Football: Transfer rumours surround Quebec D-linemen Gascon-Nadon, Plesius

Allez les Bleus! has a should-read post about rumours defensive ends Arnaud Gascon-Nadon and Fredric Plesius, who were with the Rice Owls and Baylor Bears last season, might transfer back to their home province.

One big take-away from a newspaper article (monolingual Ontarian needs a little help with a link, s'il vous plait/please) is that both players experienced culture shock, going from Quebec to Texas cities, Houston and Waco. Another take-home is that Plesius, redshirted at Baylor and switched from linebacker to defensive end, believes Canadian university football is competitive enough to turn NFL scouts' heads. With Western's Vaughn Martin a newly minted San Diego Charger, who's to argue, eh?
« Mon rêve n’était pas de jouer dans la NCAA, mais dans la NFL ... J’ai toujours la chance de le réaliser puisque des joueurs universitaires canadiens atteignent la NFL. »

(Rough translation, thank you BabelFish)

"My dream was not to play in the NCAA, but in the NFL ... I always have the chance to carry out it since Canadian university players reach the NFL."
Gascon-Nadon, a 6-foot-4, 235-pounder, had success on the field at Rice. He helped the Owls go 10-3, win the Texas Bowl and was picked to Conference USA's all-freshman team and was honourable mention for the all-conference team.

Since Plesius did not play in any games at Baylor, a Big 12 school, presumably he would be eligible this season, whereas Gascon-Nadon would have to sit out a season.

It is just speculation at this point, but there is enough to warrant a newspaper article. One might as well get out in front of the rumours. Laval and Montreal would probably have the strongest shot at landing either player. It is noteworthy that Plesius' CEGEP coach at Champlain College in Lennoxville was former Laval star Jean-François Joncas.

Related:
Gascon-Nadon & Plessius dans la LFUQ? (Allez les Bleus)
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5 comments:

  1. I think it's good news for CIS football overall, since it shows that the NCAA experience is not that extraordinary for everybody. Also, what's better for a great player like Plesius, to warm the bench the whole season for Baylor or play real games for Laval or Montreal?

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  2. In the Journal de Quebec article found in their post, Plesius is quoted as saying how much he loved Constantin's coaching of the junior team in Florida in 2007.

    So sending their coach down there helped Laval recruit? Hmm, we've heard that before...oh yeah, it was right here, two weeks ago, from these same francophone friends of ours.

    Maybe Greg Marshall will go next year...

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  3. Thanks Neate and Rob :) for the credit... and Neate, perfect translation, nothing to correct... ;)

    That Gascon-Nadon is a heck of a player, we posted a video of him in action in Collegial AAA and it's rare that on the same video a player impressed you with its Power AND its speed... Looking at the video, you have an idea why Rice defensive coach is coming down to Montreal to try to convince him to stay in Tx.

    You know that both these players want to get out of Tx for cultural reasons, not for the language barrier, but because cultural barriers...

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  4. Important distinction to make — it is culture, not language. I wrote a story last season about one of AGN's teammates at Rice, Scott Mitchell, a starting left tackle on offence who's from Ottawa. He noted there was a ton of things to adjust to that you'd never anticipate. It's the same with going anywhere, though.

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  5. Well, there is certainly more adjustment for a Quebec kid going to Texas than say Ontario. The Quebec mentality, which is already considered "liberal" and "progressive" in Canada, is lightyears away from the Bible Belt mentality. And although the language might not be the main issue here, it sure does not help to build bridges between the two cultures when English is your second language.

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