A French-Canadian, an Australian, an Arkansas-bred owner and a bullish New Jersey tough guy head coach are in a van ...
No, it's not the start of some joke. It's how L.P. Ladouceur began his life with the Dallas Cowboys in 2005.
The Montreal native was in the van on his way to San Jose State for a workout. Sitting next to him was Mat McBriar, the Cowboys' Australian-born punter. With him were Jerry Jones and Bill Parcells. The Cowboys had remained in Northern California to practice between back-to-back games against the San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders early in that 2005 campaign, but they needed a snapper, since rookie Jon Condo was struggling.