University of Ottawa football player dies shortly after game on Saturday

The University of Ottawa says fifth-year engineering student Francis Perron died not long after the Gee-Gees' game against Toronto on Saturday.
The University of Ottawa says fifth-year engineering student Francis Perron died not long after the Gee-Gees' game against Toronto on Saturday.

The University of Ottawa announced that Francis Perron, one of the school’s football players, died after the team's season opener on Saturday against the University of Toronto.

The statement from university president Jacques Frémont did not mention a cause of death.

The 25-year-old defensive lineman from Sherbrooke, Quebec started playing for the Gee-Gees in 2017 and was named an academic all-Canadian in both 2018 and 2019 as he studied mechanical engineering at the school.

"A bright, passionate, and caring person, Francis poured himself into his craft as a player and his academic pursuit of becoming an engineer. In the classroom, he was as big of a star as on the field," Frémont said.

Frémont also announced that the university will be holding a memorial ceremony in the coming weeks, with full details not available at this time.

An outpouring of condolences flooded social media after the announcement of Perron’s death, with various school staff and athletic personnel sharing their thoughts.

The University of Ottawa’s next game is scheduled for Saturday at Queen’s University. It has yet to be announced whether or not that contest will go ahead as planned.