In life, plans don’t always turn out the way we expect them to, but who says that’s a bad thing?

John Stanton, a 2006 Marin Catholic High graduate, learned that lesson firsthand.

Stanton moved to Japan in the summer of 2011 to teach conversational English and while he did land a job teaching in Tokyo, what he didn’t know was that this particular move to the other side of the world would bring him closer to the sport he loves: football.

While in Japan, Stanton connected with Albert Griffin, who attended Marin Catholic from 1998-2000, before finishing high school at Bishop Alemany in Mission Hills. Griffin plays football for the IBM BigBlue in the X-League, a semipro football league in Japan, and he convinced Stanton to join the team.

“I went to Japan originally to teach English,” said Stanton, who was staying at his parents’ house in San Rafael while visiting over the holidays. “Then I met Albert through a family friend and he convinced me to try out for the team.”

While Stanton made an immediate impact on the IBM BigBlue, it wasn’t in the manner he expected.

Since each team in the X-League only allows four foreign players on the roster and IBM already had a foreigner playing linebacker, he was asked to transition from linebacker to tight end, a position he hadn’t played since high school. Despite transitioning from defense to offense, Stanton found instant success. He led the X-League in receiving yardage with 566 yards on 30 catches. Not only that, Stanton caught nine touchdowns passes, including TD catches in all seven of his league games.

But even Stanton admits there was a definite learning curve along the way.

“(In the beginning) I was forgetting a lot of plays and missing blocks,” Stanton said. “But after a few months it felt pretty natural.”

While Stanton is rather humble about his achievements that can’t stop his teammates from bragging for him.

“A touchdown every game — I think he’s adapted very well,” said Griffin, who is currently a linebacker for the IBM BigBlue. “It’s good to see my suggestions actually bear fruit. I figured he would make a good tight end before I even saw him play or introduced him to the team. It was exciting to see a friend succeed, especially someone who came from the same place where I spent most of my life growing up.”

Stanton made a name for himself at Marin Catholic as a linebacker. He earned first team all-MCAL honors in 2004 (as a linebacker) and 2005 (as a linebacker and a tight end). In 2010, a coaches’ poll named Stanton the defensive player of the decade. Stanton holds the MC record for most solo tackles in a season (2004) with 70.

“John could run. His speed and toughness were his biggest gifts. From sideline to sideline he just wouldn’t back down,” said Ken Peralta, who coached the MC varsity squad from 2003-2010. “John just had a will to win on every play. He brought a toughness to the rest of the team.”

Those accolades landed him a spot playing in college at St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minn., where he continued to dominate as a linebacker, leading the NCAA Division III Johnnies in tackles his junior and senior years.

“Playing football in college was great. I had a chance to pursue my passion of playing football, graduate and get a degree in political science,” Stanton said.

While he has always had a passion for football, it was at St. John’s where Stanton discovered his interest in Japanese culture. Stanton not only studied Japanese history in college, but he also studied abroad in Japan the summer after his sophomore year.

“Some might say (my interest in Japanese culture came from) the anime cartoon shows growing up, but I think it was during college when I got a chance to study some history and I got really interested in studying east Asian history, in particular. I just came to appreciate a lot of the things about their history, culture and food,” Stanton said. “And after I came home (from studying abroad) and I had a chance to reflect on everything I kind of decided that this might be an option for me to go back in the future. There could be something here.”

There was certainly something there for Stanton when he went back to Japan. Stanton helped take the IBM BigBlue, who finished the season 4-3, to the playoffs. However, Stanton and the rest of the BigBlue are hungry for more and hope to take the team even further next year.

“It’s all or nothing, I think. We didn’t just dominate like we could (have) last season,” Griffin said. “Hopefully the experience of last season gave us more confidence, taught us how to start and how to finish are opponents.”

With his rookie season in the books, it looks like Stanton will become an even bigger offensive threat next year.

“Next year, in terms of what I want from myself, I want to improve my reception results, run better routes and become a better blocker,” Stanton said. “We definitely have the talent to get to the championship game. It’s about working every day to reach that goal.”

Contact Mark O’Meara via e-mail at sports@marinij.com