Qadr Spooner

Qadr Spooner, born and raised in Brossard, Québec, grew up with his two younger brothers who shared his love of football. His father wasn't around much, while his mother was constantly working. He played bantam football with the Greenfield Park Packers, in which he played as a defensive lineman. He also played at the midget level of football, while he attended Centennial High School.

During this time, his long-time D-line coach, Jim Gingera, noticed that even though Spooner stood out as a D-lineman, he knew he would also make an excellent offensive lineman. In his second year of midget, his team, the Packers, were short of men on the O-line and so Spooner was put there for the time being. He much preferred being a defensive lineman but he did excel greatly on the O-line.

After some trouble at his school and being at risk of dropping out, he left Centennial and went to an alternate program to focus on academics. There, his teacher really helped him get back on track with school, while also balancing a job to stay out of poverty, and he left the program early to go back to Centennial, where he graduated on time.[3]

After graduating from Centennial, Spooner attended Vanier College in Montréal, Québec. There, he played for their football team, the Vanier Cheetahs. He continued to play more and more as an offensive lineman, still not too keen on it. While studying special care counseling and keeping a job, Spooner played for the Cheetahs for three years. By that time, he finally accepted being a full-time offensive lineman.

Spooner finished off his college career at McGill University in Montréal, where he played for the McGill Redmen.[3]

Coming out of McGill, Spooner was a high-ranking prospect heading toward the 2017 draft. The CFL Scouting Bureau ranked Spooner as the 13th best prospect, and 5th best offensive lineman, after seeing him in the combine.[4] There, he tied with D-lineman Mathieu Dupuis with the third best bench press, at 31 reps.[5] Spooner would then go on to be selected by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the second round, as the 15th overall pick in the draft.[6]