Cold Lake football player to play in top-75 nationwide game

Jaxon Daniels is drawing the right type of attention to his game.

Jaxon Daniels is readying himself to be on the national stage. 

The Cold Lake football player is one of 75 selections to the CFC Prospect Game in Ottawa, which features the best high school players in Canada. 

“I was so excited. I was so pumped,” said Daniels, upon hearing the news. 

The selection process included a cross-country tour visiting ten cities featuring a professional combine setting including 40 yard dash, shuttle, vertical and broad jump events.

CanadaFootballChat and TSN work together to present this game as a showcase of young talent that could one day be household names. 

Daniels, a Grade 10 student, played his first season of high school football with the Cold Lake Royals as a defensive back. 

He gives a lot of the credit to his coaches for helping him get to this point, including head coach Kelly Johnson, and Teague Sherman. 

Sherman currently plays with the Cold Lake Fighter Jets, but played multiple seasons in the CFL, and helps out young football players in the area. 

But another inspiration is former Royal, and University of Alberta Golden Bear, Cole Priestle. 

“He reached out and he’s always been a guidance for me because me and him both have dyslexia, so it’s hard for us to read and stuff. But we come to football, and that’s what we’re here for. And it’s always fun to play a sport that you love.

“Everyone here has been a role model to me. I’ve always looked up to people.. all the people that are in varsity, Grade 12, they’ve always shown me how to be a good leader and all of that and the coaches…they’ve shown me discipline, work, and reward.”

Starting in 2019, current NCAA college players such as Mississippi State’s Albert Reece IV, Ohio QB Callum Wither, Wisconsin’s Rapheal Dunn, and Eastern Washington’s Nolan Ulm, have all participated. 

Billed as a must-see event for Canadian football fans, it will be presented on TSN on May 31. 

Until then, Daniels hopes to stay in the moment. 

“I’m going to be humble about it. But honestly, anything that comes my way, I’ll be happy.”