This Pro Football Player Plays in Japan and Canada (at the same time) 🤯

For our very first episode in English, we're honored to welcome Les Maruo, linebacker for the Edmonton Elks (CFL) and Panasonic Impulse (X-League), as our guest.✌🏼 Patreon for exclusive content :https://www.patreon.com/SansStress🎙️ listen to us here :Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2QAdIiANPjiykDDd6hESCD?si=a456ea3b995d4621Apple Music: https://podcasts.apple.com/fr/podcast/sans-stress/id1680759923Deezer: https://deezer.page.link/BCre2gvxnzL7mp9f6👥 follow us here :https://www.instagram.com/lesmaruo44/https://www.instagram.com/linebackersuniversity/https://www.instagram.com/leosarteel/https://www.instagram.com/7semaine/Intro: 00:00:00Les’ experience playing in the 2025 Rice Bowl: 00:03:47The difference between club teams and company teams in Japanese pro football: 00:09:12Cheerleaders for Panasonic and Futjitsu are also company employees during the day time: 00:12:00Why Panasonic has a very strict social media policy: 00:13:15The Panasonic football facilities: 00:16:19How Les discovered American football: 00:17:50Moving from Shizuoka, Japan to Kansas, USA: 00:20:29The difference between youth baseball in the US vs. in Japan: 00:23:45The reality of a 3 sport athlete in High School: 00:24:52Playing in both the X League and the CFL in the same year: 00:26:44The importance of lifting heavy in-season: 00:30:22How his kinesiology degree helps him in his football career: 00:32:42How he met his Olympian girlfriend: 00:36:37How Leo ended up dating a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader: 00:42:09Les’ offseason preparation: 00:45:22Implementing track athlete style workouts to his football preparation: 00:46:52When did he become good at football: 00:48:59Why he chose to pursue College Football rather than College Baseball: 00:50:35His JUCO recruiting process: 00:52:43Why he chose Hutchinson Community College: 00:54:27Why he chose UTSA (NCAA Group of 5) after his JUCO career: 00:57:07Dealing with compartment syndrome during his first NCAA season: 00:59:24How he never lost faith that he’d be able to play football again: 01:02:17His junior and senior years at UTSA: 01:04:29His Pro Day and pro football tryouts: 01:07:22His transition to life without football: 01:07:50How he got his shot at playing pro football in Japan: 01:12:20Transitioning back to his home country after so many years: 01:15:21Summary of the episode’s exclusive section reserved for our Patreoners: 01:19:20How Les became a CFL global player: 01:20:39His signature and championship with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers: 01:29:50His interest in eventually playing in Europe: 01:30:37The main difference between the X League and the ELF: 01:32:20What did we think of the talent level of Japanese American football: 01:34:48Which pro football league is truly the 3rd best level in the world between the X League, the ELF, and the LFA: 01:37:06Outro: 01:42:17In this episode of Sans Stress, we share our views on the world as young athletes, with zero filter, zero pressure. Just real talk.#sansstress #podcast