FRISCO, Texas -- The road to becoming an American citizen is almost as long as the streak L.P. Ladouceur carries.
At first, the Dallas Cowboys deep snapper from Montreal didn't seek citizenship, but when he moved to America to attend college his parents had an idea back in 2000 that this would eventually happen. And now, years later, Ladouceur and his father, Pierre, went to Plano the day after a game against the New York Giants to take the Oath of Allegiance, confirming his citizenship to the United States of America.
"I've been here since 2000. I've lived 19 years in Canada before this, and I lived 19 years here," Ladouceur said. "This is home. This country has brought me a lot of pleasurable and memorable moments, but my wife [Brooke] is from here. My kids are American. To me, it was a no-brainer. I just love this country and love what this country has done for me."
Football brings us together sometimes. It can take the skills of a kid growing up in a trailer park in Louisiana and make him the face of the franchise, as is the case with quarterback Dak Prescott. It can move another kid from Tennessee and watch him morph into a future Hall of Famer, as is the case with tight end Jason Witten.
It can take another kid from a Catholic high school in Connecticut and turn him into a Pro Bowl cornerback, like Bryon Jones.
Yes, football is a common denominator here. It's not a perfect sport -- we could go on for days about what's wrong with it -- but listening to Ladouceur tell his story of citizenship gives you a reason to smile.
When he left Montreal to play college football at the University of California, Ladouceur needed a student visa each year to return to America. After four years, that student visa turned into a work visa that he would get renewed every year as an NFL player.
In 2011, he met Brooke and they started dating, but the move to citizenship still hadn't crossed his mind. When the Cowboys signed him to a five-year contract in 2013, he applied for a work visa again, yet that's when things changed.
"I was on [a work] visa, [and] I knew I was going to be established here if I got married and got kids," he said. "I love Texas. I've always loved it here."
So Ladouceur began the ardous process. He applied for a Permanent Resident Green Card after he married Brooke in 2012, using her as his sponsor. There were interviews, fingerprints and proving he could speak English -- he's also fluent in French. And, most importantly, he's got a job.
He studied U.S. history and government at night for the U.S. Naturalization test, and often after special-teams meetings he would get surprise quizzes.
"He told me what the process is and that type of stuff in training camp, and I guess he got the test booklet," Cowboys punter Chris Jones said. "And every night we sit after meetings or practice, and I quiz him over a page or so trying to help him out to make sure it's a done deal. I know it's a long process."
The entire journey took six years for Ladouceur, which feels as long as his 228-consecutive game playing streak for the Cowboys. It's the longest current streak in franchise history and the second-longest behind Witten's 235 from 2003 to 2017.
That streak pales in comparison and importance to what Ladouceur was feeling Sept. 9 when he finally became an American citizen. He raised his right hand along with 1,000 others from 91 different countries to read the Oath of Allegiance.
"I was happy that it was done, this weight on your shoulders for a long time," he said. "Am I going to get it? I married an American, my kids are American. I paid enough taxes in the United States, hopefully I'm an American. The legal part is tedious. It takes time; it's a wait. It's good to see light at the end of the tunnel."
Sports on 10/30/2019