Throughout the years, the University of Saskatchewan Huskies football team has seen many brotherly connections come through the program.
The Jule family is able to add their name to that list, as their two sons are getting the chance to wear the Huskies’ green and white together in 2023.
Eldest son and defensive lineman Nathan said he feels revitalized this year, as he’s back on the field after playing just three games last season due to injury.
“No one wants to end the season watching on crutches on the sideline,” said Nathan. “I’m excited to get back. We had a good rehab, yeah I’m excited to get back after it.”
Entering his third season with the Huskies, Jule is now taking on a leadership role on the team mentoring first-year rookies coming into the program.
That group includes his younger brother Thomas, who is attending his first main camp with the Huskies, after starring with the reigning Saskatoon-champion St. Joseph High Guardians.
“Coming from high school it’s a totally different show here,” said Thomas. “It’s definitely a little nerve-wracking, but I think I’ve settled in and found my spot on the team.”
The young receiver was recruited as a potential explosive option down the line for U Sask, with Huskies head coach Scott Flory saying it’s a look that Thomas has earned.
Even though they’re on opposite sides of the field during camp, it’s the first time the duo have shared the same patch of turf due to their three-year gap in age.
“It’s absolutely amazing,” said Thomas. “We’ve never really been able to play together. So honestly, it’s just a great feeling to be out here with him.”
While Nathan captured a pair of Hardy Cup titles and took a pair of trips to the Vanier Cup national championship, Thomas was along for the ride watching his older brother’s biggest games in back-to-back years.
As Thomas begins his university career, Nathan joked there’s now going to be some company when it comes to their mother wearing his number 50 jersey.
“I don’t know how my mom is going to wear both jersey numbers,” said Nathan. “She’s going to have to find a way to have one on the back and one on the front or something.”
Flory is no stranger to brotherly bonds on the gridiron, as he competed with the Huskies alongside his three siblings in the 1990s — a bond that the set of brothers still talk about decades later.
“Still today, 20 or 30 years later, we BS with memories and all of that kind of stuff,” said Flory. “That stuff is important because they’re going to be together for the rest of their lives. They’re going to have a lot of commonalities, common bonds and stories with guys. I think it’s pretty cool.”
Especially when they were younger, the pair admit that they didn’t always see eye to eye with heated arguments breaking out over games of backyard football.
Now they’re firmly on the same page, with a single goal in mind of one day taking a picture hoisting the Vanier Cup together.
“Oh, there would be no better feeling,” said Thomas. “Especially with my brother, our parents watching. I don’t think there’s a better feeling in the world.”
The brothers will get their first taste of playing together on Friday night at Griffiths Stadium, as the Huskies host the University of Calgary Dinos in their lone game of the pre-season at 6:00 pm.
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