Program Changer: Colorado State Convinced An All-World Sumo Wrestler To Come Play For Their Football Team

[Source] - Hidetora Hanada was an all-world sumo wrestler, winning the All-Japan title as a freshman at Nippon Sport Science University along with taking gold in the 2022 World Games open-weight division.

Instead of staying in the sport, he is pursuing the sport of football. According to The Japan Times, Hanada took part in open tryouts for the X League, Japan’s premier American football competition back in March.

It seems like the streamed workout put him on the radar of the Colorado State football program, as it was announced on Tuesday that he will be joining their football program.

I always wondered when The Replacements would be coming to real life and apparently it's now. I didn't think it'd be Colorado State, but good for them. This is a program changing moment if we're really going like The Replacements. 

I can't believe it's taken this long for teams to just start recruiting sumo wrestlers. You're telling me guys who are large and use their hands might translate to the sport of football? Seems like a no-brainer. In fact I'd start only recruiting sumo wrestlers or some big old boys from Iowa/Wisconsin for my offensive line. That's their bread and butter right there. You know, guys like this: 

You gotta think the NIL world is better here than Japanese sumo wrestling league. Make a little bit of an impact, transfer up. No brainer for Hidetora, who should change his first name to Yokozuna like the old wrestler. Colorado State was 3-9 last year, why not try everything to get back? This is just smart. Couldn't love this move more.