Louie Sakoda (born October 28, 1986) is an American former college and professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player who was

kicker Kicker or The Kicker may refer to: Sports * Placekicker, a position in American and Canadian football * ''Kicker'' (sports magazine), in Germany * Kicker, the German colloquial term for an association football player * Kicker, the word used i ...

and punter in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

(CFL) for two seasons. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

, and earned unanimous All-American honors. Sakoda played professionally for the CFL's

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 1 ...

Early years

Sakoda was born in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...

. He attended

Branham High School Branham High School is a secondary school in San Jose, California, located in the Cambrian neighborhood within the West San Jose region. It opened on September 13, 1967, under the Campbell Union High School District (CUHSD) and closed in 1991. The ...

in San Jose, and played

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

for the Branham Bruins.

College career

Statistics

*Field Goal Pct.: .864 (1st) *Field Goals Made: 57 (1st) *Field Goal Attempts: 66 (1st) *PAT Made: 137 (1st) *PAT Attempts: 140 (1st) *PAT Pct.: .979 (1st *Scoring (Overall): 308 (1st) *Scoring (Kick): 308 (1st) *Punts: 242 (1st) *Punt Yards: 10,188 (1st) *Punt Average: 42.1 (1st) *50-yard Punts: 50 (1st)

Awards and honors

*2007

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

first-team All-American kicker *2007

SI.com ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twice ...

second-team All-American punter *2007

CBS Sports CBS Sports is the sports division of the American television network CBS. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on W 52nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS Broadcast Center on W 5 ...

first-team All-American punter and

Football Writers Association of America The Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) is an organization of college football media members in the United States founded in 1941. It is composed of approximately 1,200 professional sports writers from both print and Internet media out ...

*2008

unanimous Unanimity is agreement by all people in a given situation. Groups may consider unanimous decisions as a sign of social, political or procedural agreement, solidarity, and unity. Unanimity may be assumed explicitly after a unanimous vote or impl ...

first-team All-American kicker (received the honor after being named to the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

American Football Coaches Association The American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) is an association of over 11,000 American football coaches and staff on all levels. According to its constitution, some of the main goals of the American Football Coaches Association are to "mainta ...

Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

, and the

Walter Camp Football Foundation The Walter Camp Football Foundation (WCFF) is one of the organizations whose College Football All-America Team is recognized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The organization also presents various awards. It is named in honor of foo ...

teams)

Professional career

Sakoda was signed as a free agent with the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

, but was released before the 2009 season. On October 14, 2009, he signed with the

of the

. Sakoda was released by the Roughriders on August 2, 2010 after struggling at the start of the season. Sakoda was signed by the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West division. They play their home games at IG Fiel ...

on August 10, 2010. He was injured before playing a single game and was released by the Bombers on September 22, 2010. He was later signed by the

Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at the Brick Field at Commo ...

on March 21, 2011 after the team traded away

Justin Medlock Justin Charles Medlock (born October 23, 1983) is an American professional football placekicker who is currently a free agent. He most recently played for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He played college foo ...

that same day.http://www.esks.com/article/esks-and-cats-trade-picks-and-players-edmonton-signs-free-agent-kicker-sakoda Esks and ‘Cats trade picks and players; Edmonton signs free agent kicker Sakoda On June 26, 2011, Sakoda was released from the Eskimos.

References

External links

Utah bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sakoda, Louie 1986 births Living people All-American college football players American players of Canadian football Canadian football placekickers Canadian football punters Edmonton Elks players Players of American football from San Jose, California Players of Canadian football from San Jose, California San Diego Chargers players Saskatchewan Roughriders players Utah Utes football players Winnipeg Blue Bombers players American sportspeople of Japanese descent American football in Japan