Q&A: Mitchell Jeter’s Montreal CFL adventure

Former Rock Hill High wrestling and football standout Mitchell Jeter has launched his pro football career north of the American border, in Canada.

Jeter, a standout defensive tackle at The Citadel, didn’t catch on with an NFL team but he did impress scouts and coaches from the CFL’s Montreal Alouettes during a tryout in Mooresville, N.C., in early May. That may seem a random location for a Canadian pro football tryout, but the Alouettes’ coach, Jim Popp, lives in Mooresville in the offseason, is a Tarheel native and also coached for a while at The Citadel in the early 1990s.

Montreal has a well-stocked stable of defensive linemen, so Jeter will need to impress this weekend in the Alouettes’ final preseason game before the close of training camp. The Herald caught up with him Monday to get his impressions of Canadian football and an update on his burgeoning career.

How did you end up in Canadian football?

I was thinking I was gonna get picked up by an NFL team but I never got an invite to a camp so I ended up going to the (Alouettes’) tryout in North Carolina and there, they invited me to rookie camp, and there they signed me.

A lot of NFL Draft hopefuls look down on Canadian football as sort of a last resort; how did you view it?

I never looked down on it because at the end of the day I still get to play football. That’s what I love to do. I was just waiting for an opportunity from any team, NFL, CFL, anybody.

What’s been your impression of Montreal, the city?

They don’t do training camp in Montreal. But from the time I have been in the city I love it, it’s beautiful. I’ve just got to pick up on a little bit of French, that’s all.

Where is your training camp?

We have it in Lennoxville at Bishop’s University. It’s about an hour, 45.

Have you tried poutine yet?

In Winnipeg. That’s the fries with the the gravy and stuff, right?

Yup.

Oh yeah, it’s delicious. It’s funny because I was looking at the menu getting ready to order and I saw where it said fries and then for so and so much money you can add gravy. I thought ‘I’m not gonna do that. I think that’s in the wrong spot.’ A lot of the guys convinced me to try it. It was great.

How much spoken French are you surrounded by in the team?

Well, it feels like everybody on the team knows French, except for me. They don’t really speak it that much because pretty much everybody on the team do speak English, but a lot of people are from here. So they kind of grew up learning French and took English on as a second language.

There’s a player on your team named Bear Woods; what is this guy like?

Oh Bear? He’s a phenomenal athlete. He plays linebacker for us and is just a great guy. Very humble, amazing athlete.

What’s the weirdest thing about the CFL field in your opinion?

For me, it would have to be being a yard off the ball because I wasn’t used to that coming out here. I’ve adjusted well to it. One of the rules is as a defensive lineman, you have to be a yard off the ball, instead of over there in the States where you can crowd it and get as close as possible.

Do you find the collisions more considerable because you and the offensive lineman are getting more speed, or less collisions because the play has already moved away?

I would say it’s probably about the same amount of collisions.

What kind of difference does the yard make?

Well, I’m not really sure. For me, it was just different. Being a yard off it takes a little more time to get there.

Have you had any run-ins with the goal post at the front of the end zone?

(Laughs) No, not yet. But it’s funny because I was thinking about that when we were playing Winnipeg. ‘It would suck to be on national TV and run into that goalpost right there.’

And soon be on YouTube…

Yeah, definitely.

How does that affect goal line defense? Could you get shoved into that thing by a lineman?

As a defensive lineman my job is to not give any ground, so I don’t think they’re gonna shove me into that goalpost. I haven’t seen it happen yet, but I’m sure it’s possible.

Have you seen the CFL’s Grey Cup, the actual trophy?

Yes, I looked it up.

How do you think it compares to the Super Bowl trophy?

It’s definitely real nice. I just really want to win one, it’s huge.

You’ve got former Gamecock Victor Hampton on the team, and former South Carolina State defensive back Dominique Kelly, have you found yourself gravitating toward them?

It’s a little easier to connect with them knowing we’re from the same place, but at the same time everybody on the team is really cool and it’s easy to connect and talk to a lot of people on the team. Everyone tries to spend time together.

How confident were you that your football career would continue after The Citadel?

I was really confident and the closer and closer it got toward the draft, some of that confidence started to slip away. But I never stopped working and grinding because all I needed was that one opportunity. It came from Montreal.

This story was originally published June 14, 2016 at 10:41 AM with the headline "Q&A: Mitchell Jeter’s Montreal CFL adventure."