For Byron Archambault and his teammates at the University of Montreal, winning the Dunsmore Cup against Laval in Quebec City was one of best moments of their football careers.

“I feel like if I can say it personally, after the Dunsmore Cup in Quebec (City) we exerted so many demons,” Archambault recently told TSN.  “We had never won over there and it was our first Dunsmore.  That could have been our Vanier Cup right there for us.”

It almost did end for Montreal just short of the Vanier. They managed to win a thriller vs Manitoba in the Uteck Bowl and later beat the McMaster Marauders in the Vanier Cup after blocking a potential game-winning field goal in the final minute of the game. For Archambault, these tight wins were indicative of Montreal’s 2014 season.

“It felt like nothing could really stop us this year, no matter how big the challenge was,” Archambault reflected.  “We would always find a way to come through as a team, not just as a defence or as an offence individually.  I mean, on all three sides it felt like someone would have our back and would make the big plays when we needed and that's what happened.”

Like many kids growing up in the Montreal area, Archambault and his family had a passion for hockey but on his way to hockey practice he would notice the local football team (the LaSalle Warriors) practicing and playing at the same sports complex.  It was here Archambault faced his biggest obstacle to joining the football team: his mother.

"I come from a single mom family and she really didn't like football,” Archambault mentioned.  “I started asking my Mom if I could register to play football and she said no.  She said no three years in a row and I kept on bothering her so much with that, that she said OK, give it a try.”

His mom eventually gave him permission to play the game, but it wasn’t easy watching her son play football.  In spite of the physicality of the game, she knew the game would benefit her son more than just on the field.

“At first it was a little weird but she's all about sports,” Archambault notes. “She knew it would keep me away from trouble. Where I came from, there are a lot of temptations to go bad as a kid. She wanted to keep me out of trouble in as many organized sports as possible so that's what she did.  As long as I was in the sports, my mom would make the sacrifice and she drove me everywhere for football and hockey and made it work throughout high school as well.  For me, I owe her everything.”

It also helped that Archambault was one of the top football players in the province.  He was recruited by all the major CEGEP (Quebec’s high school system) programs and would go on to attend Vanier College in Montreal. At Vanier, Archambault tried to continue playing hockey as well but chose to focus on football after two years.

"Football just came naturally to me, you know hitting people,” Archamult mentioned.  “Once I started focusing on football, I remember telling my coaches at Notre Dame I would make it to the NCAA, then I'd tell my coaches I would make it to the NFL.  I would always be aiming for the highest step and that's what I've done so far and it's still going.”

Archambault almost made it to the NCAA.  He had interest from schools like Arkansas in the Southeastern Conference but his eligibility files were under two names (Byron Archambault & Byron Perez Archambault) and that error kept him out.

The problems going to a school went further as Commitments to Western and Laval would also fall through as Archambault would want to play at home in Montreal for private personal reasons.  Playing under former CFL coach Danny Macocia, he thrived being named a conference all-star in 2013 (43 tackles, 2.5 sacks) and he topped that in 2014 being named a first team CIS All-Canadian (49.5 tackles, 9 sacks).

“He (Macocia) taught me to focus on every play here in the CIS,” Archambault noted.  “It's by doing the best that I can at this level to make sure I would open eyes in my fourth year.  He taught me a lot of stuff on how to do film and how to do proper work to get ready for a game and all sorts of small things. It's the little things that he taught me that got me to where I am today.”

Archambault has already participated in an NFL regional combine and he will also participate in the CFL combine at the end of March.  He mentioned that he’s hoping to break the record for reps in the bench press (47 held by former Laurier offensive lineman Mike Knill) and he thinks he can do well in the 40 as well. He also believes teams will get to know him best if and when he sits down with them.

“I'm going to be authentic.  That's just the way I am,” he noted.  “I'm just going to show up and do what's asked of me. I'm not the flashiest guy, I'm not trying to attract negative attention. I'm just a positive guy in the locker room. I work towards winning.”

Our next player profile will be on Laurier Defensive End Ese Mrabure-Ajufo, the 18th ranked prospect in the 2015 CFL Draft.