Masaru Hanada, well-known as former yokozuna Wakanohana, has given up his attempt to play in the National Football League for now and decided to play in the X League, Japan's non-professional company league, this fall. The Onward Skylarks, one of the X League's elite clubs, announced Wednesday that they had listed Hanada on the team roster, which makes him eligible to play for the Skylarks if he proves himself worthy of a position on the team.
Hanada, who's been working out in a training facility in Arizona since spring, failed to get any offers to take part in the NFL camps and returned to Japan at the end of last month.
Hanada took tryouts with the Atlanta Falcons and Oakland Raiders, but neither team invited him to join their training camps.