As an anglophone growing up in Montreal, Brandon Tennant was surrounded by the French language, and yet while he spoke some French, he wasn’t fluent.  So when Tennant chose to attend Laval University, a French-speaking school to play football, it was a huge change in his life.

“It was like a complete culture shock coming from the anglophone side of Montreal where even my French classes in high school were not that difficult, to speaking French in school, speaking French in the grocery store, speaking French with my roommates, speaking French everywhere. It definitely was a culture shock,” Tennant told TSN.

Since it began in 1996, Laval football has become the top program in the CIS, winning eight Vanier Cups, more than any other school in Canada. (Laval lost to 2014 Vanier Cup Champion Montreal in the Dunsmore Cup).  It was this level of success that attracted Tennant to the school.

“I love to compete, I love to win. Every practice you're competing against the best o-line in Canada, you practice with the best defensive line coach in Canada, and every week we go out and compete and we prepare ourselves the best and that's why I chose that path.”

And on the practice field at least, speaking English turned out to be helpful.

“The thing that sort of helped me is a lot of our coaches, they coach football in English,” explained Tennant.  “English is sort of like the language of football so I played it in French but they coached it in English. That really helped me on the football side of things, but the other part was a big culture shock.”

With Laval’s success, it’s no surprise that a lot of Rouge et Or players end up in the CFL. Since 1998, 39 Laval players have been selected in the CFL Draft and currently there are 17 Laval products on CFL rosters. That level of excellence creates a pressure that’s welcomed by current players.

“I think there is immense pressure but it's something that we sort of strive for,” Tennant said.

“It's a pressure that I think the city of Quebec puts on us, but it's a pressure that I think we as a team put on ourselves and that everyone around the team, including the fans, accept. I think that's what drives us during the winter, during the summer and during the season.”

The 6-foot-2, 309-pound Tennant has also shown that he can play the game. The defensive tackle was a RSEQ Division All-Star in 2013 and was also named a second team CIS All-Canadian that season.  Tennant missed the first six games of the 2014 season after suffering a broken toe when he kicked a garbage can in frustration after an argument with head coach Glen Constantin.  At the time Constantin dismissed him from practice for arriving later than the coach likes.

“It was a misunderstanding between me and Glen and after the fact now I do see his points and it was an immature move from a fourth year player,” Tennent stated.

“The trouble with experience is you only get it after you need it, so I will definitely take that and move on.”

Coming into this year’s draft, Tennant is one of three Laval players on the CFL’s Prospect Ranking (Tennant is ranked fifteenth).  He also comes in as the second-ranked down lineman only behind Daryl Waud of Western.  The CFL team that picks him in this year’s Draft will get a lineman who thinks that sacking the quarterback is NOT the best part of playing defence.

“They get someone who can definitely stop the run. Everyone says it's the best thing to rush the quarterback, I find one of the best things to do is to take on that double-team because there's nothing like stopping two 320 pounders in their tracks.”

Tennant says his high motor and work ethic are his greatest attributes, which he will show those attending the CFL Combine in late March.

Our next Prospect Profile will be on Calgary linebacker Adam Konar, the sixteenth-ranked prsopect in the 2015 CFL Draft.