J. R. (Alozie) LaRose (born February 27, 1984) is a former Canadian football safety. He originally signed with 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 ...

in 2005 as a territorial protected junior. He played for the

Canadian Junior Football League The Canadian Junior Football League (CJFL) is a national Major Junior Canadian football league consisting of 19 teams playing in five provinces across Canada. The teams compete annually for the Canadian Bowl. Many CJFL players move on to profess ...

's Edmonton Huskies; his team won the Canadian Bowl in 2005. He then played in the Canadian Football League for the

and the BC Lions; his team won the

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 ...

in 2011. He continued playing in the CFL until retiring in 2014.

Personal life

LaRose is a member of the Cree nation and is registered to the One Arrow First Nation in Saskatchewan. He was raised by his mother, Barbara, in Edmonton, Alberta. LaRose never met his Nigerian father as he was deported back to his home country before he was born. He now has two children and is married.

Professional career

LaRose was a professional football player in the Canadian Football League for nine years. He played four seasons with the

. In his final season with the team (2008), he severely broke his leg and ended his career with the Eskimos. In 2010, LaRose tried out for the BC Lions and made it as a backup safety, although within playing 15 games with the team he broke the same leg again. After rehabilitation he was able to play in the 2011 season as starting safety, but in the last pre-season game he broke his forearm. LaRose was able make it back for playoffs of the 2011 season and help his team to victory, winning the 2011 Grey Cup. He played two more seasons with the Lions, which included what is said to be his best season of his career. In 2013, LaRose started all 18 regular seasons games as well as picking off his first interception. After his 2013 season, he set his consecutive games played streak to 44, and beat many of his personal best records for tackles, knockdowns and fumbles.

References

* * 1984 births Living people BC Lions players Canadian football defensive backs Canadian Junior Football League players Columbia Lions football players Edmonton Elks players Franco-Albertan people Players of Canadian football from Alberta Canadian football people from Edmonton First Nations sportspeople Canadian sportspeople of Nigerian descent {{Canadianfootball-defensiveback-stub