his spot was an additional special one created to take advantage of his fame. Tokuda played in college but gave up the sport for a decade and became a TV star. In his 30s he decided that he missed it and joined a lower division team called Fukuoka Suns. He's only ok as players go but his name and image is front and center on all promotional stuff. There was a backlash against him being given a place on the Japan team and he withdrew soon after it was announced. Hanada is a 'crossover athlete' He gets a lot of media attention but his place on the team (and universal support from other teams and players here) is more about people wanting to see him succeed and hoping he'll help the game here grow. He's a very likeable guy too and popular with players. We haven't heard a single bad word about him - which is almost a miracle in Japanese football as it's Game of Thrones like at the best of times. As for his NFL chances. No one is under any illusions about how slim those are. It doesn't mean they don't support his efforts however. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
