Kai Sakura

Kai Sakura

Kai Sakura after 4th year college
No. 77 – Retired
Position:	Wide Receiver
Personal information
Born:	(2017-02-14)February 14, 2017 (aged 44) Kyoto, Japan
Height:	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight:	220 lb (100 kg)
Career information
High school:	Punahou High School
College:	University of Hawai'i
Career history
Roster status:	Retired
Player stats at ISFL.net

Kai Sakura (born February 14, 2017) was an American football wide receiver for the Yellowknife Wraiths of the Developmental Simulation Football League (DSFL).

Early years

Kai was born to Yoshi and Mai Sakura in Kyoto, Japan. Both his parents are practitionars of sport psychology and moved to Hawaii due to work, when Kai was only sevven years old. Through his parents profession revolving around the sporting world and wanting to fit in amongst his new envionment, Kai picked up American Football during his middle school years, showcasing potential as both as Running Back and Wide Receiver with his handling and running skills. After entering high school, Kai's football coach,, Bruce Lee, favoured him as a wide reciever and that is where he has stayed ever since. Bringing with him a strict sense of self-discipline and work ethic from his Japanese background, Kai quickly become the rising star of his high school team, becoming thier primary receiver option and the stable anchor of the offense. Coach Lee said after his team made it into the playoffs "When the team starts to get frazzled with a few incomplete passes and extra pressure from the defence, my Quarter Back turns to me for advice and i give it to him quite bluntly. Look to Kai, even if he isn't open, he will get himself open for you"

College career

Kai's start to his college carrer was shaky at best, sitting most of the first season on the bench. Whilst a fair amount of people put this down to a racist coach who couldn't move pass Kai being of Asian descent, with teammates noting how Kai was refered to as "Yellow jelly" due to his background and constant moving around the football field. At the end of the first year, the coach moved on to another team and new head coach, Ryan Tannerhill, took over the squad and instantly recognised the talent Kai could bring to his team with his game intellegence and awareness. Having receiving more and mroe gametime as he proved himself to be the man coach Tannerhill percieved him to be, Kai become starter late into his second season and never looked back from there. After a successful third and fourth year, whilst completing his own degree in Psychology, Kai was ready for the transition to the Developmental Simulation Football League and poises to be able to accomplish big things in his rookie year.

DSFL

Season 22

Kai was selected by the Minnesota Grey Ducks with the 35th picks in the DSFL draft. The Minnesota Grey Ducks planned to find some weapons for Quarterback Sim SnowBow during the draft and Kai played his role with efficiency. Along with fellow Wide Receiver prospect Tychondrius Hood, Kai helped enable a duel-threat offence for the ducks with veteran receiver Draymond Brooks said to have taught Hood and Sakura “How to play at the highest level”. Kai played most of the season in the slot as fellow receiver Hood shined and dazzled in what would become a Wide Receiver of the year award-winning season. Brooks also starred for the Ducks’ receiving core, getting a nomination for Wide Reciever of the year himself. Kai played the consistent role, to keep the chains moving and getting to the next set of downs. He played in all 14 games of the season and achieved 32 catches, amassing 349 yards, averaging out at 10.9 yards per catch. This efficiency shows positive talent that Kai has and an ability to make an impact with less possession. Kai Sakura’s longest catch was 27 yards and was able to score 3 touch downs across the season, a fair result for what was ultimately a WR3 for the team. Furthermore, Kai scored a touch down for every 166.3 yards he achieved, above average for the league, demonstrating his efficiency. Whilst the season ended in disappointment for Kai and the Ducks, he looks ahead to the NSFL level, the NSFL draft and his bright future as he is marked to be one of the highest potential and talented players in his class, across his position, the offensive side of the ball and including the defensive prospects.

Season 23

After being drafted at pick 22 by the Yellowknife Wraiths, Kai would find himself sent down to play another season for the Minnesota Grey Ducks. With Wide Receiver of the year, teammate Tychondrius Hood, having been called up to play in the ISFL, Kai found himself taking on extra responsibilities, being a more consistent Wide Receiver one or two, whilst also becoming the team’s primary kick and punt returner after not recording one in his rookie season. This extra responsibility within the team translated into a nice gain of stats whilst Kai kept progressing and refining his skills. The team may have a bad season, ending up just one spot of the bottom of all teams, but Kai made the use of his play time to show himself and how much he has grown from his rookie season.

Kai achieved 56% more receptions this year whilst managing to over double his total yards gained, demonstrating another year of efficient carries, averaging just shy of 15 yards, 14.7, per carry. Back to back years with an average of over 10, Kai has now proven himself to be a great move the chain player that eventually, a team the calibre of the Yellowknife Wraiths will love to use in their system to produce even better results. On the returning side, Sakura provided on a consistent basis yet again, averaging 20.6 yards on his 30 kick returns and 7.7 yards over 15 Kick returns. A solid second-year performance sees Kai getting the nod to be called up to Yellowknife for his next season, rounding out a core of young and talented wide receivers with new Quarterback, Colby Jack, to hopefully see the Wraiths return to the Ultimus.

ISFL

Season 24

Due to a large amount of personal changes for in the wide receiver position over the offseason, seeing Nate Swift traded, Bender Rodriquez leaving in free agency and both Willie. B Hardagin and Action Jackson announcing retirements, Kai Sakura was able to be called up along side Susan Cash Jr. Early into the season, Sakura’s talent shown and earnt him the primary receiver position only a handful of games into is International Simulation Football League career. In his first game in the Yellowknife uniform, Kai scored two touchdowns, cementing his ability to perform in the highest league in the world.

Over the course of the season, whilst the Wraiths went on to miss the playoffs by one game, Kai was able to perform at a high level, ending the season leading the team receivers in all of receptions, yards gained, average yards per carry and touchdowns. His accomplishments over the course of the entire season earned him a nomination for the Offensive Rookie of the Year award, where despite not winning the award, was the runner-up in the voting. Despite only being one season in, there is a lot of hype around the potential this young man and future star of the league holds. During the offseason, his fellow wide receivers on the team, Susan Cash Jr. and Mike Lee were respectively taken in the expansion draft and left to go into free agency, making him the lead receiver that will be heavily targeted by Colby Jack going forward for years to come. Kai made sure to work in the offseason to improve his hands and catching ability after dropping the ball 15 times in the season, with the addition to work his game awareness and smarts to ensure each play he is involved in for the following season will be as successful as possible.

Professional career statistics

Career statistics			Receiving					Kick Returns			Punt Returns
Season	Team	Games	Rec	Yards	Avg	Lg	TD	Yds	Avg	KR TD	Yds	Avg	PR TD
2037 (S22)	Grey Ducks	14	32	349	10.9	27	3
2038 (S23)	Grey Ducks	14	50	737	14.7	36	4	619	20.6	0	116	7.7	0
2039 (S24)	Wraiths	16	68	1103	16.2	40	7
2040 (S25)	Wraiths	16	75	1258	16.8	46	10	774	24.2	0
2041 (S26)	Wraiths	16	74	1283	17.3	62	10
2042 (S27)	Wraiths	16	99	1259	12.7	40	5	654	31.1	0	166	7.5	1
2043 (S28)	Wraiths	16	86	1370	15.9	92	7	645	24.8	0	285	10.2	0
2044 (S29)	Wraiths	16	108	1838	17	83	15	586	25.5	0	225	8.7	0
2045 (S30)	Wraiths	16	128	1948	15.2	65	15	849	31.4	0	269	8.7	0
2046 (S31)	Wraiths	16	92	1378	15	82	7	725	33	1	24	2.2	0
2047 (S32)	Wraiths	16	90	1404	15.6	64	7
2048 (S33)	Wraiths	16	85	1127	13.3	65	11
2049 (S34)	Wraiths	16	103	1047	10.2	63	6
2050 (S35)	Wraiths	16	76	607	8	24	6

|}

Achievements and records

Use this section as an example.