Quarterback Treveon Albert and defensive end Teddy Corwin will join the twice defending French Elite Division 1 champions St. Ouen l’Aumône Cougars in Paris for the 2017 Fédération Française de Football Américain (FFFA) Elite season.
Cougars general manager Xavier Mas on the signings;
“I think his (Albert) quickness and toughness will be a good asset for us. We lost half of my wide receiver corps so we needed to add another weapon to our offensive threat.
Regarding Corwin, Teddy is a very quick defensive end, and so athletic that he can also play tight end. He was invited to the Redskins rookie mini-camp last may and recently the Seattle Seahawks asked him to send some tight ends routes for a potential invitation but nothing came of it. He was signed to play for the new pro league in Australia (NGL) but with the postponed season, he was available to join us.”
The Cougars break with the typical European custom of waiting until closer to the season to sign athletes and have them report to the team. The French Elite championship begins in January and Mas will have his imports in Europe this fall.
“I always ask our imports to report in October because we don’t consider them as a cherry on the pie. We want them to be with their teammates on day one. We also want them to help in coaching on some other Cougars teams and want them to be in France early to adjust,” says Mas.
“And I don’t want to wait the until last moment to find my guys. As soon as we all know that we’ll be working together then it’s better for everyone. We can prepare in serenity.”
The Cougars defeated the Nice Dauphins 28-17 in this years final. It was only the second appearance in the French championship game for St. Ouen and their second win. The Cougars topped the Thonon-les-bains Black Panthers in 2015. The Cougars are the first team to have ever won the French title twice in a row with no previous appearances.