The X-League in Japan has become a "next stop" for some Toreros after their time at the University of San Diego as football players has come to a close. The professional league is currently home to three Toreros and has welcomed a total of five over the years (Loka Kanongataa and Mason Mills also played in the X-League).

For a look back at Anthony Lawrence's rookie campaign in Japan, click here.
 

In his seventh season in Japan's X-League in 2019, Al-Rilwan Adeyemi did something he has done a few times before: help the Fujitsu Frontiers win the league championship. Adeyemi and the Frontiers took down former Torero quarterback Anthony Lawrence and the Panasonic Impulse, 28-26, in December 2019 at the Tokyo Dome for the team's fourth straight Japan X Bowl title and fifth in Adeyemi's time with the team.

In seven seasons in the X-League, Adeyemi has helped Fujitsu reach the Japan X Bowl every year. Born in Nigeria and raised there for the first 10 years of his life, the Santa Monica High School product has also been named all-league cornerback six times.

In other words, Adeyemi is one of the best and most-accomplished players in the X-League. And it almost did not happen.

Adeyemi graduated from USD in 2012, with his last season in a Torero uniform being the 2011 campaign in which he and USD bounced back from a downward two-year stretch by winning nine games and earning the first of eight PFL championships in the 2010 decade.

Adeyemi picked up a tryout with the New York Giants in the summer of 2012 after graduation, stayed in shape through the fall, and then earned another opportunity to impress an NFL team in the spring of 2013 with the Detroit Lions. The initial tryout with the Lions did not go much further, so Adeyemi looked outside of the country for the next landing spot in his football career. Enter, the X-League – but not without one more tug by the NFL.

"Obviously it's everyone's dream to play in the NFL," said Adeyemi. "But at the end of the day, you make choices. I had tried out with the Lions (in the spring of 2013), and one of our USD alumni actually is one of their top scouts (Lance Newmark). So I was in communication with him and he told me, 'Hey, look, we don't know if we have a spot for you, but if someone were to get injured during training camp, we would be able to fly you in and offer you a workout.'

"(But) training camp started after I needed to make my decisions. So I made the decision to come to Japan, and then a few weeks later, the Lions called and said, 'Hey, someone went down in training camp and we'd like to fly you in and work you out. If you're in shape, we'll sign you on the spot.' But for me, being a man of your word is a big thing within my Muslim faith. Once you sign a contract, you got to abide by that contract."

While he was true to his word, Adeyemi also felt like the experience of Japan and the X-League – and timing of it – was too good to pass up.

"The opportunity to go live abroad also, even if I thought it was initially going to be only six months - that was still a unique opportunity," said Adeyemi. "I talked to one of the coaches at USD at the time, Sam Anno, and he told me, 'Okay look, you're only going to be in your 20s once. This opportunity to go over and live in Japan, there aren't too many opportunities like that.' So he helped convince me as well."

While Adeyemi – who holds USD's career interceptions record and was an All-PFL performer – is one of Japan's best to play, he is also one of the first American expats to wear an X-League jersey, setting a foundation enjoyed now by many former college football players looking for any opportunity to be involved with the game.

"The first wave of Americans, including me, we helped build the American culture here," said Adeyemi. "You know, one of the famous quotes, 'If you build relationships, the championships will come.' So that's exactly what we did when we came in: build relationships, and we changed the general attitude of things."

Adeyemi currently lives in Japan for about 10 months out of the year for the last seven years. During the current pandemic, he is in the country – but without the typical slate of spring football the league plays. Despite the sudden change, he still has a positive outlook on his life and impact on football and his home-away-from-home.

"I think at the end of day when they write the global story of football, you can't neglect the impact that our team and the American players that have been in Japan have had on the story of football in Japan."