Jaxxon Brashear was eight years old when his father, Donald, played his final NHL game. At the time, his mother didn’t allow him to watch the bloody work that the notorious goon did on the ice, but those scenes have become familiar in the years since.
“I’ve seen it all, heard it all. Even if I don’t watch it, someone’s gonna show it to me,” Brashear grinned in a recent sitdown with 3DownNation.
“Everyone talks about how good he was, but I never saw it myself, so it’s fun to see him at his craft. Yes, he was a fighter, but it’s fun to see the technique he used, how he did it. He’s always told me he mastered it. It wasn’t just punching and taking punches; it was finding a way to keep distance and punching at the right moment.”
More than a decade and a half later, the moment has come for the next Brashear to take his swing at the professional level. However, Jaxxon delivers knockout blows of a different variety than his famous father, having chosen to chart his path on the gridiron at the University of Ottawa.
The CFL prospect did grow up playing hockey in Quebec, but stepped out of his skates partway through high school. At the time, he found his enjoyment diminished by the expectations of a man who had played 1,025 NHL games with five different franchises.
“It came to a point where I didn’t feel like I wanted the competitiveness of hockey as much as he did back in the day. He was a very big critic. He’d come and yell at me from the side while I was on the ice,” Brashear recalled. “When I switched over to football, I knew the physical aspect would be there, but it gave me more of an opportunity to grow by myself in a sport and make my own name. Instead of being that person’s son, I’m this person in that sport instead of his sport.”
Being raised by a professional athlete wasn’t without challenges. His parents split up when he was young, and Jaxxon remembers many weekends with dad waylaid by impromptu autograph sessions. The external pressure to live up to his surname has never fazed him, but it was different when the call was coming from inside the house.
At the same time, Donald instilled in his son many of the traits that have allowed him to start carving his own legacy.
“Growing up, it was discipline. He showed us how to be proper-minded and to know where we’re going in life. That’s why, I think, sports-wise, I’ve always had it pretty easy,” Jaxxon remarked. “For me, it was more natural than others. I’ve always had the discipline, and I’ve worked out since I was young. He showed us how to be more autonomous, be more mature, and I think that’s a big thing that allowed me to be who I am today.”
Football became a manifestation of that autonomy. Brashear admits that he initially only told his mother when he chose to try the new sport over hockey, keeping his dad in the dark. The move came as a surprise, but Donald was quick to embrace it once he found out.
Giving up on being an overbearing sports dad was somewhat more difficult, but the longtime pugilist was quickly put in his place.
“He did try a couple of times to go behind the bench and talk to me during games. I told him, ‘Go in the stands like everybody else. You don’t know nothing about football,'” Jaxxon laughed. “He ended up going to the stands, and he quite liked it. It actually brought him and my stepdad a lot closer. They come to the games, and they cheer on together, and it’s quite nice to see.”
Brashear was a jack of all trades early in his football journey, catching passes, handling wildcat quarterback duties, returning kicks, and punting for his team. At Cégep Limoilou, he would specialize and develop into an elite cornerback prospect, which earned him an opportunity in Ottawa.
The Quebec City native has since undergone a physical transformation. Checking in at 185 pounds in his first year with the Gee-Gees, he’s slowly added weight as he developed from a depth special teamer into a starter at safety and eventually a standout strong-side linebacker. Now standing at six-foot-one and 225 pounds, CFL scouts don’t believe his future lies in the secondary.
“I have heard that some people think I might be more of a MIKE backer based on the size, but due to my previous positions, I feel like I’d be able to play WILL backer as well and move out in space,” Brashear said. “For me, it won’t be an issue. Whatever they give me, I’ll learn. I’ve gained 40 pounds since I’ve been in uni, so I’m not going back to DB, that’s for sure.”
Being inside the box means being closer to the action, which suits Brashear just fine. He had a career year for the Gee-Gees in 2025 after moving into a hybrid role, getting in on 54 total tackles, two tackles for loss, two sacks, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, and a pair of interceptions. He added 10 more tackles to lead the team in their playoff loss to Windsor and was named a first-team OUA all-star.
Perhaps appropriately, the demands of his new position have brought his style of play closer to that of his enforcer father, who amassed 2,634 career penalty minutes and fought 277 times in the NHL. Jaxxon doesn’t drop the gloves, but referees may not love his favoured alternative.
“Instead of using my fists, I quite like using my head. I’ve got a bit more protection on my head, and I can just hit with that,” Brashear joked.
“He played more on instincts, like me. We play a very similar game; it’s hard to say what is different. It’s just mainly how we use our bodies. I think I’m more athletic compared to him. He was more of a goon, standing and fighting. He did boxing before. For me, it’s a lot more moving around.”
Brashear has his father’s number 87 tattooed on his right bicep and has also adopted his pre-game process, focusing on visualizing success. There will undoubtedly be much of that going on as he prepares for the next steps in his journey towards the professional ranks at the CFL Combine in Edmonton later this month.
Size, mobility, and special teams projection make Brashear a bona fide 2026 draft prospect, projected to go anywhere from the mid to late rounds. Strong testing numbers and solid performances in practices could cement him on the higher end of that span, as he looks to prove that he is improving on the finer points of inside linebacker play, like sorting through traffic and shedding blocks.
The opportunity is finite, but if his father has taught Brashear anything, it’s how to strike at the right moment to get momentum on your side.
