The Canadian Football League (CFL) is returning to action this year and at least one team could have some Barrie representation on it.
In May, 22-year-old Jake Julien was drafted 31st overall by the Ottawa RedBlacks.
Julien’s football journey started later than many others when he took the field for soccer practice as a Grade 11 student at Barrie North Collegiate.
“Their football team came on for their practice and one of the coaches saw me kicking the ball. He said I could probably kick a football just as good,” says Julien, who was also featured in a BarrieToday story in October 2020. “I tried out with them and eventually started playing well enough for the team I was told I should try out for college.”
Julien started researching colleges in the United States and even joined an American company called Kohl’s Professional Camps, which specializes in training kickers, punters and long snapping.
After being nationally ranked in the States, Julien says he went through "a very long recruiting process,” eventually receiving an offer from Eastern Michigan University (EMU).
Julien attended Barrie North for a Grade 13 year, but headed off to EMU in the fall of 2017 and started his NCAA Division 1 journey.
“It was a totally different world. I had started football late in life and there were people who ate, slept and breathed football,” Julien tells BarrieToday. “I even showed up late to fall camp because of a visa issue, so here comes the new guy with little experience.
"But it was definitely a culture shock, because football is just massive here.”
Julien says he's honoured to have been drafted by the RedBlacks, but will stay another year at EMU and give one more shot at the National Football League (NFL), as well as finish his studies in hopes of becoming a high school teacher.
Despite not playing football until later in high school, Julien's family watched the game at home.
“My dad grew up on the west coast and is a huge Seattle Seahawks fan. Football was a big thing for us, I just didn’t play it until later on in life,” Julien says. “I remember going to a (Hamilton) Ti-Cats game once and a while, but it was never something I sought out.
"Funny how the world works," he adds.
Julien admits that him playing football was an afterthought until his later years of high school, but now he's "all in.”
“I am through and through football now,” he says. “I am going to kick until my leg falls off — it's something I love to do and I feel it's my calling. Whether it's kicking in the NFL, CFL or even becoming a kicking coach after it's all said and done, I am dedicated to the game.”
Earlier this month, the CFL announced it would begin play on Aug. 5. It is the league’s first action since November 2019 as the 2020 season was cancelled due to COVID-19.
