LIFE IN THE NFL STILL A SNAP FOR MONTREAL'S LADOUCEUR
What do Troy Aikman, Roger Staubach, Emmitt Smith, Tony Romo and Michael Irvin all have in common, other than the obvious team affiliation?
They have all played fewer games for the Dallas Cowboys than has little known Canadian Louis-philippe Ladouceur, better known as L.P.
You can add others names to the list: Bob Hayes, Tony Dorsett, Deion Sanders, Dez Bryant, Randy White, Charles Haley — the greatest of all Cowboys, almost all of them larger than life, just like the football team they play for. But none of them have played 250 games for the Cowboys, heading to a record 251.
When Ladouceur takes to the field on Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers, he'll become the Canadian who has played the most games ever in the NFL. That has been Eddie Murray's record for 20 years.
Murray was born in Halifax, grew up in Victoria and kicked rather well for Detroit, Dallas, Washington, Philadelphia, Kansas City, Minnesota, Tampa Bay and anyone else who would have him. He did one thing Ladouceur is somewhat jealous of.
“I don't know Eddie Murray. I've never met him,” Ladouceur said on the phone from Fort Worth, Texas. “I know the name. I know he won a Super Bowl with the Cowboys ...
“Deep down, the thing that's missing in my career is a Super Bowl or a Super Bowl appearance.”
Ladouceur didn't know about the upcoming Canadian NFL record until he was informed of it recently by his agent Gil Scott. Records aren't something you tend to equate with long snappers. That's his football job.
Long snappers are anonymous on most football teams until they mess up. But for 16 years, Ladouceur has been the long snapper for the Cowboys. Can you imagine playing 16 seasons in the NFL? And according to the records, he has yet to mess up.
But he factors in every time the Cowboys punt, which this season has been too often, and every time they attempt a field goal or an extra point. That's the football life of this one-time kid from Montreal, who used to watch the NFL on television every Sunday with his dad and his brother, the three of them with the ritual of heading to Subway before games for their in-game meals.
Ladouceur was good enough at John Abbott College in Montreal to catch the attention of the University of California, where he went to get an education and play on the defensive line.
In his sophomore season at Cal, he injured his neck and couldn't take his regular place on the line. He needed to do something to stay involved with the team, so he began working on snapping the football — and quickly determined he had a skill for it.
“Obviously it's worked out,” said Ladouceur. “In my senior year, I started snapping on field goals. Then punts. And I thought, `Maybe I have a chance to do this.' ”
He first signed in the NFL to play defence for the New Orleans Saints. That didn't work out.
Then early in the 2005 NFL season, Bill Parcells — remember him? — needed someone dependable on special teams. Ladouceur was signed as an emergency replacement. Sixteen seasons, one stadium and four head coaches later, Ladouceur is still doing that emergency work for football's most famous team.
And should he come back for a 17th season — he doesn't know yet if that's where he's headed — he'll pass Jason Witten at 255 games as the longest serving Cowboy of all-time.
“Obviously, I play a different
position,” said Ladouceur, 39, who stands six-foot-five and weighs 256 pounds.
“Physically, it's pretty low impact over a course of a career, when you compare it to other players. I get in eight to12 plays a game. Yeah, it's a different type of physicality if you want, but to stay in this league for this long, you have to have consistency, you have to be reliable, you have to be available.
“I believe in work habits, in work ethic, in having a goal, short term and long term, but mostly I believe in living in the moment. Not dwelling in the past or hoping for the future. You live today like it's your last day. I've always taken that approach.”
Normally, when the NFL season ends, Ladouceur takes a few months to consider his future and usually travels home to Montreal to see family and friends. He doesn't know if that will be possible this year in light of the pandemic. But he's fortunate to have a certain stability in his life; a wife, two children in school in Fort Worth, a terrific income, some outside business interests. “A good safety net,” he calls it. But what a football life this has been and continues to be for Ladouceur. Over 16 seasons with the Cowboys, he hasn't missed a special teams snap. He's lived through all the great moments and all the heartache.
Most Canadians last a game or 10 in the NFL, like so many of the men Gil Scott has delivered to teams over the years. Now it's a record. It's 251 games, 16 seasons, and still going for L.P. Ladouceur.