By Noah Sidel,
Editor, MontrealAlouettes.com
Jeff Piercy joined the Alouettes in 2005 after learning his trade as a fullback with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies. Known as much for his great blocking and ball-carrying abilities as his clever, witty columns on MontrealAlouettes.com, Piercy was a hit in his two-plus seasons as an Alouette. He was traded to Hamilton near the end of the 2007 campaign and retired from football last off-season in order to pursue his education.
What was it like to begin your career with the Als?
I distinctly remember reading that Bruno Heppell had retired from the Alouettes after the 2004 season, and saying to my dad, “Montreal would be amazing.” Montreal is one of Canada’s greatest cities, and to get to experience its culture and vibrancy as a 22-year-old rookie in the CFL was tough to beat.
Most people never get the chance to play football professionally, and here I was, rubbing shoulders with Ben Cahoon and Anthony Calvillo and Éric Lapointe, telling Don Matthews stories, and playing in the Grey Cup – with my friends from home huddled around the television. Now that I’m taking some time to reflect, I think I’d like to go back and do it all again!
What was your favourite part of being an Alouette?
I think the special thing about being an Alouette is the sense of family amongst the players. Most CFL teams have not enjoyed the success the Als have over the past 10 years, so it becomes a revolving door of talent as coaches and GMs try to find players that can help them win. In Montreal, they have been so successful that you get a core group of guys that have been playing with each other for like 10 years.
It’s fun to spend time with people who are such close friends, and to be a part of those friendships, and then take them with you for the rest of your life. I was only in Montreal for two-and-a-half seasons, but I made friendships that will last a lifetime.
Was being traded to the Ticats a shock? What was life in Hamilton like?
Frankly, I was very surprised when I was traded to Hamilton and I still remember that sinking feeling in my stomach when Jim Popp told me what was going on. It’s tough going from a place that you love so much, and where you are so comfortable, to a place that is totally new.
It’s a daunting thing being traded, however, in some ways I found the locker room in Hamilton to be a lot like Montreal. While Hamilton certainly hadn’t enjoyed Montreal’s successes over the years, they had an established group of Canadian talent and I found a similar sense of family there. Obviously Hamilton and Montreal are two very different cities, but they love the Tiger-Cats there, and sometimes it’s nice to play in a smaller centre where people live and breathe CFL football.
What are you up to now?
I “hung up my cleats” in January of this year having been accepted into the MBA program at the University of Oxford. Basically that means I’m studying all day, eating in 700-year-old dining halls, going to black-tie events, trying to get in as an extra in one of the next Harry Potter movies (which are filmed here), and hoping this economic downturn becomes an upturn so there will be jobs available when I graduate.
It has been quite an adjustment going from the life of a CFL player to that of a student, but the one thing I keep hearing time and time again is how much employers like applicants with sporting backgrounds, so I’m hoping that will pay dividends for me as well.
What’s your number one tip for a Canadian rookie in the CFL
I would tell a Canadian CFL rookie two things…
1) Put in the extra hours in the weight room, watching film, and talking to veterans and coaches to glean things from their experiences. Being a CFL player is one of Canada’s greatest jobs, but if you take it for granted, you will find yourself on the outside looking in – and that’s a bad time to realize you should have worked a little harder to keep the dream alive.
2) Leverage your CFL career into a career outside of football. No matter what city you are in, people love having professional athletes around. Use that to your advantage to get a good off-season job and build a nice career for life after football.
