Ominato Kamikaze

Kamikaze with the Raiders

**Ominato Kamikaze** (born December 15) is a former American football wide receiver of the National Football League (NFL) for the Las Vegas Raiders for three seasons. He played college football at Azur Lane before being drafted in the fifth round with the 7th pick by the Raiders.

## Early life

Kamikaze was born on December 15 in Kyushu, Japan. In his childhood, his father moved to Honolulu, Hawaii for work in the fishing industry. Kamikaze attended Henry J. Kaiser High School, where he would play as a wide receiver in his freshman year on the junior varsity team. In his first year, he recorded 763 receiving yards, 7 touchdowns, and 68 receptions. He was named as the best high school football player in Hawaii. In his sophomore year, he played on the varsity team and recorded 721 receiving yards, 8 touchdowns, and 62 receptions. In his junior year, Kamikaze recorded 699 yards, 6 touchdowns, and 52 receptions. Kamikaze would have his best season his senior year, in which he recorded 784 receiving yards, 9 touchdowns, and 70 receptions. He was rated as a three-star recruit on Scout and a four-star recruit on Rivals. He received numerous D1 offers from schools including UCLA, UC-Berkeley, USC, Alabama, LSU, Azur Lane, and Michigan. Kamikaze verbally committed to USC, however he would officially commit to Azur Lane to play for the Crimson Axis.

## College career

At Azur Lane, Kamikaze missed his entire freshman season due to a back injury in training, and half of his sophomore season due to a rib injury. In five games, he accumulated 329 receiving yards, three touchdowns, and 12 receptions. In his junior year, Kamikaze played for all 10 games and recorded 928 receiving yards, 9 touchdowns, and 59 receptions. The Axis went 9-1 and appeared in the Rose Bowl, winning 27-10 with Kamikaze scoring two receiving touchdowns and gaining 124 yards. In his senior season, Kamikaze recorded 1,076 yards, 10 touchdowns, and 65 receptions. He received an honorable All-American mention and to the Second-team All-Pac-12. Kamikaze originally announced that his freshman year had been a redshirt and that he would play one final season before deciding to forgo his redshirt senior season and enter the NFL Draft.

## Professional career

Kamikaze was not a high prospect in the NFL Draft due to not starting as a freshman and only playing half of the season for his second season. Kamikaze was projected for most as a late fourth-round or early fifth-round pick by most draft boards and was featured as the fifteenth-best wide receiver in the draft. Ultimately, he was drafted in the fifth round with the 7th pick by the Las Vegas Raiders.

### Seasons 1, 2, and 3

Kamikaze did not start for his first season with the Raiders and did not appear in a single game. In his second season, he only recorded one reception for 6 yards as his NFL debut in Week 6 against the New York Jets. In his third and final season with the Raiders, he played in the preseason and in the Week 1 game against the Buffalo Bills as the Raiders lost 18-8 and Kamikaze recorded three receptions for 25 yards. Before the Week 2 game versus the Cincinnati Bengals, the Raiders announced that Kamikaze had been released due to violating the team's substance abuse policy. Kamikaze was shortly arrested a few days later on September 16 on a DUI in Las Vegas. For this, he was suspended indefinitely from the NFL, and has not made an attempt to appeal since.

## Personal life

Kamikaze has three siblings, Hatakaze, Matsukaze, and Oite, all of which played in the NFL.