By Charles-André Marchand
Football reporter and Alouettes play-by-play announcer
PassionFootball.ca
98,5 Sports
MONTREAL – Kicker William Dion’s got something to prove this summer.
It wasn’t to much fanfare, but after a record-setting college career with the Université de Sherbrooke Vert et Or, Dion inked his first pro contract — a three-year deal — with the Alouettes in January.
READ: ALOUETTES SIGN QUEBEC KICKER WILLIAM DION »
Now 25 years old, the Drummondville, QC native’s been working hard and can’t wait to show a little leg at training camp this June.
“After my fourth year of CIS eligibility I wasn’t invited to the CFL’s E-Camp, but I did go to Duane Ford’s Combine in Toronto,” remembered Dion of his road to the pros until now.
“I didn’t end up getting drafted that spring, but I did get a tryout at the Tiger-Cats’ training camp. Then in June, while the Alouettes were playing a pre-season game on the road, I was invited to work out in front of some of their scouts in Lennoxville, but by that point I had already figured that my best bet would be a fifth and final season in Sherbrooke.”
Dion figured right, and a year later he’s the owner of not just a pro contract, but also a CIS record, his 82 career field goals besting the previous record set in 2010 by Calgary Dino Aaron Ifield by ten.
His 374 career points also put him fourth on the CIS’ all-time scoring list, and in his final season with the Vert et Or he put 66% of his field goal attempts through the uprights while maintaining a 52.6-yard kickoff average and 39.2-yard punting average. Not bad for a guy who had no interest in football until high school.
“My dad loved the game but I thought it was kind of dumb as a sport,” admitted Dion with a laugh. “For awhile I always thought of football as a bunch of big guys piling onto each other, and I didn’t see the interest in that.”
A one-time soccer fanatic, you’d think the switch to a football kicker would be an obvious one. But you’d be wrong.
Initially a running back and occasionally a quarterback after his Grade 8 French teacher — also his high school football coach — convinced him to give football a shot, it wasn’t the chance to kick things far that made Dion a convert.
“I liked hitting people right from the start,” admitted the five-foot-eleven, 210-pounder. “Even now, I try not to be one of those kickers who’s like a tourist on the field once his kick is in the air. I’ve always liked kickers who are able to make a special teams tackle when they have to, even if I know that it’s not necessarily my job to tackle.”
And with a physique built for contact, it wasn’t until his third year of junior football that the newly hit-happy Dion made the switch to kicker.
“Our kicker at the time wasn’t very good, and our coach, who knew I used to play soccer, decided to try me out at the position. From that point on the position just kind of stuck.”
It wasn’t until CEGEP though, with the Champlain College Lennoxville Cougars, that he figured maybe his former coach was onto something.
“It’s there that I began to realize that I could compete with the best at the position,” revealed Dion. “I wasn’t necessarily any faster, or any stronger than any of the other guys around, but I was precise and I didn’t crack under pressure.”
Which is precisely what he admires in his kicking contemporaries like Adam Vinatieri: coming up big when it matters most.
“That’s who I want to be: The kicker who wins the game for his team. The kicker who doesn’t break down under pressure, the one who’s able to take it.”
And while teammate Sean Whyte’s starting job might not be up for the taking just yet, Dion is ready to go toe-to-toe with the third-year Alouette for the spot come camp.
“I feel privileged to have this shot with the Alouettes,” acknowledged Dion. “Even though I know how hard I’ve worked to get to this point, I still feel lucky to have this chance. Now it’s up to me to make the most of it. The CFL’s a business and I know it. The best kicker is the one who gets the job, and that’s why I’m going to camp to compete.”
Until then, Dion continues to hone his craft. Training this off-season with Concordia head coach and former Alouettes kicker Gerry McGrath, he’s also got plans to hook-up and kick it with another former Alouettes kicker, Don Sweet.
“Kickers are often self-taught. We’ve got to learn things quickly and fend for ourselves to get ahead,” explained Dion. “I learned a lot from watching videos by myself, but now I’m reaching out to former kickers to keep getting better. I’m opening my doors, one by one.”
And if those doors happen to close once it’s all said and done at camp this summer?
“I finished my history degree at Sherbrooke, so I’d like to teach, maybe at the college level, once all of this is over,” confided Dion.
But until that day comes, William Dion’s only plans are to carve out his spot in Alouettes history.
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