PITTSBURGH – Record-breaking Hawai'i kicker
Kansei Matsuzawa, affectionately known as "The Tokyo Toe," signed an undrafted free agent contract with the Las Vegas Raiders Saturday.
Matsuzawa's signing marks the culmination of one of the most incredible stories in college football. A native of the Tokyo area and a former high school soccer player, Matsuzawa did not begin kicking until age 20 after attending an NFL game during a trip to the United States.
Driven to pursue the sport, he taught himself the mechanics of kicking by watching YouTube videos, eventually earning an opportunity at Hocking College in Ohio before joining Hawai'i as a walk-on prior to the 2023 season.
During his time at Hawai'i, Matsuzawa completely rewrote the program's record books. In his stellar 2025 senior season, he made 27 of 29 field goals, setting a new single-season school record and finishing second in the nation in made field goals. He tied a 43-year-old FBS record by making 25 consecutive field goals to start the season.
Overall, Matsuzawa connected on 26 consecutive field goals stretching from the end of 2024 through November 2025, which matched the Mountain West Conference record and shattered the previous Hawai'i school record of 20 set by Jason Elam in 1989. He leaves Hawai'i as the most accurate kicker in program history, boasting a career field goal percentage of .867 (39-of-45).
His on-field dominance earned him unprecedented recognition. Matsuzawa became the first Consensus All-American in Hawai'i program history. He was named the Mountain West Special Teams Player of the Year, a finalist for the Lou Groza Award (joining only Jason Elam in UH history), and a nominee for the Burlsworth Trophy, which honors the nation's top player who began their career as a walk-on.
In addition to his accuracy, Matsuzawa proved to be a clutch performer, most notably kicking a game-winning field goal as time expired against Stanford in Week 0. That game-winner helped catapult him to stardom with unique story being heavily featured by major national media outlets, including CNN, ESPN, The Wall Street Journal, and NBC Nightly News.
