If anyone wants to illustrate what constitutes a good example of integration into a French-speaking community, all they have to do is take a picture of Tyrell Sutton.
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The 36-year-old American grew up in Ohio, far from snow and Putin. However, his ball carrier career took him to Montreal, where he played for the Alouettes from 2013 to 2018.
He fell in love in the metropolis of Québec. The saying goes: “He who takes man takes land”. In Sutton’s case, we need to replace “husband” with “wife” instead.
The one who wore number 20 at the Sparrows fell in love with Émilie Desgagné, who was working for the club at the time. The lovebirds tied the knot in 2019 when Sutton played for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. They returned to Montreal, their homeland, the following off-season and never moved again. At the time, Sutton still hoped to play at least one more season in the CFL, but the COVID-19 pandemic put an end to that dream.
Today he’s back with the Alouettes as the running back coach. In the three years separating these two moments, the Sutton-Desgagné family grew and welcomed a baby boy.
“Here is my home!”
Largely because of the presence of this little human, Sutton decided to learn French.
“This is my home! I wanted to speak the language, so in the fall I took a three-month intensive course,” he said in excellent French.
“It was mainly for my son who will soon be 3 years old. He’s a fast learner. I want to be able to follow him and understand him.”
Hearing Sutton speak French sounds like he’s been speaking it for years. That’s what offensive coordinator Anthony Calvillo said.
Like Sutton, “AC” is an American who has made Montreal his hometown and decided to learn the language from Molière.
“We’ve been here for so long. When I was playing, that wasn’t a priority. When I hung up my shoulder pads, I thought it was time to start, said the former Alouettes quarterback. My daughters went to school in French and my wife speaks four languages. I had no excuse.”
Calvillo was also touched to know that he was an inspiration to Sutton in his goal to understand and speak the local language.
“It’s important to lead by example,” he said. Last year I was speaking French to our group of players pretty quickly. I did this for two reasons. First to show the guys here that I’m trying. Second, I want to show newcomers that learning French is possible.”
A privilege
To return to Sutton, the new French supporter is very fortunate to be able to start his second career close to his homeland.
“It’s a privilege to be able to train at home. I have a chance to take the plunge into this profession while staying close to my family,” he stressed, adding that he would not have forced a change on his family, but that he would have taken an instructor role elsewhere if the “As” had not been interested in his services.
With his experience running back in the CFL, Sutton believes he has what it takes to see William Stanback, Walter Fletcher and Jeshrun Antwi succeed in 2023.
And who knows? It may give them a desire to learn a few words in French.