Wilfrid Laurier football player drafted despite only playing 27 games in his entire life

A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the National Football League (NFL), despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.

Brubacher only started playing football in 2021. The 23-year-old was born and raised in Listowel and didn’t have access to organized football.

“So obviously, going from no previous experience to the university level, there was definitely some times I was running around on the field like a chicken with my head cut off," Brubacher said.

Always wanting to be a professional athlete, Brubacher said he wasn’t the best at the sports available in his area. He took up boxing before attending Wilfrid Laurier University for Kinesiology. During the pandemic, he reached out to the football team for a tryout.

“We quickly responded with somewhat of a generic email that we send all walk-on prospects because he didn’t have film and he didn’t talk much about his stature. But when he quickly replied saying, 'I’m from Listowel Ontario. We didn’t have high school football. We didn’t have summer football but I’ve had experience in boxing and I’m 6’6” 250 lbs.’ All of a sudden we quickly responded and said, ‘Yes, we’re going to have an opportunity for you,’" Michael Faulds, head coach of the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks football team said.