Bob Sapp on the rebound in Japan after failing in NFL

With his brief career in the NFL over, Bob Sapp was broke, unemployed and so depressed he draped black towels and sheets over his windows.

He had been a third-round college draft pick for the Chicago Bears but never made the team, and was only briefly an offensive lineman with the Minnesota Vikings before being suspended for using steroids, which he calls a "bum rap."

"I must have been like that for four, five months," he said. "That was my depression mode. It was a rough state."

Then he got another chance -- this time it was a karate master who invited Sapp to become a prizefighter in Japan.

Three years later, Sapp is known to his legions of Japanese fans as "The Beast," an almost invincible headliner for the popular, brutal sport of K-1, which combines karate, tae kwon do and kickboxing. At 193cm tall and 170kg, it's a role that fits him well.

"Oh, man, it's crazy," Sapp said. "And it's so hard to explain. A regular celebrity would hope to just get half this phenomenon."

Charismatic and willing to clown for the cameras, Sapp, 29, is one of the best-known Americans in Japan.

He has signed on as the "ambassador" for Northwest Airlines and the NFL's Japan office. He is almost a regular feature on Japanese TV, appearing in commercials promoting everything from DVD players to fabric softener. His tongue-in-cheek debut CD, Sapp Time, has sold more than 100,000 copies since March.

When asked about reports he'll make US$3 million this year, most of it outside the ring, he replied: "That's the worst case scenario."

Sapp trained for just six months before making his Japan debut last April, when he beat his opponent by TKO in the first round. In December, some 74,000 fans packed the Tokyo Dome and another 10 million watched on TV as he pulverized four-time world champion Ernesto Hoost of the Netherlands.