{{Short description|Japanese gridiron football player (born 1996)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}} {{Infobox CFL biography | name = Les Maruo | team = | image = 2025, 34, Les Maruo.jpg | image_upright = 1 | caption = Maruo with the Ottawa Redblacks in 2025 | status = | import = Global | position1 = Linebacker | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1996|2|14}} | birth_place = Yokkaichi, Mie, Japan<ref name=born>{{cite web|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2021/05/17/more-sports/football/les-maruo-cfl-blue-bombers/ |title=Linebacker Les Maruo ready to prove himself with CFL's Blue Bombers |publisher=Winnipeg Blue Bombers |date=May 17, 2021}}</ref> | number = | college = Texas-San Antonio<br>Hutchinson Community College | high_school = Goddard (Goddard, Kansas, U.S.) | Height_ft = 6 | Height_in = 0 | Weight_lbs = 225 | CFLDraftedYear = 2021G | CFLDraftedRound = 1 | CFLDraftedPick = 4 | playing_years1 = 2019–2020 | playing_team1 = Asahi Soft Drink Challengers | playing_years2 = {{CFL Year|2021}}–{{CFL Year|2023}} | playing_team2 = Winnipeg Blue Bombers | playing_years3 = {{CFL Year|2024}} | playing_team3 = Edmonton Elks | playing_years4 = {{CFL Year|2025}} | playing_team4 = Ottawa Redblacks | career_footnotes = | career_highlights = *Grey Cup champion (2021) | Honours = | CFLWestAllStar = | CFL = les-maruo/166171/ }} '''Les Maruo''' ({{lang|ja|丸尾 玲寿里}}, ''Maruo Resuri'', born February 14, 1996) is a Japanese professional gridiron football linebacker. He most recently played for the Ottawa Redblacks of the Canadian Football League (CFL).
== Early life == Maruo attended Goddard High School in Wichita, Kansas.<ref name="injury">{{cite news|title=Maruo endured injury, difficult upbringing as Japanese immigrant before thriving at UTSA|url=https://www.expressnews.com/sports/college_sports/utsa/article/Maruo-endured-injury-difficult-upbringing-as-13397119.php|work=San Antonio Express-News|first=Greg|last=Luca|date=November 15, 2018|access-date=March 7, 2023}}</ref> As a senior on the football team, he recorded 79 tackles in nine games.<ref name=UTSA>{{cite web|url=https://gojagsports.com/sports/football/roster/demerio-houston/2023 |title=Les Maruo |publisher=UTSA Roadrunners |access-date=July 30, 2022}}</ref>
== College career == Maruo first played college football for the Hutchinson Blue Dragons from 2014 to 2015.<ref name=UTSA/> He then transferred to the University of Texas at San Antonio, though he used a redshirt season in 2016 after compartment syndrome forced him to undergo surgery on both of his calves.<ref name=injury/> He played for the Roadrunners from 2017 to 2018 where he started all 12 games in his senior year.<ref name=UTSA/>
== Professional career == === Asahi Soft Drink Challengers === After being overlooked by the National Football League and Canadian Football League, Maruo began his professional career with the Asahi Soft Drink Challengers of the X-League in 2019.<ref name=prove>{{cite web|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2021/05/17/more-sports/football/les-maruo-cfl-blue-bombers/ |title=Linebacker Les Maruo ready to prove himself with CFL's Blue Bombers |date=17 May 2021 |publisher=The Japan Times |access-date=May 17, 2021}}</ref> He played for the Challengers for two years.<ref name=prove/>
=== Winnipeg Blue Bombers === Maruo originally participated in the 2020 CFL Global Combine, but he was under contract with the Challengers, and could not play in the CFL.<ref name=represent>{{cite web|url=https://www.cfl.ca/2021/04/08/japans-les-maruo-excited-chance-represent-family-country-cfl/ |title=Japan's Les Maruo excited for chance to represent family, country in CFL |publisher=Canadian Football League |date=April 8, 2021}}</ref> Instead, he returned in 2021 where he was selected with the fourth overall pick in the 2021 CFL global draft by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and signed with the team on April 26, 2021.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bluebombers.com/2021/04/15/bombers-select-maruo-fourth-overall-cfl-global-draft/ |title=Bombers select Maruo fourth overall in CFL Global Draft |publisher=Winnipeg Blue Bombers |date=April 15, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cfl.ca/2021/04/26/bombers-sign-2020-cfl-draft-selection-2021-global-draft-selection/ |title=Bombers sign 2020 CFL Draft selection, 2021 Global Draft selection |publisher=Canadian Football League |date=April 26, 2021}}</ref>
Following training camp, Maruo made the team's active roster and made his CFL debut in week 1 against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on August 5, 2021.<ref name=CFLbio>{{cite web|url=https://www.cfl.ca/players/les-maruo/166171/ |title=Les Maruo |publisher=Canadian Football League |access-date=July 30, 2022}}</ref> He played in the team's first seven games where he had six special teams tackles before shifting to the practice roster for the remainder of the year.<ref name=CFLbio/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cfl.ca/transactions/2019/ |title=Transactions – Football player trades and signings |publisher=Canadian Football League |access-date=July 30, 2022}}</ref> While he didn't play in the game, Maruo became a Grey Cup champion when the Blue Bombers defeated the Tiger-Cats in the 108th Grey Cup.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://d3ham790trbkqy.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Grey-Cup-_Winnipeg-Blue-Bombers.pdf |title=Winnipeg Blue Bombers vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats |publisher=Canadian Football League |access-date=July 30, 2022 |archive-date=December 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211214001351/https://d3ham790trbkqy.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Grey-Cup-_Winnipeg-Blue-Bombers.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> He re-signed with the Blue Bombers on December 28, 2021.<ref>{{cite web|date=December 28, 2021 |publisher=Winnipeg Blue Bombers |title=Blue Bombers add players to rosterb |url=https://www.bluebombers.com/2021/12/28/blue-bombers-add-players-roster/}}</ref>
In 2022, Maruo again made the team's opening day roster and began to see more playing time on defense.<ref name=CFLbio/> He recorded his first career sack on July 22, 2022, in a game against the Edmonton Elks when he tackled Taylor Cornelius.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wyman |first=Ted |date=July 27, 2022 |title=BOMBSHELLS: First CFL sack a 'great moment' worthy of special celebration for Japan-born Bombers linebacker Les Maruo |url=https://winnipegsun.com/sports/football/cfl/winnipeg-bluebombers/bombshells-first-cfl-sack-a-great-moment-worthy-of-special-celebration-for-japan-born-bombers-linebacker-les-maruo |access-date=2023-10-09 |publisher=Winnipeg Sun}}</ref> He played in 17 regular season games that year where he had 14 defensive tackles, seven special teams tackles, and one sack.<ref name=CFLbio/> He also played in both postseason games, including the 109th Grey Cup, where he recorded two special teams tackles in the loss to the Toronto Argonauts.<ref name=CFLbio/>
===Edmonton Elks=== Maruo was signed to the practice roster of the Edmonton Elks on July 7, 2024.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.goelks.com/2024/07/07/transactions-elks-sign-five-including-dl-shawn-oakman/ |title=Elks sign five, including DL Shawn Oakman |publisher=Edmonton Elks |date=July 7, 2024}}</ref> He played in nine regular season games where he recorded eight special teams tackles.<ref name=CFLbio/> He became a free agent on February 11, 2025.<ref name=2025T>{{cite web|title=Transactions – Football Player Trades and Signings |url=https://www.cfl.ca/transactions/2025/ |publisher=Canadian Football League |access-date=June 5, 2025}}</ref>
===Ottawa Redblacks=== On June 1, 2025, Maruo signed a practice roster agreement with the Ottawa Redblacks.<ref name=2025T/> He appeared in three regular season games where he had two special teams tackles.<ref name=CFLbio/> He became a free agent upon the expiry of his contract on February 10, 2026.<ref name=2026T>{{Cite news |url=https://www.cfl.ca/transactions/2026/ |title=Transactions – Football Player Trades and Signings |publisher=Canadian Football League |access-date=February 14, 2026}}</ref>
== Personal life == Maruo was born in Yokkaichi, Mie, Japan, and moved to Shizuoka when he was three years old.<ref name=born/> He then moved to Wichita, Kansas, with his family when he was nine years old.<ref name=represent/> He picked up the English language in less than a year.<ref name=injury/> His brother, Sean, went on to play college baseball at Nebraska–Kearney.<ref name=injury/>
Maruo's father was Scottish but died due to a car accident when Maruo was three years old.<ref name=born/>
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == {{Commons}} *[https://www.ottawaredblacks.com/players/les-maruo/166171/ Ottawa Redblacks bio] *{{Twitter|Lesmaruo44|Les Maruo}} *{{Instagram|lesmaruo44|Les Maruo 丸尾玲寿里 (レスリー)}}
{{108th Grey Cup}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maruo, Les}} Category:1996 births Category:Living people Category:American football linebackers Category:Canadian football linebackers Category:Japanese players of American football Category:Japanese players of Canadian football Category:Hutchinson Blue Dragons football players Category:UTSA Roadrunners football players Category:Winnipeg Blue Bombers players Category:Sportspeople from Yokkaichi Category:Sportspeople from Shizuoka Prefecture Category:Players of American football from Wichita, Kansas Category:Japanese people of Scottish descent Category:Japanese emigrants to the United States Category:X-League (Japan) players Category:Players of Canadian football from Kansas Category:American players of American football of Asian descent Category:American people of Japanese descent Category:Sportspeople of Japanese descent Category:Ottawa Redblacks players