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In America, football is omnipresent—in school, in the news, in game day recipes, in the people wearing their favorite team’s jersey. It’s even what Taylor Swift’s fiancee does for a living. But it’s not like that in the rest of the world. Many fans abroad follow and practice the game more modestly as it isn’t as popular. One such follower is Kansei Matsuzawa. Enamored by football after attending an NFL game during a trip to the U.S., the Japanese athlete dreamed of becoming a kicker. Learning the craft on his own by watching YouTube videos, his effort has now paid off.
Matsuzawa had it in him. Having played soccer since he was little, he grew to become the team captain at his high school. One key skill of soccer is being able to kick the ball far away at a convenient angle—something very similar to what football kickers do. Intrigued by what he had seen during his trip, he set his sights on one day returning as a college football player.
To perfect his abilities, Matsuzawa studied the footage techniques of Seattle Seahawks kicker Jason Myers, who coincidentally lived in Japan when he was young. While it’s not clear why he was drawn specifically to Myers in the first place, Matsuzawa has said that he is a good player to imitate his form and routines. Once he felt ready, Matsuzawa recorded himself and sent the videos to more than 50 colleges in hopes of getting a shot. Hocking College in Nelsonville, Ohio, was the one school that believed in him.
After two seasons there, Matsuzawa got an opportunity from the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors, which represents the University of Hawai’i. In the 2024-2025 season, he played in all 12 games for the island team, scoring all 32 of 32 extra points and even kicking a game winner against Fresno State.
Matsuzawa’s efforts reached new heights when playing Hawaii’s opening game. With his team trailing Stanford by three points near the end of the game, the Japanese player kicked a 37-yard field goal that tied the game. His team’s defense courageously stopped Stanford’s advances in overtime, but with only two seconds left on the clock when Hawai’i got the ball back, it was down to Matsuzawa, tasked with scoring a game-winning 38-yard field goal.
And score he did, becoming an unlikely football hero whose story made waves within the sport. Speaking to reporters after the game, he said, “I enjoyed it. I enjoyed the moment. And when we gave up the second touchdown to Stanford, then I was like, ‘Oh, this is gonna be my game.’ And I just prepared for the game-tying field goal and also game-winning field goal. I knew it was going to happen.” He later told NBC Nightly News that it had been one of the best moments of his life.
The Hawaii Rainbow Warriors named him Star of the Week and he even got a nod from his fortuitous teacher. “It was awesome,” Myers told The Seattle Times upon learning about his influence on Matsuzawa. “Happy for the kid. That’s tough going to a different country and a different sport. But it was pretty cool.”
Japanese kicker Kansei Matsuzawa made waves across the football world when he scored the game-winning field goal for University of Hawai’i in their game against Stanford.
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Enamored by football after attending an NFL game during a trip to the U.S., he learned the craft on his own by watching YouTube videos.
Once he felt ready, he recorded himself and sent the videos to more than 50 colleges in hopes of getting a shot.
After two seasons at Hocking College, Matsuzawa got an opportunity from the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors, where he scored all 32 of 32 extra points last season.
Watch some highlights of the game, including Matsuzawa’s game-winning field goal:
Kansei Matsuzawa: Instagram
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