By Tim Bennett, Yale Assistant Sports Publicity Director
Late last fall, it looked like former Yale quarterback Matt
Polhemus ’08 was ready to begin a career as a commercial real
estate broker in Boston. He had been serving as the quarterback
coach at his old high school on Cape Cod so football wasn’t
completely out of his system, but when Jones Lang LaSalle offered
him a job that would start in January, it seemed like the right
thing to do. A message he received in his Facebook account a few
days later changed that.
“It read `Are you interested in playing football in
France?’ At first I thought it was a complete joke that one
of my friends was playing on me, but I responded with some follow
up questions and did some research on the league,” Polhemus
said. “After talking it over with my family, I realized that
it was a once in a lifetime opportunity and it was the perfect time
in my life to do it.”
So Polhemus, who quarterbacked the Bulldogs to a share of the 2006
Ivy League title, packed his bags, got some cleats from Jeff Torre
of the Yale equipment staff and flew to Paris on Nov.18. His new
team was Les Cougars of Saint Ouen L’amone, a small town
located about 40 minutes outside of Paris. The league was made up
of predominantly French players, but each team was allowed two
Americans. Joining Polhemus on Les Cougars was Matt Rhodes, who
played offensive guard at Georgia Tech.
“The language barrier was a problem at first, as I knew ZERO
French when I arrived,” Polhemus said. “I felt like I
was in a 24-hour French class. However, being engulfed in a
language and a culture does help you learn much faster, and by the
end, I was able to carry on a low-level `frenglish’
conversation with my French friends.”
Les Cougars Coach Xavier Mas learned of Polhemus after spending
the week leading up to the 2007 Yale-Harvard game with the Crimson
coaching staff. Scott Larkee, Harvard’s defensive
coordinator, had played for Mas.
Les Cougars played a 10-game schedule, but there was a week off
between each game, so Polhemus was able to travel throughout
Europe, including trips to Dublin, Barcelona, Munich, Amsterdam,
Athens, Croatia and Southern France.
“Throughout my stay, my French teammates would try and
`culture’ us as much as possible,” Polhemus said.
“Guys would have me over to their house to have a traditional
French meal with their families, and we would have team parties or
meals often.”
The players on the team ranged in age from the youngest, 20, to
the oldest, 36. Many were French college students, while others had
full-time jobs, including a fireman, a 300-pound French horn player
in the French Symphony, a watch salesman and a custom t-shirt
designer.
“It was great to see all these different guys come together
with two recent American college graduates to create a real
team,” Polhemus said. “The team was full of great guys,
who I still keep in touch with and consider close
friends.”
Les Cougars had struggled in recent years, but Polhemus and Rhodes
helped the team to a more successful season.
“There was a team atmosphere there that they said they
hadn’t experienced in the past, and it yielded some
come-from-behind wins that highlighted many of these guys’
careers,” said Polhemus, who played quarterback and also saw
time at strong safety. “At the end of the year, we
didn’t have as many wins as I would have liked, but many of
guys thanked Matt and me for their most memorable season ever. It
felt great to be a part of another team and especially one as
unique as this.”
Polhemus has returned to the United States and is currently
working for Jones Lang LaSalle in New York doing commercial real
estate brokerage.