Éric Lapointe (born September 13, 1974) is a

retired Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

Canadian football Canadian football () is a team sport, sport played in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposing team's sco ...

player. He was a

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

with the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the Canadian F ...

in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

Biography

A native of

Brossard Brossard (, , ) is a municipality in the Montérégie region of Quebec, Canada and is part of the Greater Montreal area. According to the 2021 census, Brossard's population was 91,525. It shares powers with the urban agglomeration of Longueuil a ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Lapointe is an alumnus of

Mount Allison University Mount Allison University (also Mount A or MtA) is a Canadian primarily undergraduate liberal arts university located in Sackville, New Brunswick, founded in 1839. Like other liberal arts colleges in North America, Mount Allison does not parti ...

, where he played football for the

Mount Allison Mounties The Mount Allison Mounties are the varsity athletic teams that represent Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada. The Mounties sports teams play their matches at Alumni Field which seats 2,500. Athletics and recreations Th ...

. While playing at the university level, he was Canada's Rookie of the Year, a three-time All-Canadian, and a two-time

Hec Crighton Trophy The Hec Crighton Trophy (sometimes referred to as the Hec Crighton Award) is awarded annually to the most outstanding Canadian football player in U Sports. The trophy is named after the late Hec Crighton - teacher, coach, referee, and author of th ...

winner as Most Outstanding Player in Canada (1996 and 1998), for which he received special congratulations by the Legislature of Nova Scotia. He was also a rushing leader for the Atlantic conference and nationally. In 1996, he rushed 1,619 yards to break the record in

Atlantic University Sport Atlantic University Sport (AUS; french: Sport universitaire de l'Atlantique) is a regional membership association for universities in Atlantic Canada which assists in co-ordinating competition between their university level athletic programs and pr ...

. In his four years of playing, he rushed 4,666 yards, just 29 yards short of the CIAU all-time career rushing record. Despite being eligible to play for 5 years in Canadian university football, Lapointe graduated and opted to finish his university sports career after only 4 years. He still supports the team and often can be seen at their games in Quebec. After graduation in 1999, Lapointe was selected in the third round (20th overall) of the CFL entry draft by the

Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at the Brick Field at Commo ...

but was released shortly afterward to play for the

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fiel ...

. As part of this 1999

Grey Cup The Grey Cup (french: Coupe Grey) is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested be ...

winning team, Lapointe started for only 2 games yet finished 11th in the league with 691 rushing yards. In 2000, Lapointe was traded to the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...

in a multi-player deal but languished and left the team during the 2001 off-season as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

to work in the financial services industry, closer to his home in Montreal. Lapointe joined the

in February 2001 and played mainly as a backup for the team during the 2001-2004 seasons; during the 2005 season he came into prominence after being named the starting running back for the Alouettes in the

93rd Grey Cup The 93rd Grey Cup game was held on November 27, 2005, at B.C. Place Stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia, between the Edmonton Eskimos and the Montreal Alouettes, to decide the winner of the 2005 season of the Canadian Football League. The ...

(the Als lost 38-35 to the Esks in a thrilling overtime showdown). In 2005, he was selected by Canadian university football fans as the best university football player of all time.Lapointe tops poll of university football fans - universitysport.ca
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Retirement

Lapointe announced his retirement from the CFL following the 2006 season and is currently working as a financial analyst in Montreal. In 2012, he became the second player elected into the

Canadian Football Hall of Fame The Canadian Football Hall of Fame (CFHOF) is a not-for-profit corporation, located in Hamilton, Ontario, that celebrates great achievements in Canadian football. It is maintained by the Canadian Football League (CFL). It includes displays about t ...

on the basis of his University/College career, being voted in for his time as a Mountie. On September 14, 2013, Lapointe had his #5 retired at Mount Allison's Homecoming Football Game.

References

External links

Montreal Alouettes page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lapointe, Eric 1974 births Living people Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductees Canadian football running backs Hamilton Tiger-Cats players Montreal Alouettes players Mount Allison University alumni Mount Allison Mounties football players People from Brossard Players of Canadian football from Quebec Sportspeople from Montreal Toronto Argonauts players