Jimmy Laughrea, the new quarterback for the Obic Seagulls, opted to remain in Japan instead of returning to his hometown of Rocklin, California, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

He had a good reason for the decision: His girlfriend, who is Japanese, gave birth to their daughter in Japan in February.

"In the previous years, I had stayed at home until mid-March," Laughrea told The Japan Times at Vita Base, a gym in Narashino, Chiba Prefecture, affiliated with the Seagulls. "But this year, we came back in January, obviously because we had to come back a month before giving birth to our baby.