ERIE, Pa. - Gannon's
Andrew Peirson (Kingston, Ontario/Holy Cross Secondary School) has signed a free agent contract with the British Columbia Lions of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and is currently competing in training camp for a regular-season roster spot. The deal was inked in mid-May.
Peirson is listed on the BC preseason depth chart as a center on the offensive line. A member of the CFL since 1958, the Lions have won six Grey Cup championships. The organization has made 10 Grey Cup appearances and captured 13 regular-season division/league titles.
CFL training camps opened May 21 with rosters mandated to be cut down to 46 players with a 10-player practice squad by June 9. BC opens its preseason schedule Friday, June 1 at Calgary and former Gannon football standout Randy Colling. The Lions have two preseason contests, before kicking off the regular season Saturday, June 16 against Montreal.
A finance and entrepreneurship dual major, Peirson was a four-year letterwinner and two-year starter at Gannon. Originally an offensive lineman, he stepped up and played snaps on the defensive side as a senior when injuries cut into the Golden Knights' depth. He did this while playing both sides of the ball at the same time.
Peirson recorded 15 tackles as a defensive lineman while helping block for the nation's sixth-ranked rushing attack. The Kingston, Ontario, native was named a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Scholar-Athlete and received the NCAA Division II Athletics Directors Association (ADA) Academic Achievement Award every year during his collegiate career.
Several Gannon football standouts are on the professional scene. In addition to Peirson and Colling in the CFL, Liam Nadler is currently the starting quarterback for the Sioux City Bandits of the Champions Indoor Football League (CIF) and
Tyler Palka (Temperance, Mich./Saline) recently competed in rookie minicamp for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL).
