For three Ticats defensive players, Thursday’s game in Montreal will be a homecoming of sorts.
Arnaud Gascon-Nadon, Ted Laurent and rookie Byron Archambault each grew up in Montreal, and now return home on Thursday in hopes of taking a victory back to Hamilton with them.
Gascon-Nadon, a three-year veteran of the Ticats grew up an Alouettes fan, going to many home games with his dad, who held season seats at Percival Molson Memorial Stadium.
“We went there when I was a kid, and we liked the whole thing,” said Gascon-Nadon, “it was a good experience going to the games.”
Gascon-Nadon played football from a young age, but Alouettes game were a learning experience for him, where he was given the opportunity to not only have fun with his father, but was also able to see the game from a different perspective.
“When you play football and you watch football as a fan, it’s totally different,” explained Gascon-Nadon. “It was fun for me to actually go there and see what the pros were doing.”
As a young football player, Gascon-Nadon was beginning to understand the schemes and the ‘behind-the-scenes’ of the game, and Als games gave him the chance to see these in action at a very high level.
“I was really seeing that pros were doing similar things that we were, just at a higher level,” said the French Canadian defensive end.
His family gave up the season tickets when he moved to college and was eventually drafted by the Tiger-Cats, but they will be out in full force on Thursday, giving Gascon-Nadon a little extra motivation to perform well.
“You want to do well in front of your family, you want to do well in front of your friends,” said Gascon-Nadon. “You want to represent your city, your people, your family the best that you can.”
A win in Montreal would be the best late birthday gift for the young defensive end, who turned 27 on the tenth of July. Pride will be on the line, and he’d like nothing more than to take home the Ticats’ first victory in Montreal since his career in Hamilton began.
Rookie linebacker Byron Archambault was also a frequent spectator of the Alouettes growing up, born and raised in Montreal in an era where the Als enjoyed success in the league.
“I went out quite a few times to watch them [the Alouettes] as a kid,” says rookie linebacker Archambault, “they were the hometown team when I was growing up.”
On top of the games he attended growing up, Archambault was part of some big games at Percival Molson Memorial Stadium throughout his college football career, but this week’s game will be his first in the Alouettes’ home stadium as a member of the Tiger-Cats.
The rookie expects to have close to 50 people there to watch his first game in his hometown, and while he is definitely excited for it, he’s not treating it as more important than any other game.
“I don’t think it means more,” explained Archambault, “it’s still the same type of game, just in the city I grew up in.”
Like his fellow defensive teammates, defensive leader Ted Laurent is in need of some extra tickets for his family and friends this week, as he always is when it’s time for a Montreal road trip.
The veteran defensive tackle, who spent the first 12 years of his life in Montreal before moving to the Southern United States, has played many games in Montreal as a pro, but that doesn’t minimize how special it is for him. Laurent cherishes each trip to his hometown as a special occasion because of the family members who are able to see him play live.
“All my family’s up there,” said Laurent, “every time I play at home it’s always a good feeling, to see my mom watch me play, my sister watch me play, and see my uncles and my people who grew up with watch me play, it’s always a good feeling to play in front of them.”
