To the Maxwell

Top Recruit Joins Stingers Football Team

SportsAndrew Maggio — Published March 19, 2012

Jordan Maxwell had plenty of motivation to come to Concordia University, but one of the main reasons was family—ConU offered him the chance to throw touchdown passes to his stepbrother, current Stingers wide receiver Jamal Henry.

Maxwell listed his brother Jamal as one of his role models and a big reason why he decided to make the move.

“I was really happy because this has been a dream of ours for a while. The last time we played together was when we were really young,” said Henry.

“Especially since he’s playing quarterback and I’m a wide receiver, he’ll be throwing the ball to me, so I’m looking forward to that a lot.”

Though he was always considered a talented athlete and a good football player overall, something was missing for Maxwell. He’d tried a number of positions and, while he was good at all of them, he never truly stood out—until he decided to try his hand at quarterback.

“I had always liked throwing and I was good at it,” said Maxwell. “So when the opportunity to play quarterback came up I jumped at it and haven’t looked back since.”

Today, he’s glad to have made the change. A Montreal native about to graduate from St. Joseph’s Catholic High School in Ottawa, Maxwell signed a letter of intent to join the Concordia Stingers football program last week.

Maxwell credits his success to his years spent living in Dallas, TX, where he honed his crast playing in a rigid, disciplined environment, as well as attending quarterback camps run by experienced football minds.

“Texas is definitely the most unique state in America,” said Maxwell. “Pride is a huge thing there and we love our football in Texas. Everyone is committed to getting better and there’s a lot of hard work and heart put into football down there.”

Stingers defensive coordinator Phil Roberts, who does a lot of the team’s recruiting, had high praise for Maxwell and his abilities.

“He’s extremely athletic, has great footwork and a great arm,” said Roberts. “For a guy coming out of high school, he’s got an excellent knowledge for the game. Jordan brings us a different dimension at quarterback. With his running ability, he reminds me a lot of [former Stinger and current Hamilton Tiger-Cat] Liam Mahoney and [2010 Canadian Interuniversity Sport football player of the year] Brad Sinopoli.”

Maxwell is also familiar with a couple of his new teammates, as he played with current Stingers defensive backs Nathan Taylor, who he’s known since his early days with the LaSalle Warriors, and Kadeem Vaillancourt, who he trained with this summer in Ottawa.

“He’s a young quarterback who’s showed me that he’s eager to learn,” said Taylor. “His greatest asset right now is his athleticism. He’s tall and fast, and it’s rare that you find that in a CIS quarterback.”

Maxwell understands his education will be his primary focus when he moves to Montreal next fall. He’ll be studying human resource management at the John Molson School of Business, but he also hopes that with some more hard work, he can help the Stingers get to a championship in the next four years, while paving the way to a professional football career.

“In terms of education, I want to eventually get my master’s in business administration,” said Maxwell. “As for on the field, I want to help grow this program and make it well known like some of the big CIS programs around the country.

“I definitely have aspirations to go pro—I know I can do it and I just have to keep working hard during my time at Concordia and keep improving with every passing day.”