From Chiba to Vegas: Kicker Matsuzawa's Unprecedented Journey Heads to the NFL

By Peter Mann

Despite going undrafted in the recent, 2026 NFL Draft, placekicker Kansie Matsuzawa finds himself very much on course to adding another chapter to what can just as easily be described as ‘The Journey.’

At 6ft 2ins tall, the undrafted Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors sensation, from Ichikawa, Chiba, Japan, was picked up by Klint Kubiak and the Las Vegas Raiders, joining Matt Gay in their Special Teams room, he doing so via the International Player Pathway Program.

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The duo has big boots to fill, Daniel Carlson being one of the top ten most accurate kickers in NFL history, and the last kicker in the Raiders locker room; ‘the journey’ though, for Matsuzawa, is one that began not that long ago, the Japanese star, nicknamed ‘The Tokyo Toe’ having come a long way in such a short space.

Growing up, Matsuzawa had dreams of playing another ball-shaped game, soccer, whilst his father, Tetsuhara Matsuzawa,  a youth player in American Football himself, soon had his son heading stateside as recently as 2018, having failed to make the grade as a professional soccer player, attending the Makuhari Sogo High School, in his native Chiba, in the Kantō region of Honshu, Japan (the largest of their four islands).

Inspired by the current, LA Dodgers hitter, Shohei Otani, in Major League Baseball, Matsuzawa forged a college career for himself in Hawai’i for their Rainbow Warriors program, in the Big West Conference.

Initially working at Morton’s Steakhouse, Hocking College, in Nelsonville, Ohio, picked him up in 2021, and it was here he learned English, going on to say during an interview with the Japan Times, in August last year, that; “Football is not huge, like in the U.S., so it’s not easy to find coaches.

“But there were a lot of videos on YouTube, a lot of videos on Instagram.

“So I just watched a lot of NFL kickers and tried to imitate those top-level players.”

Since the move, from Ohio to Hawai’i, Matsuzawa forged a college football career that would see him being looked at as one of the best kickers in the game, starting his run off with a last minute field goal attempt that earned the Rainbow Warriors a 23-20 success over Stanford.

He’d go on to make all 22 of his field goal attempts, with a longest measured at 52yds, whilst also bagging a maximum 33 from 33 extra points; the Raiders have certainly bagged themselves a placekicker with an eye, and boot, to match that of Carlson.

That impressive, 2025 campaign with the Rainbow Warriors earned Matsuzawa an athletic scholarship, with the Japanese star telling Rachel Bachman, of the Wall Street Journal, late last year, about how he’s changed how he looks at the Special Teams’ part of the game.

“Since I started mindset training, my technique is more consistent,” stated Matsuzawa.

“As a Japanese, I struggled in Ohio (at Hocking), through the cultural differences.

“But Hawai’i has everything for me.”

If Hawai’i had everything, the question now is, what will Las Vegas, and the delights of the Allegiant Stadium have for him?

The Raiders, with the erstwhile guile and wilyness of HC Klint Kubiak and General Manager John Spytek, added Matsuzawa onto a successful, NFL Draft this year, one which saw them add the following, ten players to their roster ahead of the 2026 season.

Fernando Mendoza, the expected first pick of the draft, arrived from Inidiana Hoosiers, and will work alongside another recent arrival in Kirk Cousins at quarterback; in addition, the Silver & Black added Treydan Stukes (safety), Keyron Crawford (defensive end), Trey Zuhn III (guard), Jermod McCoy (cornerback), Mike Washington Jnr (running back), Dalton Johnson (safety), Hezekiah Masses (cornerback), Malik Benson (wide receiver), and Brandon Cleveland (defensive tackle).

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In an interview with Kyle Chinen, for the Hawai’i News Now, back in September 2024, Matsuzawa spoke more of how things what, and what his future would look like, saying; “I had no idea when I was young.

“Like I had no idea how to play football and I used to play soccer, growing up with soccer.

“I want to try to be a professional kicker at the highest level.

“So I started practice myself when I was 20 in Japan and just like I watched YouTube and Instagram.”

Numerous American football players, both in England, across Europe, and in Asia, have been quoted as saying they’ve used online videos as templates for who they play, how they mould themselves, and Matsuzawa is no different.

What is different in Matsuzawa’s case though, is that he could become the first player born-and-bred in Japan, to play in the NFL; numerous have played college football, whilst a couple have been on franchise practice squads.

Masafumi Kawaguchi was on the practice squads of the Green Bay Packers (1998) and San Francisco 49ers (2003), playing for the Amsterdam Admirals, in Europe, between 1998 and 2003, whilst Noriaki Kinoshita was the other, with the Atlanta Falcons in 2007 and 2008, he last being on the books of the Obic Seagulls, in his homeland.

At the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, Matsuzawa’s ‘journey’ would see him rewrite the programs record books, setting new, single season record, tied a 43-year-old FBS record for 25 consecutive field goals, finished second in the US for field goals made, shattered the previous UH record of 20 FGs set in 1989, matched the Mountain West Conference record, and leaves the Rainbow Warriors as the most accurate kicker in program history.

He was also named the first Consensus All-American in program history, and named Mountain West Special Teams player of the year, among other accolades as the ‘journey’ of the Japanese kicker, right now, shows no signs of letting up.

Perhaps written in the stars, Matsuzawa’s first, live NFL game, was at the old Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, back in 2018, for an Oakland Raiders’ Monday Night Football clash with the Los Angeles Rams, in a 33-13, season opening loss.

On KHON2 News’ Good Morning Football: Overtime, earlier this month, Matsuzawa was quoted as saying, “I came to the United States by myself and traveled on the West Coast, and I watched my first NFL game in Oakland.

“Then I really loved it, and I’m like, ‘I want to do this. This is going to be my life.’”

What would a younger Matsuzawa have though back then, if you’d told him that, eight years later, he’d be preparing himself to practice with the Raiders that very spring?

For now, though, the latest Raiders star, who only turned 27-years-old in early January, will be content with pushing himself in the Raiders’ pre-season programme, and in doing so, challenging Matt Gay for the starts spot in the Raders Special Teams department.

PETER MANN

NFL ANALYST

PETER IS A LIFELONG SPORTS FAN, JOURNALIST AND AUTHOR BASED IN COUNTY DURHAM. HE HAS FOLLOWED THE NFL AND THE RAIDERS SINCE THE 1980s, AND LOVES BOTH SPORTS AND FAMILY HISTORY. PETER HAS A DEGREE IN SPORT & EXERCISE PSYCHOLOGY, AND CAN BE FOUND ON TWITTER @petermannwriter

 
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