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BROOK JONES \/ FREE PRESS FILES<\/p>\n
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Manitoba Bisons receiver De Shawn Le Jour (1) hopes a career in the CFL will help him become a role model for the next generation of athletes.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Now retired from coaching, perhaps Dobie should pursue a job with Winnipeg\u2019s tourism board.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am more than happy with the decision that I made,\u201d said Le Jour.<\/p>\n
\u201cI made some of my closest friends and have had some of my best football memories here in Winnipeg so I think everything worked out the way it was supposed to.\u201d<\/p>\n
Four seasons later, Le Jour\u2019s on a potential path to the pros. He will be one of 83 prospects who will showcase their skills in Waterloo, Ont., on Friday for the CFL Invitational Combine. The top prospects will then advance to the CFL Combine in Edmonton from March 27-29.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was kind of a weird feeling,\u201d said Le Jour on finding out he scored an invite to Friday\u2019s event.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was one of those things where you work for something your entire life and then when it happens, it\u2019s like, \u2018Wow, this is actually happening.\u2019 But then you kind of snap back to reality and be like, \u2018Yes, this is cool, but there\u2019s still a lot more work that needs to be done.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2026It\u2019s something I\u2019m very proud of for not only myself, but for Nic, Victor, and Kaleb as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Le Jour, 25, is one of four Bisons \u2014 with linebacker Nic Pereira, offensive lineman Victor Olaniran, and defensive lineman Kaleb Mackie-Mcleod being the others \u2014 that will try to impress in Waterloo. Receiver Nathan Udoh earned a direct invite to the national combine after finishing in a tie for fifth in Canada West in receptions (40) and sixth in receiving yards (531).<\/p>\n
\u201cYou play with these guys for four or five years and you grow into young men with them. To see us reach this national stage and get this recognition, it\u2019s something I\u2019m very proud of for not only myself, but for Nic, Victor, and Kaleb as well,\u201d said Le Jour.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we\u2019re going to do the best job that we can to make the U of M and Manitoba proud.\u201d<\/p>\n
At six-foot-four, 220-pounds, you can\u2019t teach what Le Jour has, but he does have a lot to prove to CFL scouts this week.<\/p>\n
He missed most of 2024 with a torn MCL, and after months of aggressive rehab, he tore it again four days before the team\u2019s pre-season game in 2025. Le Jour still managed to play two games as a senior with a knee brace and finished with two catches for 68 yards and a touchdown.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a receiver who wants to get in and out of breaks and be as agile as you can, wearing a brace is not the most functional thing,\u201d said Le Jour.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t end up having the year that I wanted and I\u2019m not one to make excuses and say that it was because of the knee brace or whatever, but I\u2019m feeling good now, healthy now, and I\u2019m excited to see what I can do now on Friday with no brace at all.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI just think it\u2019s very important for young Indigenous athletes to know that they are capable of doing everything that everyone else is.\u201d<\/p>\n
Le Jour has spent the past two years helping out Manitoba\u2019s U18 Indigenous team as a receiver\u2019s coach. In July, they won gold at the Indigenous Cup \u2014 an event run by Football Manitoba at St. Vital Mustangs Field that featured teams from Alberta, Saskatchewan, and northwestern Ontario.<\/p>\n
Le Jour, who is half Black, half M\u00e9tis, hopes a career in the CFL will help him become a role model for the next generation of athletes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just think it\u2019s very important for young Indigenous athletes to know that they are capable of doing everything that everyone else is,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the end of the day, growing up as an Indigenous kid, you don\u2019t really see a lot of Indigenous athletes and I think at times that can be a little discouraging. I just want to let young Indigenous athletes know that it\u2019s possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Pereira, making it as a pro has been a dream of his since he started playing the sport when he was seven or eight years old. His family had season tickets to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and he was always enamored with the game\u2019s best linebackers like Henoc Muamba and Adam Bighill.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m super excited to go out there and show them what I\u2019m capable of and the player that I am,\u201d said Pereira, 22.<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t JOHN WOODS \/ FREE PRESS FILES<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Manitoba Bisons linebacker Nic Pereira (centre) goes into Friday\u2019s CFL Invitiaional Combine coming off a career year where he was named a Canada West All-Star after recording 44.5 tackles, along with two forced fumbles and a pass breakup for the Herd.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Pereira, a St. Paul\u2019s High School product who still has another season of eligibility left at the U of M, hasn\u2019t missed a game in his four seasons with the team. He\u2019s coming off a career year where he was named a Canada West All-Star after leading the Bisons with 44.5 tackles, along with two forced fumbles and a pass breakup.<\/p>\n He\u2019s been training with former Bison and current Bombers defensive tackle Collin Kornelson on a daily basis to prepare for Friday.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m just happy with the work that I put in leading up to this,\u201d said Pereira. \u201cWhatever happens on combine day, I can respect that I put the work in and have no regrets, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n winnipegfreepress.com\/taylorallen<\/p>\n \n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t Taylor Allen Taylor Allen is a sports reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. Taylor was the Vince Leah intern in the Free Press newsroom twice while earning his joint communications degree\/diploma at the University of Winnipeg and Red River College Polytechnic. He signed on full-time in 2019 and mainly covers the Blue Bombers, curling, and basketball. Read more about Taylor<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Taylor produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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