Everyone knows about Eric Lapointe and his football accomplishments. Not everyone knows about his exceptional academic standing, his community involvement as well as his new-found passion.
 
     The phenomenon of Eric Lapointe started a decade ago when his friend convinced him to join him at the practice field of the St-Hubert Rebels. Being new to the area and looking for friends, Lapointe jumped at the opportunity. It’s ironic to note that even though his friend quit half-way through the year, Lapointe stuck it out for the long run. He broke onto the football scene as a tight end, big number 82. Needless to say that it was a constructive year. Looking back, Lapointe remarks that he “horrible but having a good time doing it”. At the start of his second year, he got moved to from tight end to free safety to middle linebacker and then ending up at defensive line. He’s always wanted to be as close to the action as possible. He managed to capture “Defensive Player of the Year” in only second year. It’s was a preview of what’s to come...

     His first year of midget saw him switch to a position more suited to take advantage of his evident speed, with instant success. He then jumped to Cegep (Quebec’s equivalent of high school) to Vieux Montreal (via Marie Victorien), a perennial powerhouse. He was always battling for the league lead in yards, even with eventual NFL star Tim Biakabutuka. He led Vieux Montreal in rushing and was an all star, catching the eye of then MAU coach Marc Loranger. He then came to Mount Allison to turn around their program. With their influx of Cegep all-stars, the Mounties went from 1-7 to a playoff series the next year, led by Lapointe’s exceptional feats. He then continued his assault on the CIAU record books. Like Alex J. Walling of TSN said it best “he runs and runs and like a Star Trek Commander, he’s run where no other man has run before”. He won 2 national MVP awards, was a 3-time All-Canadian and he averaged 200 yards per game at MAU. This led him to be an Edmonton Eskimos draft-pick, something that didn’t last long. Less than 3 weeks after leaving for Alberta, Lapointe was back in Bagtown, pondering if professional football was in his future.

     Then out of nowhere, there seem be a new lease on his football career. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats signed him almost outrightly. The rest is simply a Cinderella story but he still hasn’t lost the glass slipper. He earned Player-of -the-Week honours in his CFL debut and finished his first season as one of the best surprises. To top it all of, he was the leading rusher in the Grey Cup, with the Tigres-Chats winning handily. He sees the professional lifestyle as night and day compared to his MAU days. “Everyone’s so different in the Pros” Lapointe points out, adding; ”People come from way different backgrounds”. It seems hard to find a common ground except for the paychecks. A normal day runs like this; sleep until 10h30, meetings from 2-3h30 and then practice until 5h30. There’s also a strong need for regular workouts. His quick return to Sack Vegas was partly due to the fact that he considers it his home. His friends and his life naturally lead him here. He also a strong desire to finish his degree, to train for the upcoming season and to get started on his new-found passion; finance.

     Lapointe tries to make sure that you see him as more than a pretty face. We’re talking about a 3-time Academic All-Canadian, an Honours student as well as being fully bilingual. It was an honour for him to be nominated for the Howard Mackie Award as the top student-athlete in Canada. The accomplishment he’s most proud of though doesn’t even have a “hec” of a name; it’s the fact that he even graduated at all. His parents weren’t always sure that he’d end up here. His years at MAU allowed him to be the person that he is today. It allowed him to better himself, to be well-rounded. He diversified his interests like a well-managed stock portfolio to include reading, music and English television. He doesn’t regret missing a few parties, he thinks that it was well worth it. He counts his years here as the best ever, saying that most of the friends and the memories he made here will last a lifetime.

     Lapointe, like everybody else, has seen his share of ups and downs. His high points aren’t what you would guess. They include the 1996 season where even through the turmoil, the Mounties managed to have a winning season with only 35 players on the roster. A Hec Creighton doesn’t hurt either. He recalls the his sophomore squad; “It was the best team spirit, it seemed that everyone had a common goal ”. That made his down days even more apparent like in ‘97 when he hurt his knee in a preseason game and then shattered his arm the game he came back. Another blow was the day he got cut by Edmonton, especially since he didn’t even get a chance to showcase his skills. Those days made sure that Lapointe remains humble, he alleges. He only has to prove his worth to himself, not to everyone. He considers himself extremely lucky to be a professional athlete and doesn’t like to shove it down people’s throat like some other people.

     Lapointe spends his days studying for the Canadian Securities Course (which entitle you to be a stock broker), training and helping out the rest of the football team with their workout programs. He even finds time in his busy schedule to talk to local schools about life choices, along with a group of other hand-picked players as it was evident in the article in the Feb. 16th edition of the Sackville Tribune Post. He would also take this opportunity to thank a few that sometime go unnoticed. First and foremost he would like to thank Annie Belanger, his former girlfriend that helped him with every aspect of his life for too many years. He credits his former coach at St-Hubert for giving him direction and for giving him the chance as the only white tailback in the league, likewise with Gord Grace (his former coach). Guys like Vince Baraniecz and Seb Roy, his workout partners as well as his track coach (Marc-Eli Toussaint) also deserve a thank you. A special thank you to Marc-Andre Lahaie and especially his family that put him up for a summer a few years back, a fact that he will never forget.