Mathieu Betts


Mathieu Betts is an outside linebacker and defensive linemen for the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League. Betts is the only player in U Sports football history to have won four major individual awards after he won the 2015 Peter Gorman Trophy as the most outstanding rookie and the 2016–2018 J. P. Metras Trophy awards as the most outstanding down lineman. He is a two-time Vanier Cup champion.
After being drafted by the Eskimos with the third-overall pick in the 2019 CFL Draft, Betts joined the Chicago Bears of the National Football League. When he was released after the 2019 preseason, he returned to Canada to join the Eskimos.

University career

Betts began his U Sports football career with the Laval Rouge et Or in 2015 where he recorded a nation-leading 12 sacks in eight regular season games played en route to being named the Most Outstanding Rookie. In 2016, he had nine sacks in eight regular season games, second-best in the country, and was named the Most Outstanding Down Lineman at season's end. He also won his first Vanier Cup championship as part of Laval's 52nd Vanier Cup win. He won his second consecutive J. P. Metras Trophy in 2017 and won for the third time in 2018, becoming the first player to ever win the award three times. He finished his fourth year of eligibility in 2018 with another Vanier Cup championship in the 54th Vanier Cup game.

Professional career

In the 2019 CFL Scouting Bureau Rankings for December, Betts was named as the top available prospect in the 2019 CFL Draft. He was one of two U Sports players invited to play in the 2019 East–West Shrine Game. On May 2, he was selected third overall in the CFL Draft by the Edmonton Eskimos, though at the time he was under contract with the Chicago Bears.

Chicago Bears

After the 2019 NFL Draft on April 27, Betts signed with the Chicago Bears as an undrafted free agent on a three-year contract. Betts was among the final roster cuts on August 31.

Edmonton Eskimos

Betts formally joined the Edmonton Eskimos on September 9, 2019, after being selected by the Eskimos in the first round of the 2019 CFL Draft. In his first game, Betts made a major contribution in making a sack, forcing a fumble against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. The following week against the Ottawa Redblacks, Betts had another sack. These were his only statistics in the 6 games of his rookie season.