Duron Carter leaves a big void for Alouettes ...

[url]http://montrealgazette.com/category/sports/football/cfl/montreal-alouettes[/url]

Enjoyed Herb's article, except for the obligatory, petty, gratuitous shot at Jim Popp:

Had Als general manager Jim Popp signed Carter for three seasons, the process would have been delayed by a year.

Carter always seemed to me to intend to use the CFL to get a NFL shot ASAP, so how can Herb possibly know that 3 years was even an option? But why let facts stand in the way of a good snipe.

But otherwise a good read.

Read the article again. It's not a snipe, quite the opposite. He's saying that even if it had been a three-year contract, Carter still would have left at its conclusion.

For sure the CFL was Carter's planned step to the NFL. He hadn't played since 2010 at JC. If his petition to play at Florida Atlantic in 2012 was ok'd he would not have been in the CFL. Since it didn't he took the Montreal offer of half a season on the PR before getting into the line up. A much better deal than to again try to stay eligible at an NCAA school. The only thing he had to study was football. with no classes he spent TC and 9 games training.