Éric Deslauriers (born March 21, 1981) is the Senior Director of Player Personnel for the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division (CFL), West division. They play thei ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL). As a player, he played professionally as a

Canadian football Canadian football, or simply football, is a Sports in Canada, sport in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete on a field long and wide, attempting to advance a Ball (gridiron football), pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposi ...

slotback Slotback (SB), also called slot receiver, is an offensive position in gridiron football responsible for covering a ''slot,'' the playing area between the⁣⁣ offensive tackle and the wide receiver. A player who lines up between those two pl ...

who played his entire nine-year career with the Alouettes where he was part of two

Grey Cup The Grey Cup () is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested between the winners ...

champion teams. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Eastern Michigan University Eastern Michigan University (EMU, EMich, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern) is a public university, public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1849 as the Michigan State Normal School, it was the fourth normal ...

Early life

Deslauriers was born in

Gatineau Gatineau ( ; ) is a city in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is located on the northern bank of the Ottawa River, directly across from Ottawa, Ontario. Gatineau is the largest city in the Outaouais administrative region of Quebec and is also p ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, and attended

Champlain College Champlain College is a private college in Burlington, Vermont, United States. Founded in 1878, Champlain offers on-campus undergraduate and online undergraduate courses through Champlain College Online, along with online certificate and degree ...

Sherbrooke Sherbrooke ( , ) is a city in southern Quebec, Canada. It is at the confluence of the Saint-François River, Saint-François and Magog River, Magog rivers in the heart of the Estrie administrative region. Sherbrooke is also the name of a territ ...

in the 2000–01 season. He became the starting

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

for the Cougar team upon his arrival. In 10 games that season as the Cougars QB, he had 56 rushing attempts for 232 yards and three rushing touchdowns as well as completing 77 of 177 passes for 1347 yards and 10 passing Touchdowns. He was named a first team all-star as QB that season.

College career

In 2002, Deslauriers received a full football scholarship from the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

's Division 1 Mid-American Conference's

. After playing the quarterback position all of his life, the Eagles' coaching staff decided to tap into Deslauriers' natural athletic abilities, (6'4 215 lbs), and switched him to the wide receiver position because of a surplus of quarterbacks on the team. After sitting out the 2002 season as a redshirt, Deslauriers finally arrived as a force to be reckoned with in the 2004 season. Deslauriers had 84 receptions that year for 1,257 yards and an EMU-record 13 touchdown receptions, all while being named the team MVP that year. Eric Deslauriers

Deslauriers completed his Communications major at EMU. He finished his football career at EMU as the Eagles' career leader in touchdown receptions, with 27, total receiving yards, 3,250, and most receptions with 248. He shares the EMU record for touchdowns in a game with 4. Tied an EMU record for points in a game with 26 on November 6, 2004. He also had 6 games with his receptions numbers in double figures, he had 2, 14-reception games, had 14 games with 100 plus yards receiving and recorded a career best 209 yards at Ball State on October 9, 2004. Deslauries earned 4 varsity letters, (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006), and finished 5th in

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region (North America), Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Its members co ...

history with 248 receptions and 8th in league history with 3,250 yards while also putting together an amazing 35 game streak with at least one reception.

Professional career

After trying out for the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

, Deslauriers signed a 4-year contract with the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: ''Les Alouettes de Montréal'') are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has disbanded twice and been re-established thrice. The Alouettes compe ...

of the

. He was Montreal's 7th overall draft pick in the 2006 CFL Draft. In his first year with limited playing time in 2007, he had 23 receptions for 325 yards and one touchdown. He finished his career having played in 115 regular season games, recording 99 receptions for 1,334 yards and three touchdowns.

Administrative career

Deslauriers retired as a player in February 2016 but stayed with the Alouettes as a football operations assistant and scout. He was named as the team's Player Personnel Coordinator on July 18, 2019 shortly after the dismissal of the team's general manager,

Kavis Reed Kavis Reed (born February 24, 1973) is a former Canadian Football League (CFL) defensive back, head coach and general manager. He was most recently the GM of the Montreal Alouettes from December 2016 until July 2019. He also served three years as ...

. He was promoted to Director of Football Operations after the

2019 Montreal Alouettes season The 2019 Montreal Alouettes season was the 53rd season for the team in the Canadian Football League and their 65th overall. The Alouettes finished with a 10–8 record and qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 2014 following a week ...

on December 18, 2019. On January 10, 2025, it was announced that Deslauriers had joined the

as a senior director of player personnel.

References

External links

Montreal Alouettes bio

Montreal Alouettes player bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Deslauriers, Eric 1981 births American football wide receivers Canadian football slotbacks Eastern Michigan Eagles football players Eastern Michigan University alumni Living people Montreal Alouettes players Players of Canadian football from Quebec Sportspeople from Gatineau Canadian Football League scouts Players of American football from Quebec