Jamieson up for Alouettes

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 24/05/2016 (3717 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

With college football season around the corner, the University of Western Ontario Mustangs are training hard, but offensive lineman Sean Jamieson has another reason to get out onto the field.

The Oak Park graduate was recently drafted by the CFL’s Montreal Alouettes in the third round and is hoping to see his name added to the roster.

Jamieson said upon getting drafted he felt “a bit of pride and a lot of relief. You know you put a lot of hard work into getting your name called on draft day so it’s a very big deal… first thing I did was call my mom to let her know and she was super happy and it was an awesome day. A lot of feeling, but all good.”

Jamieson graduated from Oak Park in 2012, where he was coached by Stu Nixon with the Oak Park Raiders. The six-foot-seven athlete said the Raiders football program had a huge effect on his career as a player.

“It was one of the best times of my life, playing football at Oak Park under Stu Nixon was a blessing, really,” Jamieson said. “Brett MacNeil was my O-line coach and I think that really helped me, especially coming into university, I was already pretty knowledgeable about what I had to do so I think that definitely my time at Oak Park helped me a lot as a football player and as a person.

“I was a bit of class clown in Grade 10 so they really straightened me out, so I think personally and on the field physically, they did it all for me and I can’t thank them enough for what they’ve done because it’s been an amazing ride here at Western and I owe it all to them.”

Jamieson’s been focusing on overall strengthening and working closely with his offensive line coach to prepare for rookie and training camps in the next couple of weeks, all with the hopes of impressing coaches at CFL tryouts.

“I think my knowledge of the game is definitely a big strength of mine, I’ve never been the biggest or strongest but I have a pretty good understanding of how the game works and my assignments usually,” Jamieson said. “And my ability to, as an O-lineman, gain and maintain leverage on defensive players and use my lower body to create plays and make stuff happen.”
Jamieson is grateful for the mentorship he’s had from Nixon, former Oak Park basketball coach John London and Western coach Greg Marshall.

“They’ve taught me a lot about not only playing sports but being a human and being a good person… (Marshall) has always looked after me and I think in my time at Western, I’ve been blessed to have two of the best O-line coaches possibly in the CIS, including Chris Bertoia, who’s moved on to Waterloo.”