Several Canadians have recently accepted scholarships to play NCAA Division 1A football.
Leading the way are two quarterbacks who hope to defy the odds and one day take snaps in the NFL (to date Ottawa’s Jesse Palmer is the only quarterback who played minor football in Canada to play in the NFL).
CHRIS MERCHANT
Calgary native Chris Merchant is a 6’2, 190-pound quarterback who has spent the past two seasons at St. Andrew’s College in Toronto. Merchant will at the University of Buffalo this fall.
The Sportseh.ca website discussed Merchant’s prospects in a recent post:
After watching game film of this kid, it is pretty obvious that he knows what he’s doing out there. Chris has a strong arm and great vision in the pocket. His athleticism is also underestimated. When he is pressured, he has the ability to sense where holes in the defense may be and finds them, leading to a completion or a big rush. His pocket presence is one of the strongest parts of his game.
The University of Buffalo, an NCAA D1 school, noticed his strengths and offered him a scholarship before even entering his grade 12 year. This was a big step for Merchant, Canadian football, and all athletes within it.
Ottawa native Michael O’Connor is another highly rated Canadian quarterback who had several NCAA scholarship offers.
The 6’5, 215-pound O’Connor played for Ottawa’s Ashbury College and the National Capital Football Association’s Orleans Bengals before transitioning to a school in Tennessee. O’Connor is now the starting quarterback at the IMG Academy in Florida and has accepted a scholarship offer from Penn State.
“The recruiting process was a great learning experience for me, and in the end, I am confident in my decision to commit to Penn State,” O’Connor said in an interview with Bright House Sports Network. “Coach O’Brien continues to recruit a standout collection of athletes and I am both honored and eager to become an immediate contributor in 2014. In the mean time, I’ve worked hard this spring and can’t wait to take the field for my senior year at IMG Academy.”
“Michael possesses all the qualities you look for in an elite student-athlete – he’s the ultimate leader on and off the football field,” Chris Weinke, O’Connor’s coach and the Director of Football at IMG Academy, told Bright House Sports Network. “As with everything he does, he approached the recruiting process very seriously and has landed on an excellent option for his talents. I am excited about the opportunity to coach Michael during his senior year and continue to help him develop as he makes that transition to big time D-I football.”
Comcast Sport’s profile of O’Connor can be found here:
Abbotsford B.C. native Maleek Irons will also be continuing his football career south of the border this Fall.
Irons, a 6’0, 205-pound running back who starred with the B.C. High School Football Association’s WJ Mouat Hawks, will attend Ohio University. Irons burst onto the scene when he rushed for 322 yards and seven touchdowns (almost all in the first half) as an 11th-grader back in 2012.
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