Bonnyville native invited to CFL Combine in the spring

Bonnyville native Jeremy Fagnan’s football career is not over.

Fagnan, who finished his final season of collegiate football this fall with St. Francis Xavier, has been invited to the CFL combine: eastern region.

The combine is the chance for pro scouts to look at the draft eligible talent from U-Sport teams.

“My coach had mentioned to me before the season that ‘if you have a good season and you perform well, it’s your draft your, you’re eligible’. So I said, ‘that’s cool’ but I didn’t expect much to come of it,” said Fagnan.

“I don’t think anybody from Bonnyville area has had that opportunity of this kind, so I just thought about it as work hard, do I what every season, and see what happens.

“Now it’s done to training and getting after it,” he said.

The linebacker played out of position for a stretch this season.

He played defensive back covering opponents top receivers.

“It took me a couple games to get used to being out in space, but it settled down. I started to make a few plays here and there, and then the last three games of the season, had very solid games, and I guess that’s what caught their eye. I dunno,” said Fagnan.

Typically, players who have a good shot at the CFL are on team’s draft boards before the season begins. Since Fagnan arrived at St. FX with only two years of eligibility remaining, he was behind the 8-ball.

But because of his performances down the stretch, he got a call from his coach a couple weeks before Christmas saying that he’d made the cut for the CFL combine.

Fagnan will test at the eastern regional combine in Montreal on March 13. By the end of the day, he’ll know if he’s invited to the National Combine in Toronto on March 22.

“It’s proof that you can do it from anywhere. It’s just how hard do you want to work. How hard you want to get after it. There are super talented kids coming out of Bonnyville, but I feel like lots of them have given up before the next step. Nevermind university football, but even junior, to give it a try.

“Even in the last couple years, I’ve seen a couple kids who’ve given up before they’ve even gotten there. I don’t know what their reasons are, but there’s talent there. The programs are a long way further advanced from when I was playing football in Bonnyville. The opportunity is there, it’s all how hard you want to work, and it just proves that it doesn’t matter where you come from you can still the opportunity to go to the next level,” said Fagnan.

Silas Fagnan to join St. FX next year

While Jeremy Fagnan moves on from St. FX, another Fagnan boy will join the X-Men after he graduates this fall.

Along with Isaac, that means three Fagnan’s will have donned the X-Men’s colours.

“It will be pretty cool. He’s an incredible athlete, so to see him tear things up in the next level will be pretty cool, even if I’m not a part of the team anymore. I think he’ll do phenomenal. He’s a way better athlete than I ever was in high school. It’s exciting to see what he’ll up here.

Fagnan suggested that the pipeline from west to east with Bonnyville talent could mean brighter futures for local football players.

“Three Fagnan’s out here in Nova Scotia. I think once you build a reputation and a relationship with the coaches and they like what they’re seeing come out of there, they’ll come back and look for more. See if the talent’s there. There’s a lot of talent that’s come out of Bonnyville,” said Jeremy.