Paul Brule (born February 21, 1945, in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

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 ...

) is a former football player who starred at

St. Francis Xavier University St. Francis Xavier University is a public undergraduate liberal arts university located in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is a member of the Maple League, a group of primarily undergraduate universities in Eastern Canada. History St. Franc ...

in the 1960s before playing professionally 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 ...

. In March 2018, it was announced that Brule would be inducted in to 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 ...

class of 2018.

University football career (1964-1967)

Brule played fullback and defensive halfback at St. Francis Xavier University in

Antigonish , settlement_type = Town , image_skyline = File:St Ninian's Cathedral Antigonish Spring.jpg , image_caption = St. Ninian's Cathedral , image_flag = Flag of Antigonish.pn ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

, Canada from 1964 to 1967. In 1966 he set a Canadian university football record with 1103 yards rushing and became the first player in

Canadian Interuniversity Sport U Sports (stylized as U SPORTS) is the national sport governing body of university sport in Canada, comprising the majority of degree-granting universities in the country. Its equivalent body for organized sports at colleges in Canada is the Can ...

history to score 20 touchdowns in a season. He also set a U Sports season record with 120 points scored. That season the St. Francis Xavier X-Men won the

Vanier Cup The Vanier Cup (french: Coupe Vanier) is the championship of Canadian university football. It is organized by U Sports football and is currently played between the winners of the Uteck Bowl and the Mitchell Bowl. It is named after Georges Vanier, ...

Trophy as Canada's top university football team by beating Waterloo Lutheran University (now known as

Wilfrid Laurier University Wilfrid Laurier University (commonly referred to as WLU or simply Laurier) is a public university in Ontario, Canada, with campuses in Waterloo, Brantford and Milton. The newer Brantford and Milton campuses are not considered satellite campuses ...

) 40–14 in the 2nd Vanier Cup game at

Varsity Stadium Varsity Stadium is an outdoor collegiate football stadium located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is home to the Toronto Varsity Blues, the athletic teams of the University of Toronto. Athletic events have been hosted on the site since 1898; the ...

in Toronto. Brule did not win another championship in 1967, but his senior year at St. Francis Xavier was perhaps his finest. He broke his own record for touchdowns in a season with 25. This included 21 rushing touchdowns, two receiving touchdowns, one punt return touchdown and one interception return touchdown. This record still stands as of the completion of the 2017 U Sports football season. Brule's 150 points in the 1967 season were also a new Canadian record. Remarkably, eight of Brule's touchdowns in 1967 came in a single game. On October 20, 1967, Brule scored seven rushing touchdowns and one punt return touchdown against

Dalhousie University Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the fou ...

. This record still stands, as does his record of 48 points in a single game. He finished his four-year university career with 51 all-purpose touchdowns, a record that still stands as of the completion of the 2017 U Sports season.

U Sports records

When Brule graduated after the 1967 season, he held the records for most rushing yards in a season (1103), most touchdowns in a game (8), most touchdowns in a season (25), most touchdowns in a career (51), most points in a season (150) and most points in a career (306).

Professional football career (1968-1972)

Brule was selected second overall in the first round of the Canadian Football League's 1968 amateur draft by the

Ottawa Rough Riders The Ottawa Rough Riders were a Canadian Football League team based in Ottawa, Ontario, founded in 1876. Formerly one of the oldest and longest-lived professional sports teams in North America, the Rough Riders won the Grey Cup championship nine ...

. Brule became the property of the

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 Fiel ...

and played both fullback and defensive back for Winnipeg from 1968 to 1971. He enjoyed his most productive season offensively in his rookie year, when he rushed for 32 yards and one touchdown on 13 carries and caught five passes for 43 yards. Defensively, Brule's best season was 1970, when he had nine interceptions to rank third in the West and earn a Western Conference All-Star selection at defensive back. Brule had another four interceptions in 1971 with Winnipeg before moving to 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 ...

for his final season in 1972. With Montreal, Brule had two more interceptions to raise his career total to 16. Besides playing fullback and defensive back, Brule was also used as a punt returner and kick returner, averaging over seven yards per punt return for his career. His best season returning punts was 1969 when he finished second in the Western Conference with 498 yards.

Career honours

Brule was inducted into the St. Francis Xavier University Sports Hall of Fame in 1988. He was inducted into the Nova Scotia Football Hall of Fame in 2009. He was elected into the

and was inducted in September, 2018

Personal

Paul Brule is the father of journalist, entrepreneur and magazine publisher

Tyler Brûlé Jayson Tyler Brûlé (born November 25, 1968) is a Canadian journalist, entrepreneur, and magazine publisher. He is the editorial director of '' Monocle''. Early years Jayson Tyler Brûlé is the only child of Canadian football player Paul Brul ...

(born 1968 in Winnipeg, Manitoba).

References

External links

CFL career profile

Nova Scotia Football Hall of Fame

St. Francis Xavier Sports Hall of Fame
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brule, Paul 1945 births Living people French Quebecers Canadian football defensive backs Canadian football fullbacks Montreal Alouettes players Canadian football people from Montreal Players of Canadian football from Quebec St. Francis Xavier X-Men football players Winnipeg Blue Bombers players Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductees