J . P . Darche Jean - Philippe " J . P . " Darche ( born February 28 , 1975 in Montreal , Quebec ) is a retired American and Canadian football long snapper He was signed and drafted by the Toronto Argonauts in 1999 . He played CIS football at McGill . Darche has also played for the Seattle Seahawks and Kansas City Chiefs . He is the older brother of Mathieu Darche , a left winger in the New Jersey Devils organization . Early years . Darche ' s first love was ice hockey . As a youth , along with hockey , he played Bantam AA inter - city baseball with the St - Laurent Orioles . Hockey was his primary sport until high school , when he started playing American football . Darche ' s younger brother Mathieu is a retired hockey player of the National Hockey League . High school years . Darche attended Collège Notre - Dame du Sacré - Coeur in Montreal , Canada , and was a student and a letterman in football . In football , after his senior season , he was voted to participate in the Montreal High School All - Star football game . Junior college years . Darche attended Collège André - Grasset and was an honor student and named Athlete of the Year as a sophomore . His number 44 jersey was retired by the team . University career . Darche attended McGill University in Montreal where he was a star middle linebacker on McGill Redmen football team for five seasons . He was selected as a co - captain his final two seasons . He concluded his collegiate career as the all - time leading tackler in school history with 272 stops ( 132 solo ) . He graduated from McGill with a BSc . in physiology in 1998 , then entered McGill Medical School for two years before entering the Canadian Football League in 1999 . In 1998 he captured the Russ Jackson Award as the Canadian university football player who best combines athletics with academics and community service . Professional career . Toronto Argonauts . After playing five seasons for McGill , Darche turned pro with the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League in the 1999 CFL season . He was drafted in the third round of the 1999 CFL Draft , the first linebacker selected that year , and signed with the team on June 4 , 1999 , just in time to report for training camp . He recorded 16 special teams tackles in 16 regular season games and one playoff game over the 1999 Toronto Argonauts season , the most of anyone on the team . Seattle Seahawks . He played one season as a long snapper with the Argonauts before signing with the NFL ' s Seattle Seahawks in 2000 , since then Darche was responsible for the long snaps . He became the second Canadian Interuniversity Sport graduate to play the Super Bowl when he participated in Super Bowl XL in 2006 . At the beginning of the 2006 season , he was named one of the Seahawks ' captains . He was released by the Seahawks in February 2007 after a hip injury in the 2006 NFL season . In his seven seasons in Seattle , he played in 97 games , recording 18 special teams tackles . He also had one fumble recovery and one forced fumble on special teams . The fumble recovery during the 2005 ensured that the Seahawks would win in St . Louis for the first time since 1997 . Kansas City Chiefs . He was signed by the Kansas City Chiefs in March 2007 after Kendall Gammon retired . He got hurt during the 2008 season and spent the remainder of the year on Injured Reserve . Darche was then released on March 19 , 2009 . Retirement . After being ignored by NFL teams for the 2009 NFL season , Darche decided to retire from football and to continue his studies in medicine at the University of Kansas .