Bill Parcells. Wade Phillips. Jason Garrett. Mat McBriar. Sam Paulescu. Chris Jones. Brian Moorman. Jose Cortez. Billy Cundiff. Shaun Suisham. Mike Vanderjagt. Martin Gramatica. Nick Folk. David Buehler. Dan Bailey. Mike Nugent. Brett Maher. Kai Forbath. Tony Romo. He’s been integral for all of them.
The Dallas Cowboys will enter a new era in 2020, but they’re bringing with them a bridge to their past. Longtime long snapper L.P. Ladouceur will return for a 16th season, bringing back much more than a key special teams role.
Originally a 2005 UDFA signing who was later cut by the New Orleans Saints, Ladouceur caught on with Dallas during Week 4 that year, and has remained entrenched ever since. New head coach Mike McCarthy will be the fourth regime he’ll play under, twice as many as any other player.
The 39-year-old Ladouceur has appeared in 236 consecutive games, second-most in team history. He’s the last remaining player to have stepped onto the field at Texas Stadium. He’s the last to have been yelled at by Bill Parcells. He’s the team’s elder statesman, and most veteran. And though the Dallas bias caught up with him in a 2018 game, he’s been literally perfect the entire time, batting 1.000 on snaps for his career, earning Pro Bowl honors in 2014.
Amidst so much organizational change, having Ladouceur back will be huge this season. For him, it’ll be mostly business as usual, but the start of the season might be a little different, as it’ll mark the one-year anniversary of Ladouceur becoming an American citizen.
Hailing from Montreal, Ladouceur is one of three Canadian-born Cowboys players (Tyrone Crawford and 2019 rookie Neville Gallimore). Football first brought him to America, on a scholarship to play at the University of California. He played for the Cowboys on yearly work permits for eight seasons, first beginning the naturalization process in 2013. Said Ladouceur of his citizenship journey, “To me there is a sense of accomplishment because I have spent 19 years in this country. I’ve spent half my time on earth here in this country. My wife is American. Our kids are American, and I wanted to be able to complete that. There is pride in that I stuck this out and I got it done and I am an American. I will always be a Canadian at heart but I’m also an American.”
On March 17, Ladouceur signed a 1 year, $1,187,500 contract which included a $137,500 signing bonus. Of that $887,500 is guaranteed, and an average annual salary of $1,187,500. Because of the veteran minimum salary benefit, only the $887,500 works against the Cowboys’ salary cap.
A 2020 Super Bowl run would certainly cap off a wonderful career for the French Canadian American, especially validating for a Cowboys player who’s been a part of so much modern team history.
This is part of our Countdown to the Regular Season player profile countdown. With 90 days remaining until the NFL’s first game, up next is defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence.
| Antwaun Woods | Tyrone Crawford | Trysten Hill | Jalen Jelks |
| Dontari Poe | Randy Gregory| Gerald McCoy | Dorance Armstrong |
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