Boris Bede (born November 20, 1989) is a French-born

Canadian football Canadian football () is a 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 scoring area ( ...

placekicker and punter for 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 ...

of 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 ...

(CFL). He first enrolled at

Tiffin University Tiffin University is a private university in Tiffin, Ohio. It was founded in 1888 and is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. The university offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs at the main campus in Tiffin, Ohio; the Unive ...

before transferring to

Université Laval Université Laval is a public research university in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The university was founded by royal charter issued by Queen Victoria in 1852, with roots in the founding of the Séminaire de Québec in 1663 by François de Montm ...

. Bede has been nicknamed "Boom Boom" for his strong leg on kickoffs and punts.

Early years

Bede was born in

Toulon, France Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is the ...

and grew up playing soccer. He arrived in the United States in 2005 and played

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

Framingham High School Framingham High School, or FHS, is an urban/suburban public high school in the city of Framingham, Massachusetts, United States, located approximately west of Boston. Founded in 1792, as Framingham Academy, the high school is the result of the ...

Framingham, Massachusetts Framingham () is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. Incorporated in 1700, it is located in Middlesex County and the MetroWest subregion of the Greater Boston metropolitan area. The city proper covers with a pop ...

. He also participated in soccer and

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

for the Flyers.

College career

Bede played American football for the Tiffin Dragons of

from 2008 to 2010, earning Honorable Mention All-

GLIAC The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) is a competitive college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. The GLIAC was founded in June 1972. Its ele ...

honors in 2009. In the summer of 2011, Bede was on the verge of playing soccer for the

Sherbrooke Vert et Or The Sherbrooke Vert & Or ("Sherbrooke Green & Gold") is the athletic teams that represent the Université de Sherbrooke in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. The team plays in Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (French for "Quebec Student Sports Netw ...

of the

Université de Sherbrooke The University of Sherbrooke (French: Université de Sherbrooke) (UdS) is a large public French-language university in Quebec, Canada with campuses located in Sherbrooke and Longueuil, a suburb of Montreal approximately west of Sherbrooke. It i ...

before deciding to play Canadian football at

. He played for the

Laval Rouge et Or The Laval Rouge et Or (, ''Red and Gold'') are the athletic teams that represent Université Laval, located in Quebec City, Quebec. Home games are all held in the PEPS indoor and outdoor sports facilities. Varsity teams Laval Rouge et Or teams co ...

from 2011 to 2014. He made 63 of his 78 field goal attempts, including a career-long 44-yarder in 2013, during his college career. Bede also accumulated 39.4 yards per punt on 292 punts. He was named to the RSEQ All-Star team in 2012, 2013 and 2014. He was also named the Quebec Conference's special teams player of the year in 2014. Bede helped the Rouge et Or win the

48th Vanier Cup The 2012 Vanier Cup, the 48th edition of the Canadian university football championship, took place on Friday, November 23, 2012 at Rogers Centre in Toronto. The game featured a rematch of the previous year's Vanier Cup game as the McMaster Maraud ...

in 2012 and the

49th Vanier Cup The 2013 Vanier Cup, the 49th edition of the Canadian university football championship, took place on Saturday, November 23, 2013 at TELUS-Université Laval Stadium in Quebec City, Quebec. This was the third time in five years that Université La ...

in 2013 after the Rouge et Or lost the

47th Vanier Cup The 2011 Vanier Cup, the 47th edition of the Canadian university football championship, took place on Friday, November 25, 2011 at BC Place in Vancouver.https://www.tsn.ca/cis/story/?id=342308 Naylor: '11 Vanier Cup to join Grey Cup week in Vanc ...

in 2011.

Professional career

Montreal Alouettes

Bede signed with the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (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 East Division of the Canad ...

of the CFL on February 19, 2015. He attempted and later made the first 32-yard extra point in the league's history on June 25, 2015. Bede had a very successful first season in the CFL, converting 36 out of 40 field goal attempts (90% success rate, second highest in the league); he did however miss on 6 of 31, extra-point converts. For his efforts, he was named a CFL East All-Star in his rookie season. Bede struggled mightily at the start of the 2016 season and was effectively benched by the Alouettes' seventh game of the season, having made only 7 out of 16 field goal attempts, before returning as the starting kicker by the Alouettes' 15th game of the season. After re-gaining his position, he was the Alouettes' kicker and punter through the

2019 CFL season The 2019 CFL season was the 66th season of modern-day Canadian football. Officially, it was the 62nd Canadian Football League season. The regular season began on June 13 and concluded with the playing of the 107th Grey Cup in Calgary on November ...

, where he played in 80 regular season games connecting on 141 field goals out of 171 attempts for a success rate of 82.5%. He had punted 510 times for an average of 44.2 yards.

Toronto Argonauts

On February 13, 2020, Bede was traded to the

for fellow kicker

Tyler Crapigna Tyler Crapigna (born August 4, 1992) is a former professional Canadian football placekicker and is currently the kicker coach for the Carleton Ravens of U Sports. He played CIS football for the McMaster Marauders from 2010 to 2014 and kicked the ...

. Bede re-signed with the Argonauts on December 31, 2020. On July 4, 2022 Bede missed the game tying extra point attempt with only 25 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, resulting in the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West division. They play their home games at IG Fie ...

winning the contest.

International career

Bede played for the

France national American football team The France national American football team is the official American football senior national team of France. It is controlled by the (FFFA) and competed for the first time in the American Football World Cup (IFAF World Cup) in 2003. Their pla ...

in the

2014 EFAF European Championship The 2014 European Championship was the 13th European Championship of American football. The competition was held in Austria between May 30 and June 7, 2014. The top three teams qualified for the 2015 IFAF World Championship. Qualification Since ...

Personal life

Bede's father, Alain Bédé, played for the

Ivory Coast national football team The Ivory Coast national football team (French: ''Équipe de football de Côte d'Ivoire'', recognized as the Côte d'Ivoire by FIFA) represents Ivory Coast in men's international football. Nicknamed ''the Elephants'', the team is managed by th ...

. His brother Kévin Baillili played football, in French lower leagues for Evry FC, SC Toulon-Le Las,

AS Poissy AS Poissy (french: Amicale Sportive de Poissy) is a French football club based in Poissy (Yvelines). It was founded in 1904. They play at the Stade Léo Lagrange, which has a capacity of 3,500. The colours of the club are yellow and blue. For th ...

as well the second team of

Paris St Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...

and more recently for Trois-Bassins FC of Réunion.Foot express - Clicanoo.re
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References

External links

Toronto Argonauts bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bede, Boris 1989 births Living people American football placekickers American football punters Canadian football placekickers Canadian football punters French sportspeople of Ivorian descent French players of American football French players of Canadian football Laval Rouge et Or football players Montreal Alouettes players Sportspeople from Framingham, Massachusetts Sportspeople from Toulon Players of American football from Massachusetts Tiffin Dragons football players Toronto Argonauts players Framingham High School alumni