I think if you get a big, strong 1st round NFL prospect and have him train sumo for 3-5 yrs, he’s gonna be elite.
I could be wrong, but I’d love to see this put to the test.
I feel like this is probably true to some extent if for nothing else, NFL Offensive Line scouting is basically just narrowing down to the incredibly small pool of men that can retain their quickness and athleticism while carrying 325+ lbs on their frame.
I mean, in a sense the Mongolians have already successfully done what you’re proposing to do and it’s a fantastic bit of international trolling.
If anyone is curious what sumo training is like, it’s kinda this: sparring, stretching, working on technique and stuff.
When I’m a billionaire I’m going to train and put all the top Sumo wraslers in the NFL.
1 Like
you should call your league LIV-o
Yeah, I think that would be a decent second experiment. I think some of those sumo bros could be decent o-line players.
Can’t wait to see the 30 for 30 documentary on how two dumb Americans lost their billion dollar empires on Sumo.
2 Likes
And the Hawaiians. And Eastern Europeans.
Remember, there was a 10-year-period during which Japanese-born rikishi didn’t win a single basho.
Foreigners coming in and dominating the sport is old news.
I’ve always wondered how good the US soccer team would be if every top athlete trained for soccer instead of all other sports.
Y’all have never seen the replacements obviously.
You really don’t think the reaction would be any different if the dominating foreigners were Black.
There was a black guy who wrestled in like the sub-junior sumo leagues in Japan for a few years. I haven’t heard any stories about his race being a huge deal, although he was only playing in the bottom leagues.
1 Like
That was Sentoryu. And there was also Wakaichiro–half black; half Japanese.
Not to mention that the Hawaiians were all of Samoan descent and as dark as many black Americans.
To the Japanese, not of that really matters. It’s basically us (Japanese) vs. them (gaijin).
And even saying that, foreign rikishi (including the Yokozuna) have generally been well received here as long as they respect the traditions of the sport & Japanese culture.
And as long as they don’t absolutely dominate like Hakuho, to the extent that they become a villain by default.
1 Like
Word on the street is that the sumo wrestler in the video is only 17 years old.
1 Like
It’s still insanely impressive that Micah Parsons gave the guy a full-on bull rush and didn’t budge him an inch.
I thought about it, but I didn’t think anyone would get the reference.
1 Like
Have never encountered this. Hope I never do.
