The dream, of course, is to play someday in the National Football League. But in the meantime, the opportunity to continue playing football while representing the United States was an easy decision for James Atoe.
Atoe, who grew up in Alaska and later Oregon but today calls Marysville home, spent five years at the University of Washington and started every game as an offensive lineman in 2014, his senior season. He had hoped to be drafted by an NFL team, or at least to be signed as a free agent, but when neither occurred Atoe agreed to play for Team USA in the International Federation of American Football (IFAF) World Championship, July 9-18, in Canton, Ohio.
In addition to the United States, teams in the tournament include Australia, Brazil, France, Japan, Mexico and South Korea.
“Definitely, my ultimate dream is to go to the NFL,” said Atoe, a 6-foot-6, 375-pound offensive lineman. “That’s my goal. This is a sport I love and you can only play for so long, so I definitely want to pursue it as far as possible and eventually get to (the NFL).”
But for now, he went on, speaking by telephone from Ohio, “I’m excited to still be able to play football, a game I love. There’s a bunch of great coaches out here as well as great athletes … and knowing we get to play for our country is definitely exciting.”
Atoe spent his early childhood in Anchorage, Alaska, and then moved to The Dalles, Ore., when he was in fourth grade. He graduated from The Dalles-Wahtonka High School in 2010 and enrolled at Washington, where he redshirted as a true freshman and then played the next four seasons.
His time with the Huskies “was unbelievable,” Atoe said. “It was everything I could have dreamed of. Coming out of high school and going to a Division I school and then playing in the Pac-12, that was one of my goals in life. So it was definitely great to accomplish that.”
Midway through his years at Washington, Atoe moved to Marysville to live with his older brother, Talisaea, a corrections officer in Lynnwood.
Atoe is one of 48 players on the national team roster, with former UW teammate and fellow offensive lineman Mike Criste also on the squad. The Americans are coached by Dan Hawkins, the former head coach at Colorado (2006-2010) and Boise State (2001-2005). In fact, his offensive coordinator at Boise State was Chris Petersen, who then was hired as head coach of the Broncos when Hawkins went to Colorado. Petersen became Washington’s head coach in December of 2013.
Being with the national team is special, Hawkins said, because “you’re representing the United States. So we want to be great ambassadors not only for our country, but also for the sport of football. … These guys are going to meet people from other places and share their love of football, so it’s a multi-faceted experience.”
Though his players dream of reaching the NFL, “the thing I’ve tried to impress on them is that there’s a lot of cool countries and a lot of ways to play football,” Hawkins said. “We all say, ‘NFL, NFL, NFL,’ and I get that because I understand the game and the money. But there are several levels of arena leagues in this country. There’s the Canadian Football League. There’s football in Japan. There’s an arena league popping up in China. And there’s a guy in Australia that’s trying to start a pro league. So there’s a lot of football and a lot of football places.”
Though the Americans have only been practicing for a few weeks, “our chemistry is great,” Hawkins added. “These guys are all like-minded people who love football. They’re not getting paid (to be on the national team). They’re playing because they want to keep their football careers alive, and now they get to represent their country in a first-class manner.”
The Americans open against Mexico at 4 p.m. Thursday, and the rest of their four-game schedule — games every three days — is determined by wins and losses. The gold-medal game is at 4 p.m. on July 18.
Though the United States is a strong favorite, teams from elsewhere in the world are good and getting better, Hawkins said. In particular, Mexico and Japan should be very competitive.
“I think (the U.S. players) are going to be very surprised by the quality of some of the teams in this tournament,” he said. “But I just try to impress on these guys, let’s not compare ourselves to anybody else. Let’s just try to be great every day and try to get better every day.”
The Americans “just got together recently, but we’re really talented,” Atoe said. “And I wanted to play football again, so I was excited to jump on board. … It’s a bunch of great guys from all over the country, and it’s great knowing that I’m getting a chance to play for my country.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
