May 4, 2009
CFL DRAFT DILEMMA FOR FORMER GEE-GEE
OTTAWA, Ont. - Ottawa native Ryan Mousseau dropped the athlete from student-athlete long before the Montreal Alouettes called the former Gee-Gees offensive lineman's name with the second-to-last pick (47th overall) in Saturday's Canadian Football League draft.
"I had no idea," said Mousseau, who is 22, six-foot-two and 280 pounds, and did not attend the 2009 CFL combine after leaving the Gee-Gees at the end of the 2008 season. His plan was to finish a uOttawa social science degree in geomatics and spatial analysis.
A 2008 transfer offensive lineman who played five regular season and three playoff games at centre, Mousseau came to the Gee-Gees after two years as a starting centre with the Concordia Stingers, following a stellar junior career with the Myers Riders community program.
The 2005 graduate of Notre Dame High School reiterated uncertainty towards his football future within minutes of learning he was the lone uOttawa football player selected.
"Truthfully I couldn't tell you right now," said Mousseau, who has returned for summer work at an Ottawa stone yard. "It's an opposite direction of what I thought I would be taking.
"I have some thinking to do."
Mousseau became the 10th player selected from Ontario University Athletics and 17th uOttawa football player drafted since 2000. Gee-Gees all-star quarterback Phil Cote was selected in the same round and draft position by Montreal in 2001.
Even if he will not be in uniform for the Alouettes training camp in June, Mousseau having his name called will remain unforgettable.
"Not many people can say they were drafted."
The first two rounds of six-round, 48-man draft, with a draft roster of 750 student-athletes, were televised on TSN for the first time.
Source: Ottawa Gee-Gees
Photo Credit: Joël Côté-Cright
"I had no idea," said Mousseau, who is 22, six-foot-two and 280 pounds, and did not attend the 2009 CFL combine after leaving the Gee-Gees at the end of the 2008 season. His plan was to finish a uOttawa social science degree in geomatics and spatial analysis.
A 2008 transfer offensive lineman who played five regular season and three playoff games at centre, Mousseau came to the Gee-Gees after two years as a starting centre with the Concordia Stingers, following a stellar junior career with the Myers Riders community program.
The 2005 graduate of Notre Dame High School reiterated uncertainty towards his football future within minutes of learning he was the lone uOttawa football player selected.
"Truthfully I couldn't tell you right now," said Mousseau, who has returned for summer work at an Ottawa stone yard. "It's an opposite direction of what I thought I would be taking.
"I have some thinking to do."
Mousseau became the 10th player selected from Ontario University Athletics and 17th uOttawa football player drafted since 2000. Gee-Gees all-star quarterback Phil Cote was selected in the same round and draft position by Montreal in 2001.
Even if he will not be in uniform for the Alouettes training camp in June, Mousseau having his name called will remain unforgettable.
"Not many people can say they were drafted."
The first two rounds of six-round, 48-man draft, with a draft roster of 750 student-athletes, were televised on TSN for the first time.
Source: Ottawa Gee-Gees
Photo Credit: Joël Côté-Cright
