Linfield's Paul Nishizaki continues his wild ride in Germany.

Defensive Tackle Paul Nishizaki helped Schwaebisch Hall capture their 1st GFL title.

Last time we checked in with former Linfield Wildcat DT Paul Nishizaki (2007-10) he was hosting up a championship cup over in Germany.  Nish and Linfield teammate Aaron Boehme (now the 'Cats QB Coach) were wrapping up a perfect season for the Schwaebisch Hall Unicorns of the German Football League.  The Unicorns were magical during 2011 in reeling off a 15-0 record and defeating the defending GFL champs, Kiel Hurricanes, in the GFL championship game.  

Nishizaki's ride was so memorable that he decided to go back to the Hall and strap up the pads for one more season for the Unicorns.  I touched base with Nish this past weekend to see how the former Wildcat wrecking ball was holding up in his 2nd year in Germany.  From Nish's response it sounds like he's at home in the middle of the Schwaebisch Hall's defense.

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Germany year zwei is pretty awesome. It’s good to be back in Schwaebisch Hall. It’s a special place and one that has always treated me right. The fan support and team support is amazing as it was cool to see the team again. I didn't know if I was going to come back for this next season, but I'm very happy that I did.

There are some differences between this year and last. Firstly, we’ve been waking up a lot earlier. Last season all the Americans were night owls and loved to stay up late, I attribute this to the time differences between America and Germany so that we could talk to family and friends back home. We would normally sleep in till 11 in the morning or even noon. This year is a bit different. We’re usually in the gym by 10-10:30 and then eat lunch shortly after. Also, there have been a lot more day trips to towns nearby Schwaebisch Hall. Simon (Pom) Brenner has been taking us on these trips. He’s an amazing guy and a national team linebacker. I would also like to thank him and his wife Bianca for having us over for dinner on several occasions. She’s an awesome cook.

Another difference has been that the Unicorns are playing in the Eurobowl. It’s kind of like the Champions League of European Football. Teams from all over Europe play each other and try to win it all. It also gave us the opportunity to play in other countries. Our first game, we traveled to play in Barcelona against the Badalona Dracs. The talent level between Germany and Spain is vastly different we beat them handily. Barcelona was a cool city but I wish I could have stayed longer. We also traveled to Vienna, Austria to play against the number one team in Europe, the Raifeisen Vikings. Former Unicorn and my teammate from last season Dusty Thornhill plays for Raifeisen. It was a hard game and the Vikings ended up winning 24-13. Alex and I stayed in Vienna with the Americans there for a couple of days. It’s a beautiful city.

The team is looking solid this year. We did have an early hiccup in the beginning of the season with an upset loss to rival Stuttgart. It was a defensive battle with Stuttgart coming out on top 10-6. We’ve used the loss as motivation and have won all our GFL games since. We also didn't have one of our Americans in the fold, Fritz Waldvogel.

Many Linfield fans remember him as an outstanding receiver/returner from St. Thomas. In Fritz's first game he had five touchdowns and had the Unicorns’ first punt return touchdown in a long time. Fritz just graduated from St. Thomas and got here about a month later. He’s going to be an explosive weapon for our offense and it’s always exciting to watch him play.

Nish was a 3 time All-NWC DT (twice 1st team) and all-region performer in 2010.

The other new Americans this year is our QB Jake Spitzlberger and DE Alex Wertheimer. Jake is from the University of Nebraska-Kerney (DII). Jake is a great QB. His style is different than Aaron’s (Boehme) and I'm not even going to compare them. Jake is also an amazing person, he comes from a big family and has very good values. And man he has some jukes. I've seen him make multiple defenders miss on multiple occasions. The other American and fellow d-linemen Alex Wertheimer is from Occidental College. Alex had a little trouble getting to Germany. He missed his flight and it took him about three days to get here. It was quite the adventure. Alex was a NFL prospect in college before he had a season ending knee injury his fifth year. He took a year off and rehabbed and contacted the Unicorns about playing in Schwaebisch Hall. With the addition of Alex our front seven is beastly. Along with Pom there is Thomas "Smoke" Rauch who lives with us in the Ami House. He is a national team D-end and consistently leads the GFL in sacks from year to year. Smoke and some other German guys visited me in America last year. We had a blast as I took them to a couple Linfield games. The last American guy we have is Brian Michitti. He played at Hanover (D3) in Ohio. “Bruno” as everyone calls him, led the GFL in INT's last season and is a savvy safety. He has been playing for the Unicorns on and off since 2006. Bruno works and lives in Cologne. He makes the journey to Schwaebisch Hall on Fridays for practice and for the games on the weekends.

All the players and people associated with the Unicorns are great people. They make you feel like you are a part of their family. I have made lifelong friends here in Germany and have been given the opportunity to see the world. I’m actually packing right now for a week-long trip to Rome and Florence. All the Ami's (American Players) are going on the trip and were all rather excited. I miss the Catdome and encourage all the current players to try to continue to play ball. There’s only so much time that you’re able to play football. I feel truly blessed that I was able to play football and travel Europe for the past two years. I'm going to have to enter the real world after this season. While it’s necessary, I don't envy finding a job when I get back home though. Ha!

Go 'Cats, Go Unicorns
Paul Nishizaki
‘Catdome Class of 2010

If you have any questions about playing football in Europe email me at paulnishiz@gmail.com more than happy to answer them.

Schwabish Hall Unicrons
German Football League