Pierre Vercheval (born November 22, 1964) is a former all star offensive lineman 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 ...

. Vercheval played his university football at the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by resident ...

, where he won the

J. P. Metras Trophy The J. P. Metras Trophy is awarded annually to the most outstanding down lineman in U Sports football. The award was first initiated in 1974 and is named after John Pius Metras. Metras was a former coach of the Western Mustangs from 1939 to 1969 ...

top lineman in Canadian university football in 1987. He tried out with the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

of the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

, unsuccessfully, and 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 1988, beginning a 14-year CFL career. He played five seasons in Edmonton, then moved 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 ...

for four seasons, from 1993 to 1997 (68 total games.) He was an all star three times and was part of the Argonauts powerful back-to-back

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 ...

winners of 1996 and 1997. He finished his career 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 ...

, from 1998 to 2001 (78 games) being named an all star three more times and winning the

CFL's Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman Award The Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman Award is annually awarded to the best offensive lineman in the Canadian Football League. The two nominees for the award are the Leo Dandurand Trophy winner from the East Division, and the DeMarco-Becket Memor ...

in 2000. In 2007, he became the first francophone to be inducted 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 ...

. Always a fan favorite in predominantly Francophone

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 ...

, fully bilingual Vercheval is currently enjoying a successful second career as a football commentator on the French-language RDS television station alongside Pierre Durivage (2002), Denis Casavant (2003-2013) and David Arsenault (since 2014).

Notes and references

1964 births Belgian emigrants to Canada Canadian Football League announcers Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductees Canadian football offensive linemen Edmonton Elks players Living people Montreal Alouettes players Sportspeople from Liège Players of Canadian football from Quebec Toronto Argonauts players Western Mustangs football players Belgian players of Canadian football {{Canadianfootball-offensive-lineman-stub