What do freshmen
Christian Cardone, Cole Belway and Jacob Izquierdo have in common? All three
attended the same high school their fathers, they are now attending the same university
as their father playing post-secondary football with the Dinos. All three also
won City Championships in High School, just like their father. But that is
where the similarity ends. All three play
different positions than their father.
Christian
Cardone is defensive back, Cole Belway is a quarterback, and Jacob Izquierdo an
inside receiver.
Remo was a
fullback for the Dinos from 1988 through 1992 graduating with a Management
degree and is currently employed by TD Wealth Management. Young Christian hopes
to pursue a career in Accounting and is enrolled in the Haskayne School of
Business.
“It is good to
follow in my father’s footsteps. He talked me a lot about the program here but
was completely behind me whatever decision I made to play after St. Francis,”
stated the 5’10” 175 lbs Cardone.
“It makes one
wonder how fast 30 years went by,” stated the elder Cardone at practice.
“Having Christian with the Dinos brings back a lot of great memories,” Remo
stated.
Brian was a
member of the Dinos 1985 Vanier Cup Championship starting on the defensive line
and a first round selection of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the 1986 Canadian
Football League Draft. He is now employed as manager of Western
Canada for CSL Behring.
“I feel honored another
generation is now with the Dinos,” said Brian who played in 1984 and 1985
before spending five seasons in the CFL with Winnipeg and BC. “The tradition at St.
Francis was phenomenal and that has helped Cole,” he added.
“He (Brian)
talked to me about the relationships he had especially with the 1985
Championship team and the tradition with the program here,” stated Cole who
quarterbacked the Browns to City and Provincial 4A Championships in 2016. “It
is a great to be here,” stated Cole who is studying Kinesiology.
“I knew how good
my father was. It is a honor to playing here and keep the tradition going, that
tradition played a choice in helping me decide to come here,” stated the 6’3”,
200 lbs. Haskayne School of Business student.
“It is nice to
see the next generation come up,” stated Jacob’s father, a four year starter
who played with the Dinos from 1987 through 1990 earning all-Canadian status
before embarking on a seven year professional career that saw him win three
Grey Cups.
J.P. sees a
difference between football now and when he played.
“Seeing Jacob at
training camp reminds me on how difficult it was when we played. We had two a
days with full equipment and contact but it in this era this is the way
football has to go,” said J.P. who currently teaches at St. Francis and coached
his son but let his son decide where he wanted to attend university.
“Calgary is home and he
wanted to stay home and play here,” J.P. stated.
Three players
following in their father’s footsteps, with the tradition of being a St.
Francis Brown, a University
of Calgary Dino, and
hopefully a Vanier Cup champion, just their father.
