The long snapper has a long-range view on life.
Sure, Pierre-Luc Caron may have started his professional football career last season. And the 23-year-old plays a specialized position that, if everything goes according to plan, gives him an opportunity to play well into his 30s.
But even if he does have many CFL seasons ahead of him, the young Calgary Stampeder is already thinking about life after he’s done firing footballs through his legs. That means completing his education at the Universite de Laval.
“I think it’s important to finish everything you start,” declares the Laval, Que., native, who has been plugging away at his degree during the off-season. “I started school and now I’m trying to finish it. I know football is not going to last 30 or 40 years and I still have to work after my football career is over.
“And I enjoy what I’m studying, so there’s no reason not to finish it.”
In a nice match between his on-field and off-field pursuits, the football player is pursuing a degree in kinesiology, the study of human movement, performance and function.
Caron’s off-season schooling included one classroom course and some field work.
“Right now, I’m doing two internships,” he explains. “One is with a high-school swimming team.
“The second one is working with people battling schizophrenia. I enjoy that. I’m working with them twice a week and helping them enjoy physical activity.”
His current academic work will leave him on the brink of his degree, with only one more class to polish off.
“I’m going to do it during the season with an on-line class,” he says. “So I’m officially going to be finishing school at the end of December.
“It took a bit longer,” he laughs, “but the good news is there’s no date on a diploma and it doesn’t say how long it took you to finish your degree.”
Caron’s ongoing education has kept him busier than the average CFLer this off-season, but he doesn’t mind one bit.
“Working out and going to school is what I’ve been doing for pretty much my whole life,” he shrugs. “So it’s not a big deal doing both.”
And he found time to squeeze in a holiday, albeit one with a work-related aspect.
“I went to Phoenix and San Francisco. It was to visit but it was also to train with a long-snapping coach. So I got the chance both to work out and to visit parts of the U.S.”
A year ago, coming off his fourth season with the Rouge et Or, Caron wasn’t sure what the future held for him.
“Last year at this point,” he says, “I didn’t know if I was going to get drafted or not.”
He was – Calgary chose him in the fifth round – and he wound up earning the long-snapping job that had been held by Randy Chevrier for most of the previous 11 years.
“So it feels good now to know that I’m going to be in camp in May,” says Caron. “I just have to make sure I keep my job. For sure it’s a different situation than I was in last year but the main goal remains the same – I want to keep my job . . . and I want to finish school.”