Thompson represents Fredericton, McGill at East West Bowl

The eighth annual Canadian Interuniversity Sport East-West Bowl football game, set for May 8 at Waterhouse Stadium in London, Ont., may be a watershed game for Fredericton’s Ben Thompson.

The 20-year-old defensive tackle, who completed a dominating third season with the McGill Redmen of the Quebec Intercollegiate Football Conference, was named to the Eastern entry for the game, considered a showcase for Canadian Football League draft-eligible players – and justice overdue as far as defensive co-ordinator Clinton Uttley is concerned.

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“I think he totally got ripped off for all-Conference and all-Canadian,” said Uttley, who has coached his share of both over his university career. “He led the country in tackles for a defensive lineman. He led the country in tackles for loss for a defensive lineman. And he had four-and-a-half sacks as an inside defensive lineman … (I’m) kind of getting past my bitterness.”

More important as far as the six-foot-one, 260-pound captain was concerned, the rebuilding Redmen broke their three-year-old 17-game CIS losing streak, winning their first CIS contest in three seasons when they beat the Sherbrooke Vert et Or 29-11 in their home opener last September.

“I think I cried that game,” admitted Thompson, a product of the Capital Area Minor Football Association and the Fredericton High School football programs. “It was pretty emotional for everyone.”

The Redmen won two more in the regular season to finish 3-5. But for Thompson, this is the biggest in a while.

“It’s a very big game,” said Thompson. “The first day you’re there, you have a combine. There are CFL and I think maybe some NFL scouts, and they watch you practise for six days straight.”

For Thompson, it will simply be more of the same. He spent the summer in Montreal last year after completing his second year of school, and Uttley believes his commitment to improvement and his maturing as a person were the biggest factors in what turned out to be a breakout season, both for Big Ben and the Redmen.

“His development came in large part due to two things: one, he stayed here for the summer and trained,” said Uttley. “That made a massive difference. Secondly, I think through his own play, he appointed himself a leader. He was a young, immature guy who was not afraid to have fun, Maritime style. But he matured. He’s a man now. When he got here, he was a boy.”

Nor does Uttley underestimate the impact of defensive line coach Jerome Erdman, a former CFL player and coach who served on the McGill staff and designed a system that helped Thompson excel.
“To not mention his name would not be fair,” Uttley said. “I think he did an outstanding job teaching Ben the nuances.”
Thompson was a willing – and an excellent – student.

In the classroom, Thompson has a 2.65 grade point average in the business program, with a concentration in finance and entrepreneurship at McGill, one of the toughest academic institutions in the country.

“School’s really hard,” admitted Thompson. “My marks aren’t perfect.”

But, like Thompson the football player, they’re getting better all the time. Thompson hopes that, by turning a few heads on the field in London, he’ll turn a few heads among pro scouts too.
“I’m hoping to get drafted next year,” he said.

Uttley believes that’s a realistic ambition.

“I think they (CFL scouts) already know who he is,” Uttley said. “They want to see him as a three-technique (player). They want to see him against the best kids. They want to see why I’ve been complaining all winter that we got ripped off. I hope he does really well.”

But first things first.

“We’re going to do a bunch of different things with him this year,” he said. “He’s going to play his regular three-technique spot as a defensive tackle, but he’s also going to play some inside linebacker. Not that you want to build a system around one kid, but he’s our pass rush. We do a lot of different things with him to try to get him in situations where he can get to the quarterback. He’s put himself into that kind of role.”

That’s because he’s a Redman with a blue collar.

He was in Montreal from July on last year, working three sessions a week with the school’s track coach to improve his running form, agility and explosiveness.

“Those are big,” Thompson said. “Weight training and strength will only get you so far. Speed, explosiveness and agility I’d say are the most important things. Just being able to read plays faster and get to where I was supposed to be a little bit quicker made a big difference for me.”

He’s been in the weight room – he can bench press 225 pounds 17 times and hopes to get it “up around 20,” and working with the Vertimax, a machine which helps develop speed, power and jumping ability.
“I can almost dunk now,” he said, chuckling. “That’s my goal … to dunk.”

Before he hits the basketball court though, there’s the matter of this football game.

Selection as one of three McGill players to the East-West roster was proof that hard work pays off.
“I worked for it pretty hard, so I was hoping to get it,” Thompson said. “It was nice.”

He was nominated for four trophies at the team’s annual banquet, including the Most Valuable Player and best team player. He won the awards as the team’s most valuable lineman and top defensive player.
“I managed to come away with some pretty good games,” he said modestly. “Most of my games were pretty good, I guess.”
Uttley was a little more enthusiastic.

“There were games last year when he took over games,” said Uttley. “The Concordia game, the Saint Mary’s game … if you went back and watched the film, he crushed Saint Mary’s last year. He took over the Sherbrooke game.

“The big thing about Ben is his quickness. The next big thing would be, he has a motor. He wants to get to the football on a regular basis and he takes a lot of pride in it.”

Thompson fits the profile for some CFL teams better than others.

Uttley believes Toronto or British Columbia – where another former FHS player, Dan McCullough plays – may take a longer look at Thompson than, say, the hometown Montreal Alouettes might.

“If you look at how the Alouettes do things, their three or four inside (defensive) players are all-Americans. The Argos are all-Canadian on their interior D-line, or even Hamilton … I would see him going to one of the two Ontario teams before going there. In B.C., they put a premium on Canadian linemen too.”

Uttley believes he can make the step. “He actually looks like a pro prospect now,” he said. “Before, he had baby fat. Now, Ben is jacked. The biggest thing for him is to refine his technique.”
“The coaches say it’s realistic, but I won’t know until I see how I match up with the best in the country,” Thompson said. “The East-West will give me a nice perspective on whether it’s realistic or not. But I think it is.”

Published Wednesday April 21st, 2010
By Bill Hunt
[email][email protected]

Advocating for football prospects one story at a time.

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