Photo courtesy University of California-Berkeley Athletics |
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According to a story in the Montreal Gazette, Louis-Philippe Ladoucer will board a flight to New Orleans this weekend, hoping to earn a job with the NFL team that signed him to a free agent contract last week.
The 6-foot-5, 260-pound Ladoucer is a defensive end and long-snapper. The Montreal native earned a full scholarship at the University of California after playing as a youth with the CEGEP AA John Abbott Islanders. Ladoucer graduated this Spring with an undergraduate degree in geophysics and an Masters in education.
According to an interview in the Gazette, Ladoucer hopes to follow in the footsteps of two other Quebec exports - J. P. Darche and Randy Chevrier - who earned NFL jobs as longsnappers. Darche is with the Seattle Seahawks, while Chevrier is now playing in the CFL.
As noted in the Gazette, the Saints already have a veteran long-snapper in Kevin Houser, so the odds of making the Saints aren't necessarily in Ladouceur's favour.
Ladouceur told the Gazette that combining football with a university education is the way to go for those who have the discipline to make it happen.
"Look at guys who play junior hockey," Ladoucer told the Gazette. "They can't really study much while playing in that league. After you're done playing, well, you're done."
