A week ago the NFL Draft welcomed some 257 players into the league. Today the Canadian Football League had their shot. And among the players who were taken high in their draft was Hawaii kicker Kansei Matsuzawa who last weekend signed an undrafted free agent contract with the Raiders.
Matsuzawa was a round two pick by the Saskatchewan Roughriders. He was selected at 18 overall in the nine team league.
What does this mean?
Well, it doesn't mean Matsuzawa will be packing up his gear and catching the next flight to Canada. It simply means that 'The Tokyo Toe' knows that should the Raiders release him, and he wishes to play professional football outside of the NFL, he has a team in the CFL ready to welcome him. And if any other CFL teams want to sign him, they will have to deal with the Roughriders first.
There's nothing Matsuzawa would like more than to make the Raiders' roster and become the first ever Japanese born player to play in the NFL. The 27-year-old has a great story that involves the Raiders inspiring him to pick up a football for the first time seven years ago to learn to be a kicker. So, at the moment he is living his dream.
This article originally appeared on Raiders Wire: Raiders undrafted rookie drafted into Canadian Football League
