Ninh explains, Could a Sumo Wrestler be an NFL Lineman?
Sumo wrestlers. The gigantic beasts whose sole day job is to push another gigantic beast
out of the ring or onto the floor. They have the size, strength and skill to push almost
anybody around. But would they make good linemen in the sport of American football – a position
where you also need to push people around, like … a lot?
It kinda worked in the film ‘the Replacements’, where the fictional ‘Washington Sentinels’
hire a sumo wrestler with an egg fetish, as an offensive lineman. But would it actually
work in real life? Before I explain, be sure to hit that subscribe
button down below. Hint hint, click click. Wait, they’re just fat slobs right?
Far from it. Sumo wrestlers are seriously hardcore athletes with seriously hardcore
muscle. They train for hours on end, eat the same amount of calories as an army platoon,
drink enough beer to keep even the crappiest breweries in business, sleep for a little
bit and repeat ad infinitum. Their training consists of lots of power exercises designed
to be explosive and move as much weight as possible whilst having as much weight as possible.
But a sumo wrestler has to not only be strong, but quick. They work on speed not just in
the legs, but the arms as well. As they’ll need those hands to parry the arms of his
opponent. Having a 100 hand slap definitely helps.
Given that they weigh up to 600lbs, they also have to have excellent balance, as not falling
over or being pushed around is kinda the name of their game.
They have to be tough, as they pretty much just push, hit and slam each other all day
every day ... without padding. Don’t underestimate their ability to train
as they’re pretty used to doing this on a daily basis.
To prove this, let’s put a sumo wrestler up against New England Patriots star Tom Brady.
Let’s see what happens. This is Tom Brady, Tom Freakin’ Brady – the
greatest QB of our generation and he can barely move a middle class wrestler 6 inches. How
do you think he’d do against the current Yokozuna Hakuho? Probably not very well.
The raw elements of a sumo wrestler are all desirable qualities of an NFL lineman, so
on paper, they’d actually do pretty well, right?
Well … no! For all the qualities of a sumo wrestler,
you need infinitely more to play American Football.
Raw power and bulk aside, sumo wrestlers lack a few important ingredients, but the main
one is lateral mobility. In sumo, they rarely move sideways – which
is a big problem if you’re trying to cover somebody like JJ Watt, who can teleport 6
feet to the right before zipping past you to hurt the QB you’re trying to defend.
Sumo wrestlers also lack the finesse, skill and technique required to be an effective.
Even the biggest lineman have dancer like quickness in their feet. Check out Tyron Smith
of the Dallas Cowboys and you’ll see what I mean.
Sumo is a sport heavily restricted by rules and etiquette … none of which apply in American
Football. But there is one position a sumo wrestler
could do quite well in – a defensive nose tackle. The nose is the toughest job on the
D Line as you have to tie up two offensive lineman and essentially not be moved – which
is kinda the bread-and-butter skill of a sumo wrestler.
But even then, the question of whether they can do this for an entire game, as opposed
to wrestling for a couple of seconds is debatable. Oh, and in American Football, you actually
have to run. Something which sumo wrestlers do precisely 0% of the time. Mainly because
they can’t, but also because it’s just hilarious if they try.
This is a stupid video man, no-one has ever tried this.
Well actually, they have. Wakanohana, the 66th Yokozuna, tried to play
American Football after he retired from sumo, with the intention of making an NFL roster
in 2002. And on paper, he had all the necessary traits.
Big, strong, good hands, explosive power in the legs, immovable object and heavier than
most of the linemen you’ll likely come across. To prepare for the switch, he had to lose
a lot of fat, replace that with muscle and do aerobic style football drills every day.
He could bench press and lift similar numbers to his NFL counterparts so in theory, this
seemed like a pretty good switch. He actually signed a contract with the Arizona
Rattlers, but sadly his career is a short one.
Even with all the weight training, aerobic training and football coaching, his skillset
was infinitely more limited than people realised. As well as the lack of lateral mobility, he
quickly found out that playing for 60 minutes is infinitely harder than wrestling for 2.
Combine that with age, previous injuries and the fact that he’d never played American
Football in his life at the age of 31. His career failed before it ever even started.
There’s another reason why sumo wrestlers don’t instantly become linemen – because
that’s not what they dedicate their lives for.
Every sumo wrestler’s goal is to reach the rank of Yokozuna – which would grant you
god-like status in Japan and the eternal adoration of the people. To be in the prime of your
career and then to suddenly quit to play a western sport wouldn’t go down well with
the Japanese public or members of your own family.
So whilst it’s a fanciful idea that these Asian hulks could do well in American Football,
in reality, the skillset of a sumo wrestler is vastly different to that of a lineman.
As always, be sure to like share and subscribe to my channel.
And if you like this sort of video, or want to give your two cents let me know by adding
a comment below. K
Ninh Ly - www.ninh.co.uk - @NinhLyU