From Football to Olympic Bobsled
Jesse Lumsden has been scouted for professional football since 2004, when he was a superstar running back at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. As the top university football player in Canada, Jesse set CIS records during his final college season in three categories. At the end of that season, Jesse won the Hec Crighton Award, which is comparable to the Heisman Trophy in the US.
After bouncing around between the NFL and the CFL, Jesse eventually landed in the Canadian Football League, currently with the Edmonton Eskimos. First quarter, first game with the Eskimos, Jesse dislocated his shoulder and was out for the season. He has a history of injuries throughout his short professional career, but has found bobsledding to be a good cross-training tool and a great competitive sport.
Enjoying a sport that does not effect his shoulder injury, Jesse moved on to race competitively at the Canadian championships in 2009 with bobsled legend, Pierre Leuders (the most decorated Canadian of all time in bobsledding). Leuders was impressed with Jesse and invited him to join the two-man and four-man teams as the brakeman for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, Leuders‘ fifth consecutive Olympic games.
Competing in the Vancouver games, Jesse teamed up with Leuders for fifth in the two-man bobsled. Later, Canada 2, including Jesse came in fifth in the four-man bobsled competition. While this is probably Pierre Leuders last Olympics, who knows what lies ahead for the young football player-turned Olympic bobsledder, Jesse Lumsden, from Burlington, Ontario?
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.