Mathieu Betts (born March 22, 1995) is a professional Canadian football

defensive linemen In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

for the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League (CFL). Betts is the only player in U Sports football history to have won four major individual awards after he won the 2015 Peter Gorman Trophy as the most outstanding rookie and the 2016–2018

J. P. Metras Trophy The J. P. Metras Trophy is awarded annually to the most outstanding down lineman in U Sports football. The award was first initiated in 1974 and is named after John Pius Metras. Metras was a former coach of the Western Mustangs from 1939 to 1969 ...

awards as the most outstanding down lineman. He is a two-time Vanier Cup champion having won in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

and

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

University career

Betts began his U Sports football career with the Laval Rouge et Or in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

where he recorded a nation-leading 12 sacks in eight regular season games played en route to being named the

Most Outstanding Rookie The Most Outstanding Rookie Award is annually awarded to the player judged to be the best player in his first year in the Canadian Football League. The two nominees for the award are the Frank M. Gibson Trophy winner from the East Division, and th ...

. In

, he had nine sacks in eight regular season games, second-best in the country, and was named the Most Outstanding Down Lineman at season's end. He also won his first Vanier Cup championship as part of Laval's

52nd Vanier Cup The 2016 Vanier Cup (branded as the ArcelorMittal Dofasco Vanier Cup for sponsorship reasons), the 52nd edition of the Canadian university football championship, took place on Saturday, November 26, 2016 at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton, Ontario. ...

win. He won his second consecutive J. P. Metras Trophy in

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

and won for the third time in

, becoming the first player to ever win the award three times. He finished his fourth year of eligibility in 2018 with another Vanier Cup championship in the

54th Vanier Cup The 2018 Vanier Cup, the 54th edition of the Canadian university football championship, took place on November 24, 2018 at Telus Stadium in Quebec City, Quebec.

game.

Professional career

In the 2019 CFL Scouting Bureau Rankings for December, Betts was named as the top available prospect in the

2019 CFL Draft The 2019 CFL Draft took place on May 2, 2019 at 8:00 pm ET and was broadcast on TSN and RDS. 73 players were chosen from among eligible players from Canadian universities, as well as Canadian players playing in the United States on NCAA or ...

. He was one of two U Sports players invited to play in the

2019 East–West Shrine Game The 2019 East–West Shrine Game was the 94th staging of the all–star college football exhibition to benefit Shriners Hospital for Children. The game was played at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, on January 19, 2019, with a 3:00&nb ...

. On May 2, he was selected third overall in the

by the

Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at the Brick Field at Commo ...

, though at the time he was under contract with the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

Chicago Bears

After the

2019 NFL Draft The 2019 NFL Draft was the 84th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2019 NFL season. The draft was held on April 25–27 in Nashville, Tennessee. The first round was held on April 2 ...

on April 27, 2019, Betts signed with the

of the National Football League as an undrafted free agent on a three-year contract. Betts was among the final roster cuts on August 31, 2019.

Edmonton Eskimos / Elks

Betts formally joined the

on September 9, 2019, after being selected by the Eskimos in the first round of the

. In his first game, Betts made a major contribution in making a sack, forcing a fumble against the

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fiel ...

. The following week against the Ottawa Redblacks, Betts had another sack. In total, he played in six games and recorded one defensive tackle, two sacks, and one forced fumble in his rookie season. He did not play in 2020 due to the cancellation of the

2020 CFL season The 2020 CFL season would have been the 67th season of modern-day Canadian football. Officially, it would have been the 63rd season of the Canadian Football League. It was originally scheduled to begin on June 11; on April 7, the start of the s ...

. In

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

, Betts played in 13 of the 14 regular season games where he had 12 defensive tackles, but did not record a sack. He became a free agent upon the expiry of his contract on February 8, 2022.

BC Lions

On the first day of free agency, on February 8, 2022, Betts signed with the BC Lions. Betts played in all 17 regular season games and contributed with 26 defensive tackles, seven sacks and two tackles on special teams. Following the season, in early January 2023, he had a workout with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

References

External links

BC Lions bioLaval bio2019 East West Shrine Game Prospect Interview: Mathieu Betts, Laval
via YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Betts, Mathieu 1995 births Living people Canadian football defensive linemen French Quebecers Gridiron football people from Quebec Laval Rouge et Or football players Canadian football people from Montreal Players of Canadian football from Quebec Chicago Bears players Edmonton Elks players BC Lions players