Last Name :  GREMAUD First name : Phillip Nickname :    P.J.

Position(s) : LB/DL/FB

Birthdate : July 17 1992 Height 6’2’’ Weight : 246

Is it your first trip to Europe or to France? Technically this will be my second time in France. My sister studied for one semester in London and during Christmas break we went out to visit her, while we were there we spent one day in Paris.
What is your feeling about this first experience in football in France?  I am incredibly excited for this opportunity. Not only do I get to continue playing a sport that I have loved my whole life, but I have the opportunity to live in one of the most picturesque areas in Europe while working and making friends with people from a different culture. This is an extremely valuable experience to me in many different ways.

What do you know about American Football in France/Europe?

I know that Europe has been playing American football for about 30 or 35 years now and have developed three competitive divisions. Each country has their regional tournaments and Europe has a European cup where all the best teams compete for the title of the best team in Europe. I also know that many great athletes have started their NFL journey in Europe such as James Harrison and Kurt Warner.

What do you know about the city of Thonon and the Black Panthers Football team? I know Thonon is a small town located on Lake Geneva, the town supports and cares for the team’s success and the Black Panthers have reciprocated the support by consistently being one of the best teams in France.

For how many years did you play at University?  How many years have you been playing football all together? I have played football for about 15 years all together now. I played 2 seasons at a community college and then got a scholarship to a Division 1 school where I finished out my eligibility with 2 more seasons.

You’ve played other positions in addition to LB, can you tell us about that?

Like most big kids, I started my career as an offensive and defensive lineman. I continued in those positions until I was a sophomore in high school, where I was then permanently converted to a middle linebacker in a 4-3 scheme. When I played at Ventura College I was given a package as a fullback during my sophomore year and contributed to the offense as a short yardage and “mentality” runner/blocker.