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Alouettes head coach Khari Jones admits he’s a nerd. It’s actually why he became a quarterback as a kid growing up in North Highlands, Calif.

“I always played quarterback,” Jones said after practice Wednesday as the Alouettes prepared for Thursday night’s CFL home opener against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at Molson Stadium. “I never did anything else. The only reason they put me there, I think, is because I was a little nerdy kid and I could remember the plays.

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“I was happy because I hated contact,” added Jones, who started playing football when he was 9. “I never wanted to hit anybody, so quarterback was the only position I probably would have succeeded at. I didn’t have much courage when it came to hitting people … I had courage to sit in the pocket and take hits. It was the right position for me.”

Photo by Allen McInnis / Montreal Gazette

Jones went on to become a QB for 11 seasons in the CFL with the B.C. Lions, Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Calgary Stampeders, Edmonton Eskimos and Hamilton Tiger-Cats. In 2001, he was named the league’s Most Outstanding Player after leading the Blue Bombers to a 14-4 record before losing 27-19 to the Stampeders in the Grey Cup game at Olympic Stadium.