Former Arizona Wildcat wide receiver Brad Brennan has just accomplished something that he has been working on for the past five years. On June 13, Brennan's Fujitsu Frontiers won the Japanese American Football League title, also known as the Pearl Bowl.

In the championship game, Brennan had five catches for 74 yards en route to a 20-6 victory over the Onward Skylarks.

"It's a pretty amazing feeling," Brennan said. "It feels like you really accomplished something out there. We've been trying to win games out there for so long and were finally a pretty good team. I'm pretty stoked about it."

As sweet as a Pearl Bowl victory must taste for Brennan right now, the journey to where he is hasn't been exactly smooth sailing since leaving Arizona. After his senior season, Brennan was hindered by back and hamstring injuries and his football options were limited.

"My first year coming out of college I had a bunch of injuries," he said, "I wanted that chance to play in the NFL. Looking back I don't know if I could have but you always want that opportunity to play at the highest level."

Brennan heard about the opportunity in Japan through a friend, and received an interview with the Onward Skylarks, the team that he would go on to beat in the Pearl Bowl nearly five years later.

After playing with the Skylarks for about five months, Brennan signed a contract in the Canadian Football League with the British Columbia Lions. Within a week of arriving at training camp in Vancouver, Brennan re-injured his hamstring and was released.

Following his exit from the CFL, Brennan moved back home to San Francisco and continued to stay in shape while working as a bartender at a friend's establishment.

"I was still training and thought I was going to get back up to Canada and that it was going to be a good deal for me, but it didn't happen so I ended up heading back to Japan and I'm loving it," Brennan said.

Brennan is thankful that he has found a long-standing home in Japan because the stress of finding a team to play for, like in the NFL Europe, can weigh down a player considerably.

"It's a tough deal for them," Brennan said. "They struggle to make a team, get cut, re-cut, re-hired, cut again. Here I am living in a foreign country, the gig is good, the money's not bad, and I'm having fun. I'm still playing football at 29. I'm pretty lucky."

Brad Brennan was one of the first foreigners to break the through the barrier and play American style football in Japan. After a steady stream of Japanese players started playing in NFL Europe, the JAFL lifted its ban on foreign players being allowed to play in the league.

"It was difficult at first," Brennan said. "All of the players were Japanese and were looking at me and asking 'why do we need foreign players?' and 'is he going to play more than everyone else?' And they're not speaking to you in English so it's tough, but you just have to read their body language."

Those tough times however, are long forgotten. Over the past five years, Brad Brennan has earned the respect of his teammates, coaches, and players around the league.

"To finally get that respect and finally break through some barriers culturally, racially, whatever you want to call it, it's an amazing feeling," Brennan said. "I've been here for a while now and I think that I've definitely earned the respect throughout the league."

The Japanese American Football League is a corporately sponsored league, which means that the players do not only play for the team, but work for the company who sponsors the team as well.

By now, most of the eighteen teams in the league have gone to club so the players do not have to work for that specific company. The Fujitsu Frontiers however are still a corporately sponsored team.

"Most of the people on my team work during the week," Brennan said. "We practice Tuesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays and sometimes a fourth day depending if there's a game or not. Most of these guys are businessmen, so it's pretty crazy."

Brennan still keeps in contact with his coaches from his playing days at Arizona. Former Wildcat head coach Dick Tomey is the current head coach of the San Jose State Spartans, along with Brad's older brother, Brent Brennan, who is the wide receivers coach there.

Rob Ianello, Brad Brennan's former wide receiver coach at Arizona, is currently the receivers coach at Notre Dame, and the two keep in regular contact. Brennan wants the exposure of the JAFL to grow, and has been doing everything possible to expand its popularity and skill level.

"I'm always bringing stuff back from those guys, mainly to help our team out, but the level of play as well," Brennan said. "I think there is something there. There's definitely talent in Japan, obviously not like it is in the States but they're still great athletes."

While baseball and soccer dominate in Japan, the popularity of the sport is growing. Games on average draw about five to eight thousand spectators, but the Pearl Bowl had more than 15,000.

"You're playing in games that are similar to a small college venue, and the next week you'll be playing in the Tokyo Dome which holds 60,000 so it's kind of crazy."

As for Arizona Football, Brennan says his most memorable moments came in two games. The first is when he scored a touchdown while upsetting Nebraska in the 1998 Holiday Bowl, and sitting on the goalposts after beating ASU at home. He also says that he thinks Mike Stoops is doing an unbelievable job.

"It's amazing; I think he's doing a great job down there, especially with recruiting. He's going to put us back on the map," Brennan said.

Brennan is keeping his options open when it comes to his future.

"I go to a coaching convention every year because maybe I'll do that somewhere down the road," Brennan said. "My friend is a sports agent and he wants me to work with him but I don't really know at this point."

The JAFL regular season begins in the fall and the Pearl Bowl tournament is in the spring, so Brennan has a full year of football ahead of him. He is currently in San Diego and will return to Japan in August.

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