Homecoming ceremony will honour alumnus.
The Mount Allison Athletics Department will honour former Mountie Éric Lapointe on Homecoming weekend by retiring the number five jersey, Lapointe’s number during his time at Mt. A. “Sir Éric,” as he was commonly referred to around the Maritimes, set the Atlantic University Sport (AUS) single-season rushing record in 1996 with 1619 yards, despite participating in just eight games. Lapointe, a native of Broussard, Quebec, was part of the Mounties 1997 team that won the Atlantic University Athletic Association (AUAA) title. He rushed for a career total of 4666 yards, only playing four of the five years he was eligible to play Canada Interuniversity Sport (CIS) football. Lapointe won the Hec Crighton Award twice as the Most Outstanding Player award in the CIS in 1996, and 1998.
In 1999, Lapointe went on to be drafted twentieth overall by the Edmonton Eskimos in the Canadian Football League (CFL). He was soon released only afterward to be signed by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, going on to win the Grey Cup as CFL champions that same year. Lapointe finished the 1999 campaign with 691 rushing yards, finishing eleventh in the league. Lapointe retired to become a financial analyst after a short stint with the Toronto Argonauts in 2001. Later that same year he returned with the Montreal Alouettes and was the starting running back in the 2005 Grey Cup. In 2005 he was voted by a national panel as the best Canadian football player of all-time. He was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2012 as a player alongside notable CFL stars Damon Allen and Milt Stegall.
Lapointe’s thick résumé makes him one of Mount Allison’s most recognizable alumni, and certainly there should be a lot of excitement surrounding the game. Mt. A will play against McGill University in the homecoming game. The Mounties will be in tough against their Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) foes. Last year the Mounties travelled to Montreal to play the Redmen in a losing effort 36-9. The Mounties had a promising 2012 season, and are hoping to build on the success coach Kelly Jeffrey has had with the team.
The Argosy was able to talk to Athletic Director Pierre Arsenault about the ceremony. Arsenault told The Argosy, “[w]e are really looking forward to Homecoming 2013 and we are grateful for the opportunity to celebrate the most successful Mountie football player of all time. With Éric’s induction into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, it is clear that the time is right to properly retire Éric’s number five as a permanent part of our Mounties history and tradition.”
The game will take place at MacAulay field on September 14th, where the Athletic Department will retire the number five jersey, and raise a banner in Lapointe’s honour.
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