Linebacker Maruo has had enough of losing

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/05/2023 (871 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Just over a month after losing the Grey Cup, Bombers linebacker Les Maruo suffered another crushing defeat.

Most players return home to rest at the conclusion of their CFL season, but Maruo heads overseas to play in Japan’s professional football circuit — the X-League — with the Panasonic Impulse.

Maruo, the fourth overall pick in the 2021 CFL Global Draft, had to miss the regular season, but made it in time for the championship game, the Rice Bowl, at the Tokyo Dome against the Fujitsu Frontiers.

Panasonic ended up losing 29-21.

“It was hard man. My first year (in the CFL), I was on the practice roster for the Grey Cup, so I had to watch on the sideline with my sweatsuit on. So, my motivation for my second year was to play in the Grey Cup, and win it obviously,” Maruo told the Free Press after Thursday’s training camp practice at IG Field.

“I got to play in the Grey Cup, play special teams, and make a few tackles on special teams, but ended up losing and coming so close. And going to Japan, my next motivation was ‘I’m not gonna lose again,’ but I lost again. I really had to sit down and look myself in the mirror.”

Maruo, 27, wasn’t the only Bomber playing in the Rice Bowl as offensive lineman Tomoya Machino — who was chosen by Winnipeg one round later at pick No. 15 — plays for Fujitsu. Machino is also back with the Bombers preparing for his third CFL campaign.

“Every year, coach makes us stand up in front of the team and introduce ourselves and tell the team one thing that you did during the off-season that isn’t football related. This is kind of football related, but I just said that after the Grey Cup, I flew over to Japan, played two games and played the championship against Tomoya. That’s all I said then I sat down,” said Maruo, who was born in Japan and raised in Kansas.

“And everybody was like ‘Who won? Who won?’ and Tomoya put his hand up and everyone started getting all riled up. I respect Tomoya and his team. They got the best of us last year, but this year, I’m going try to win the Grey Cup and the Rice Bowl.”

More important than football, Maruo got to spend some time in his hometown of Shizuoka and see his mom and grandmother for the first time in two years. Shortly after Maruo graduated from University of Texas at El Paso, his mom moved back to Japan to care for his grandfather who was ill. Maruo’s grandfather ended up passing away in October.

“Getting to play in the Tokyo Dome, that’s where my grandpa’s favourite baseball team (Yomiuri Giants) play and that was my favourite team, too. So, growing up we used to watch them, and it was such a surreal moment because I had never been in the Tokyo Dome before, so walking in, I was just amazed that I was getting to play in basically my grandpa’s favourite stadium in front of my mom and grandma when they needed me the most,” said Maruo.

“So, even though I lost, I took that as a W.”

Maruo established himself as one of the top Global players in the league last season.

He played in 17 regular season games, registering 14 tackles, an additional seven tackles on special teams and a sack. He also dressed in the Western Final and Grey Cup.

Maruo signed a one-year contract extension in February to avoid free agency.

“He does all the right things all the time. It’s the effort factor, and he really does have a motor. It’s 100 per cent all the time for him and you don’t see him really take a play off,” said Bombers special teams ace Mike Miller.

“He’s willing to mix it up with bigger guys. He’s got that fearless factor which definitely shows on film.”

There weren’t any Japanese names picked in the 2023 Global Draft, but Maruo hopes that will change in the near future and that he can say he played a part in that.

“I really just want to represent Japan the best I can. If I leave a legacy as a starting linebacker, a great special teamer, or as the best Global player or whatever, I just want to be remembered in Japan so football in Japan can grow and they have someone to look up to.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31

Taylor Allen
Reporter

Taylor Allen is a sports reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. Taylor was the Vince Leah intern in the Free Press newsroom twice while earning his joint communications degree/diploma at the University of Winnipeg and Red River College Polytechnic. He signed on full-time in 2019 and mainly covers the Blue Bombers, curling, and basketball. Read more about Taylor.

Every piece of reporting Taylor produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.