Old Glory Signs New Scrumhalf Gardy Lebon

By Alistair Kirsch-Poole
Feb 9, 2023 - 10:00pm

Old Glory has announced the signing of Grady Lebon, a scrumhalf who graduated from the Naval Academy in 2018. The 27-year-old is a Captain in the Marines, and has been deployed to Afghanistan and Japan. Currently stationed in the DC area, he will play for the Old Glory DC in the 2023 season.

Lebon was surprise signing, playing in last week's match against New York before he had even been announced. With John Lefevre out on a short-term injury, Lebon stepped in at scrumhalf in the second half of the match. He played well, moving the ball quickly and keeping up easily with the pace of play.

His signing fills a significant gap in the roster. I wrote in my position previews that the main concern at scrumhalf was simply the lack of depth, and Lebon fixes that issue. He comes in as a third option, and a very capable one at that. I now have no concerns at the position for the coming season.

It will be interesting to see, though, how much usage Lebon gets. He brings to mind Josh Brown, the number eight who tried to balance his career as a professional firefighter with his career as a rugby player. Brown's playing time dropped over the years, and by the end he was only really playing as an emergency cover when other players were unavailable. It seemed that his firefighting didn't give him the flexibility to play as much as he would have liked.

It will be interesting to see if Lebon has a similar fate, given that he also has commitments that won't necessarily play nice with a pro sports career. Obviously, the military comes first for him, but that may mean we won't see that much of him on the pitch.

Regardless, its good to have him on the roster, and given what I've seen from him so far, I hope he plays more than just fleeting minutes.