“Adam is truly a phenomenon of nature,” his head coach Marco Iadeluca describes to us. He’s a 430 pound guy, but he makes the split ! He is agile and skilled. He catches balls. He has good hands. He’s an athlete. »
Published at 12:48 a.m.
Updated at 7:00 a.m.
Adam Lachance is an offensive line player for the Carabins. If you are a regular at CEPSUM, you will undoubtedly have noticed the impressive number 69 on the field busy protecting his quarterback Jonathan Senécal alongside his four teammates from the “O-line”.
At 430 pounds, you will understand that Lachance is imposing. In this regard, he is stronger than the heaviest player in NFL history, Aaron Gibson, who played six years in the American circuit. He weighed 410 pounds. Matthew O’Donnell, who played for Edmonton from 2012 to 2021, holds the record for heaviest man to play in the CFL, at 350 pounds.
“Honestly, I didn’t even know!” », says Lachance, laughing in front of The Press. We met him Thursday noon, on the sidelines of the Carabins field, two days before the Dunsmore Cup which will be contested by Laval University and the University of Montreal at the Telus stadium in Quebec.
“My weight, it’s true that people talk to me about it, it’s true that I want to lower it sometimes. But for me, I’m a football player like everyone else in my row. We have fun, and I have always been someone who has always been very active in life. »
“Serene”
Lachance will wear a proud and friendly smile throughout our fifteen-minute interview. Even when he talks about his struggles to lose weight, his good nature is never far away.
“It’s definitely always a goal in itself,” he said. But I think at this point in the process, I’m more calm. It has always been super difficult for me, losing weight. Even if I put a lot of effort. We still train a lot here. And sometimes I just don’t see the change. »
The native of Saint-Gédéon-de-Beauce is in his third year with the Carabins. After his career with the Champlain-Lennoxville College Cougars, all the RSEQ teams paid attention to him, including Laval, the team that he and his family encouraged in his youth.
“Ouache,” says a teammate who was passing by at the precise moment when Adam Lachance was explaining this part of his journey to us.
“Yes! he retorts, giggling. I would tell you that since I joined the Carabins, they have supported me a lot, and they have changed [de camp]. »
PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, THE PRESS
Adam Lachance
But it was with the Montreal coaches that it “clicked,” explains Lachance. Particularly with Mathieu Pronovost, the offensive line coach.
A few moments later, Pronovost appears in front of us, greets his player, and begins stretching.
“He has great sporting intelligence,” the trainer will explain about his foal when his muscles have been well warmed up. He’s got a lot of football in his body, and he played a lot of sports when he was young. […] The world sees a lot that he is heavy, but what is impressive about him is his athleticism. »
“He does great things at 430 pounds,” adds Pronovost. But during the off seasons, I often tell him: “Imagine, if you were able to go below 400, what that could be like. We would perhaps be talking about one of the best in the conference, from Canada.” »
Adam Lachance is aware of this, but he also knows that such a goal comes with a burden.
“The pressure [de perdre du poids]at some point, comes and hits you on the head, confesses the kind colossus. It affects the school, everyone around it. […] I prefer to focus on the fact that I’m going to give 100% in the gym, I’m going to do everything right, and if I lose weight, I’m going to be very happy. »
“It starts from us”
At UdM, Adam Lachance studies teaching the social universe in secondary schools.
He admits it bluntly: “I’m a student-athlete, but the student part is quite difficult. »
“If I hadn’t had football, I would probably still be in my little native Beauce welding iron,” he continues. Football got me through college. That’s why I persevered through all of this. […] I came to settle in a town which is completely opposite from my small village of 2000 people. We learn to live in another context, another culture. »
With Alassane Diouf – his roommate, his friend, his class colleague in the same program, in addition to having been his teammate in the offensive league with the Carabins and since CEGEP – the two “simple people” have fun in their role of entertainer within the group.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, LA PRESSE
Alassane Diouf (76), from behind, lifts one of his Carabins teammates during the match against the Redbirds last Saturday.
But they carry out their work seriously on the ground. Montreal is the team that has allowed the fewest sacks this season, with seven. Without them, Jonathan Senécal, the team’s star, would have much less time and space to take control of games like he has been doing it for four years.
“He plays the games, but […] it starts from us, explains Lachance. If he hadn’t had her protection, he wouldn’t have been able to go to that reading. »
If the work of offensive linemen often goes unnoticed, they must find pride in this feeling of duty accomplished.
“It’s the only position in all of football that can make others better,” says Mathieu Pronovost. But no other position can make the offensive line better. It starts from us. »
It also helps when the largest of them has contagious positive energy.
“He’s a super nice guy,” Jonathan Senécal describes to us. Super friendly. He is friends with everyone. He’s a good giant. »
Overcoming a “hostile environment” in Quebec
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, ARCHIVES LA PRESSE
The quarterback of the Carabins of the University of Montreal, Jonathan Sénécal
Two days before the Dunsmore Cup final, the members of the Carabins remembered very well the atmosphere at their match at Telus Stadium last September. More than 20,000 spectators came to cheer on the Rouge et Or, bringing the local favorites to a 23-22 victory against their eternal rivals. But with a trophy at stake, this experience is “money in the bank”, according to Marco Iadeluca.
“The first time we went there, we mismanaged the situation a little,” believes the Carabins head coach. We were a little intimidated by the crowd. I think we are better prepared. »
Jonathan Senécal agrees that it is “noisy” in Quebec, that it is sometimes even a “hostile environment”. But their goal is simple: to win the Dunsmore among their rivals, which would be a first for their cohort.
All the players interviewed agree on this: the Carabins’ confidence is at its peak, at the right time.
“We finished the season really well,” agrees Iadeluca. We are playing our best football at the moment. Now we just have to continue to build on that. »
