07-08-2024, 12:08 PM
(This post was last modified: 07-10-2024, 07:26 PM by wetwilleh. Edited 2 times in total.)
Cedric Theriault glanced out the window of his hotel in Cape Town and had to do a double take. There was no way it was snowing. Here?!
Theriault was drafted by the ISFL’s Cape Town Crash on Friday night. The team arranged for him to fly in Saturday morning to check the city out. He’d been there for about 24 hours before a winter storm started rolling in. That’s what happens when you draft a Canadian, I guess.
Of course, a winter storm in South Africa and a winter storm in Theriault's home town of Laval are two very different things. In Cape Town, a winter storm means the temperature during the day might be +8 or +9 Celsius (in the high 40s Fahrenheit); a little colder at night. Temperatures below freezing are practically unheard of, even in the June and July winters. Nevertheless, as the temperature late Sunday night dipped to just barely above freezing, falling snow glistened in the sky above Cape Town, instantly melting as it landed.
Cape Town itself sees snow only extremely rarely; it’s a little more common in the higher-altitude mountainous areas nearby.
“It’s kind of funny in a way,” says Theriault. “It’s a pretty big culture shock coming here. It’s very beautiful, but it’s very different… and then there’s that snow in the sky and that’s just about as “home” as you can get for a kid from Quebec.”
The snow is long gone Monday morning, though you can still see a layer of white on Table Mountain in the city’s backdrop, and the sky looks poised to open up again any minute. It is, in fact, not the greatest time to be visiting – the winter storm has brought high winds that wreak havoc on the coastal areas of Cape Town. Some citizens have had to be evacuated as low-lying areas are battered with waves, and there’s flooding in the area made worse by persistent rain.
Sunday was an eventful day on the whole for Theriault, who met up with team management early on for a tour of the facilities. The stadium is beautiful, a relatively new open-air stadium not far from the coast. Looking out one way, you have a beautiful ocean view; the other, you can see Signal Hill and Table Mountain. “I haven’t seen anything quite like that,” says Theriault. “Even on a day like this, it’s spectacular. It’s exciting to think it’ll be my home field in a season or two.”
On-field activities were halted due to the storm, so Theriault won’t get on the field with his new teammates until later in the week - if at all, since he’s due to return to his DSFL team in a few days. But he’s been introduced to some, including running back mates Jarvis Harbinger-Marjin, Hercules Henry, Nakiri Ayame, and Scorch von Turbo. “It’s a great group. A lot of good players there and a lot that a new guy like me can learn from all of them. I’m excited to be a part of it.”
Harbinger-Marjin has played 13 years in the league, 10 of them with Cape Town, compiling 14541 rushing yards, 4697 receiving yards, and 155 combined TDs. In 2055 he ran for 22 TDs, the fifth-best single season in league history. The next year, he ran for 1846 yards, ranked fifth all-time in that category. He’s second in all-time rushing yards and third all-time in scrimmage yards and TDs.
“Like I said. A lot that a new guy can learn,” says Theriault. “How do you beat a resume like that?”
These days, most of the backfield work goes to Ayame (who also returns kicks) and Henry, while von Turbo is the next most junior member of the Cape Town RB room. Ayame has some pretty substantial credentials too – for example, a 2061 campaign with 1470 rushing yards and 991 receiving yards that set the ISFL record with 2461 yards from scrimmage. Theriault, who prides himself on being an all-around back who can contribute as a runner, a receiver, and as a returner as well, says he can only hope to be able to make that kind of impact on the game one day. "Nakiri is such a good player, right? That's the kind of back I aspire to be. I want to be able to help my team win in as many different ways as I can. I love that. I've got film of Nakiri from 2061 back in my room that I'm studying during my downtime, it's awesome."
The highlight of the day for Theriault, though, was finally getting to wear an ISFL jersey with his name on it. “It was pretty cool to see that purple jersey with my name and number on it, I’m not gonna lie. I was a third-round pick, right, so I got the Crash jersey on draft day but you don't put the nameplate on for your later picks because you never know who you're gonna get... so this was the first professional jersey with the 11 on it, with 'Theriault' on it and it's just super cool. A little surreal. But just kind of a symbol of all the hard work you’ve put in to get this far, of all your accomplishments. It means a lot. I’m sure it’ll be even better when I finally get to wear it on game day.”
As the storm continues to batter Cape Town over the next few days, and even roads near the stadium may need to be closed, Theriault expects a relatively uneventful week. “I think I’ll just be shacked up in the room for a while. I’ve got the playbook, brought my Nintendo Switch and there’s a nice gym and hot tub at the hotel so… I’ll figure out how to stay occupied. Hopefully meet up with some teammates for dinner or something.”
“It’s not lost on me that I’m really lucky to be in this position and right now there are people whose homes and livelihoods are at risk so… I hope the best for everyone affected and let’s just hope this thing clears up soon.”
Friday morning, after the DSFL draft on Thursday night, Theriault will return to Dallas, where he hopes he can help the Birddogs improve on last season's 4-10 record. The Birddogs will probably have quarterback Zack Vega Jr. returning, along with players like receiver Darius Fasttrack, defensive tackle Tony Chazz, and kicker William Metzler. They traded Theriault's backfield mate last season, Sweet Sweet Ganjasmoke, to Norfolk, and it seems as though Alexander Rockstone will be moving up to the ISFL after being selected first overall by Colorado. "We'll have a better picture I guess after the draft, as far as what the team will look like this year goes," says Theriault. "But at the end of the day I'm going to just be the best player that I can be and we'll see where it goes from there. Hopefully we don't have to put up with going 4-10 again. Nobody likes to lose that much."
Theriault was drafted by the ISFL’s Cape Town Crash on Friday night. The team arranged for him to fly in Saturday morning to check the city out. He’d been there for about 24 hours before a winter storm started rolling in. That’s what happens when you draft a Canadian, I guess.
Of course, a winter storm in South Africa and a winter storm in Theriault's home town of Laval are two very different things. In Cape Town, a winter storm means the temperature during the day might be +8 or +9 Celsius (in the high 40s Fahrenheit); a little colder at night. Temperatures below freezing are practically unheard of, even in the June and July winters. Nevertheless, as the temperature late Sunday night dipped to just barely above freezing, falling snow glistened in the sky above Cape Town, instantly melting as it landed.
Cape Town itself sees snow only extremely rarely; it’s a little more common in the higher-altitude mountainous areas nearby.
“It’s kind of funny in a way,” says Theriault. “It’s a pretty big culture shock coming here. It’s very beautiful, but it’s very different… and then there’s that snow in the sky and that’s just about as “home” as you can get for a kid from Quebec.”
The snow is long gone Monday morning, though you can still see a layer of white on Table Mountain in the city’s backdrop, and the sky looks poised to open up again any minute. It is, in fact, not the greatest time to be visiting – the winter storm has brought high winds that wreak havoc on the coastal areas of Cape Town. Some citizens have had to be evacuated as low-lying areas are battered with waves, and there’s flooding in the area made worse by persistent rain.
Sunday was an eventful day on the whole for Theriault, who met up with team management early on for a tour of the facilities. The stadium is beautiful, a relatively new open-air stadium not far from the coast. Looking out one way, you have a beautiful ocean view; the other, you can see Signal Hill and Table Mountain. “I haven’t seen anything quite like that,” says Theriault. “Even on a day like this, it’s spectacular. It’s exciting to think it’ll be my home field in a season or two.”
On-field activities were halted due to the storm, so Theriault won’t get on the field with his new teammates until later in the week - if at all, since he’s due to return to his DSFL team in a few days. But he’s been introduced to some, including running back mates Jarvis Harbinger-Marjin, Hercules Henry, Nakiri Ayame, and Scorch von Turbo. “It’s a great group. A lot of good players there and a lot that a new guy like me can learn from all of them. I’m excited to be a part of it.”
Harbinger-Marjin has played 13 years in the league, 10 of them with Cape Town, compiling 14541 rushing yards, 4697 receiving yards, and 155 combined TDs. In 2055 he ran for 22 TDs, the fifth-best single season in league history. The next year, he ran for 1846 yards, ranked fifth all-time in that category. He’s second in all-time rushing yards and third all-time in scrimmage yards and TDs.
“Like I said. A lot that a new guy can learn,” says Theriault. “How do you beat a resume like that?”
These days, most of the backfield work goes to Ayame (who also returns kicks) and Henry, while von Turbo is the next most junior member of the Cape Town RB room. Ayame has some pretty substantial credentials too – for example, a 2061 campaign with 1470 rushing yards and 991 receiving yards that set the ISFL record with 2461 yards from scrimmage. Theriault, who prides himself on being an all-around back who can contribute as a runner, a receiver, and as a returner as well, says he can only hope to be able to make that kind of impact on the game one day. "Nakiri is such a good player, right? That's the kind of back I aspire to be. I want to be able to help my team win in as many different ways as I can. I love that. I've got film of Nakiri from 2061 back in my room that I'm studying during my downtime, it's awesome."
The highlight of the day for Theriault, though, was finally getting to wear an ISFL jersey with his name on it. “It was pretty cool to see that purple jersey with my name and number on it, I’m not gonna lie. I was a third-round pick, right, so I got the Crash jersey on draft day but you don't put the nameplate on for your later picks because you never know who you're gonna get... so this was the first professional jersey with the 11 on it, with 'Theriault' on it and it's just super cool. A little surreal. But just kind of a symbol of all the hard work you’ve put in to get this far, of all your accomplishments. It means a lot. I’m sure it’ll be even better when I finally get to wear it on game day.”
As the storm continues to batter Cape Town over the next few days, and even roads near the stadium may need to be closed, Theriault expects a relatively uneventful week. “I think I’ll just be shacked up in the room for a while. I’ve got the playbook, brought my Nintendo Switch and there’s a nice gym and hot tub at the hotel so… I’ll figure out how to stay occupied. Hopefully meet up with some teammates for dinner or something.”
“It’s not lost on me that I’m really lucky to be in this position and right now there are people whose homes and livelihoods are at risk so… I hope the best for everyone affected and let’s just hope this thing clears up soon.”
Friday morning, after the DSFL draft on Thursday night, Theriault will return to Dallas, where he hopes he can help the Birddogs improve on last season's 4-10 record. The Birddogs will probably have quarterback Zack Vega Jr. returning, along with players like receiver Darius Fasttrack, defensive tackle Tony Chazz, and kicker William Metzler. They traded Theriault's backfield mate last season, Sweet Sweet Ganjasmoke, to Norfolk, and it seems as though Alexander Rockstone will be moving up to the ISFL after being selected first overall by Colorado. "We'll have a better picture I guess after the draft, as far as what the team will look like this year goes," says Theriault. "But at the end of the day I'm going to just be the best player that I can be and we'll see where it goes from there. Hopefully we don't have to put up with going 4-10 again. Nobody likes to lose that much."