Wakano-defensive lineman?

["Joshua A. Reyer" <jreyer@grn.mmtr.or.jp>]

I'm surprised this hasn't been discussed before, but Masaru Hanada (former
Yokozuna Wakanohana) is making a serious attempt to join the NFL.  He's
traveled to Arizona and is in the midst of some hard weight training and
conditioning.  Apparently, in a few months or so he's going to try out at a
camp there.  Nihon TV showed some clips of him training the other night, and
man, I think he could do it.  His face as he pushed himself in training,
it's not like any way I've seen him before.  And he looks like he's back in
fighting shape.

In his book, Hanada talked about intending to try out for the NFL when he
graduated high school, but he ended up joining Futagoyama-beya to look out
for his brother.  In the final chapter, titled "Dreams", he talks about
Michael Jordan trying baseball the first time he retired from basketball,
and how he admired Jordan for that.  I'm sure he was thinking about
attempting to try out even then, before his danpatsu-shiki.

What position would he play?  The only one I can think of is defensive
line-man, a pass rusher.  He'd be perfect for it.  Defensive line-man have
to quick and nimble to dodge around very large offensive linemen and try to
tackle the quarterback.  His proficiency in lateral movement would be a
great asset.  If he was an offensive lineman, I imagine he'd instinctually
wrap his arm around his man, like a yotsu-grip, and he'd be called on
holding.  But defensive linemen can pick up someone blocking them and toss
them aside with no problem.

Two things give me pause.  One is conditioning.  He looked in great shape,
but we're talking about being on the field for probably 30+ minutes per
game, and for extended drives much longer than a long sumo match.  It
wouldn't be that much different from five or six torinaoshi's in a row.  And
he has his injuries.  Well, most football players have injuries from the
time they graduate college, but it is a concern, I think.  And finally, I
wonder about his football instincts.  Football players get the basics set in
high school, and then in college hone their skills like reading a defense
and/or an offense.  I wonder if he would be able to do that.  On the other
hand, football is rigorously controlled from the sidelines, and really doing
things like reading the opposition's formation is for the defensive captain
and the quarterback on the field, so maybe this wouldn't be that much of a
problem.

Anyone with experience with American football care to comment?

---------
Josh Reyer
jreyer@grn.mmtr.or.jp