Class 2012: Eric Egan; From A Bobcat to a Bear (Video)

This will not be the first time representing Alberta for Eric Egan, but this time he will be shedding the blue and white and donning the green and gold. This transition will take Eric from a bobcat to a bear, as well as from Calgary to Edmonton.

Eric Egan

Position:

Linebacker/Long snapper

Height & Weight:

6’3, 215 lbs

Teams:

Bishop O’Byrne High School
Calgary Bulldogs (Pee Wee-Midget)
2008 Alberta Summer Games (Team Calgary-Zone 3)
2008 Calgary Selects
2011 Team Alberta U-18

Commitment:

University of Alberta Golden Bears

Class:

2012

Eric Egan credits his father with getting him started in sports. But football actually wasn’t his first choice. Tae kwon do was Eric’s first sport and he spent six years of his life devoting his time to it. It wasn’t until he began to lose interest at age 13 that him and his father decided to try another route.

Eric started his football career with the Pee Wee Calgary Bulldogs, as a left guard! Eric then switched to linebacker for Bantam and Midget, both with the Bulldogs organization, and was a major contributor to those teams’ success (two city championships). In high school Eric played for the Bishop O’Byrne Bobcats and helped get his team to the division one finals all three seasons, winning the city championship twice.

During his years playing football in Calgary Eric has not only achieved a great amount of success with his teams, but has received some individual accolades as well. Starting in 2008 when Eric was named linebacker of the year, he was also chosen to represent Calgary in the Alberta Summer Games, as well as the Calgary Selects team. In 2009 he won his first high school city championship, leading his high school’s junior team to the division 1 championship. He was also named to the Calgary All Star team in the process. This past year, 2011, was probably the busiest year for him. Eric was named to represent Team Alberta at the U-18 Canada Cup where he helped Alberta make it to the finals before losing to Quebec. Back home in Calgary Eric captained both his Midget Bulldogs team and his high school’s senior team to Division 1 city championships.

Out of all of these memories Eric was able to pick one as his most memorable. Many people would probably assume it would have been one of his city championships, or maybe playing for Team Alberta. But Eric says his most memorable experience was his time representing Calgary at the Alberta Summer Games.

“It was my first big all-star game. It was really cool to compete against the provinces best for the first time… and it was an awesome game. We were down by two touchdowns with 1:40 left in the game and we came from behind to beat Edmonton,” says Eric. “It was my first major championship, and it was really cool to take part in such an experience.”

Eric credits his parents with being the most influential people in his life. Not only was his father the one who got him into football, but both help to push and support him in life as well.

“My parents are very supportive, my dad pushes me and my mom is kind of the support. Dad gets on me, mom backs me up,” he says.

One other person stands out when Eric thinks about those who have had an influence on him.

“A couple months before I even started playing pee wee football Nik Lewis actually gave me an extra push. My dad and I were driving by McMahon Stadium and my dad decided to stop. We just kind of walked onto the field and Nik Lewis came over,” recollects Eric. “After telling him about my experience with tae kwon do and how I was about to start football he said something I’ll never forget. He said ‘make me a promise, I want to see you in CFL one day,’ that was so big for me, just having a pro say that to me was really inspirational…”

As for the future Eric plans on getting the most out of his university experience. Off the field he plans to pursue a business degree at the University of Alberta. On the field his goals are pretty big too.

“Ideally I would like to come in and have an impact as soon as possible, but over the time I stay in Edmonton I would like to personally be a part of turning the program into a competitor. Hopefully we can make it to a Vanier while I am there. I think with Stead’s recruiting (head coach Jeff Stead) and time, things will jell and we will be well off,” says the Golden bear recruit.

“Really I am just looking forward to showing what I can do and competing. I want to compete personally for a spot, but I also want to help the team compete.”

credit to Branislav Srnec for second photo