Matthieu Proulx (born April 16, 1981) is a former

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are two slightly di ...

with the Montreal Alouettes of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ...

Early years

Proulx was born in

Plaster Rock, New Brunswick Plaster Rock (2016 population: 1,023) is a Canadian village in Victoria County, New Brunswick, Victoria County, New Brunswick. The mayor is Tom Eagles. History Plaster Rock’s first settlers were Hezekiah Day and his two brothers, who arrived in ...

, but his family relocated to Gatineau. He began

Canadian football Canadian football () is a sport played in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposing team's scoring area ( ...

as a sport to play in between baseball and skiing and had to travel to Gloucester, Ontario, to play at the midget level at age 18. To play football at

CEGEP A CEGEP ( or ; ), also written cégep, CÉGEP and cegep, is a publicly funded college providing technical, academic, vocational or a mix of programs; they are exclusive to the province of Quebec's education system. A loanword from French, i ...

level, Proulx had to go to

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

and played for

Collège André-Grasset Collège André-Grasset is a private college in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is located near the Quebec Autoroute 40 and the Crémazie metro station. The college was founded in 1927 by the priests of Saint-Sulpice Seminary (Montreal) and na ...

. Proulx attended

Université Laval Université Laval is a public research university in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The university was founded by royal charter issued by Queen Victoria in 1852, with roots in the founding of the Séminaire de Québec in 1663 by François de Mont ...

, majoring in law, and played for the Rouge-et-Or from 2001 to 2004. Over 18 games between 2002 and 2004, he intercepted five passes for 74 yards and a touchdown, scored two touchdowns on punt returns, and recorded 54 tackles, six sacks, seven pass knockdowns, and two forced fumbles. He won back-to-back Vanier Cups with Laval in 2003 and 2004 and was awarded the

Bruce Coulter Award The Vanier Cup (french: Coupe Vanier) is the championship of Canadian university football. It is organized by U Sports football and is currently played between the winners of the Uteck Bowl and the Mitchell Bowl. It is named after Georges Vanier, ...

as the most outstanding defensive player in the 2004 Vanier Cup.

Professional career

Proulx was drafted by Montreal in the first round in the 2005 CFL Draft and was the runner-up for the 2005 CFL's Most Outstanding Rookie Award. 2008 CFL season may be considered his breakthrough season, however. He had been scheduled to start at

but suffered a hamstring injury at the beginning of the season. Nevertheless, he recovered to dress for 11 games, including five starts, and has moved ahead of Étienne Boulay on the depth chart. He studied for the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (un ...

in Montreal in 2007 and pursues a career in law during the off-season and intends continue upon his retirement. On March 1, 2011, Radio-Canada announced on its website that Proulx will officially announce his retirement from professional football the next day at the age 29.

References

External links

Matthieu Proulx
at cfl.ca {{DEFAULTSORT:Proulx, Matthieu 1981 births Living people Canadian football defensive backs Canadian Football League Rookie of the Year Award winners Laval Rouge et Or football players Montreal Alouettes players People from Victoria County, New Brunswick Players of Canadian football from New Brunswick