Around the CFL

[OV Argo]

It looks like Redblacks' first ever draft choice will be taking on a bigger role this year.



http://www.ottawasun.com/2016/05/05/...-for-redblacks

MacMillan has been very strong on the O-line as a rookie on in IMO and a good draft pick.

Interesting that he might get to start at OT - I would have guessed they would have had an import replace Kelly at an import position in their ratio thinking. Lost NI Capiccotti at DE but did sign Gascon-Nadon and have some other promising young NI DEs.

Mateas might be ready to come in and start on their interior O-line. That's 2 big building blocks on the O-line they got via the draft.

[Argo57]

I'm not sure any team will be looking for a QB with a beer gut. Those days are long gone.

I heard Boone and Nik Lewis shared the same personal trainer last season.

[jerrym]

Just signed Brandon Thurman hopes to imitate the success of the last three Stampeder DEs.

Who’s next? After watching three Calgary Stampeders defensive ends parlay double-digit sack seasons into NFL contracts — Cordarro Law, Shawn Lemon, and, most recently, Freddie Bishop III — it’s a completely fair query. At some point, that streak will come to an end, but not if Brandon Thurmond has his way. ...
“It’s the perfect opportunity for me to come in and compete at training camp, showcase my talent and get the No. 1 starting spot across from Charleston Hughes on the other end,” Thurmond said Friday from his home just outside Atlanta. “It’d be a dream come true and two great pass-rushers coming off the edge.” ...
The CFL isn’t foreign to the 26-year-old Thurmond. The six-foot-two, 260-pounder spent a month on the Stamps practice roster last fall, but it was his 2014 training camp stint with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats that caught everyone’s attention.
Thurmond’s sublime preseason had earned him his first start in Week 2 that year at Commonwealth Stadium against the Edmonton Eskimos, and that’s the day his career trajectory changed. As he attempted to track down quarterback Mike Reilly, Thurmond’s knee gave out, resulting in a torn ACL and a small bone fracture. “My knee just buckled and I was just laying there,” Thurmond said. “I remember it like it was yesterday. Non-contact injury. It was something I do every day in practice, getting to the quarterback every day. All of a sudden, when gametime happened to present itself, it just popped.”
Frustrating would be an understatement, and it sent Thurmond on a year-long rehab process. “Man, it was very frustrating,” said Thurmond, who was released by the Ticats just before training camp last spring. “I dominated through training camp, I dominated through pre-season — I think I had like four sacks in preseason, and if I’m not mistaken, I think, I led the preseason in sacks that year — and then my name was called and I was ready for the opportunity. Then, boom, tore my ACL.”
There’s no doubt Thurmond can get after the quarterback, evidenced by his senior season at Arkansas-Pine Bluff in 2012 when he amassed 70 tackles (41 solo), 25 tackles for loss, 17.5 sacks, three fumble recoveries, and one forced fumble.

http://calgaryherald.com/sports/foot...nsive-end-spot

[R.J]

Former #Calstampeders WR Jeff Fuller waived by Seahawks. via @bobcondotta #CFL

— CFL News (@CFL_News) May 9, 2016

Would be huge for the Stamps if they can get him back.

[jerrym]

Riders are NOT in on WR Jeff Fuller Sweepstakes. "Not a fit for us," I'm told.

— Rod Pedersen (@rodpedersen) May 10, 2016

[R.J]

Denmark and Norwood sign with Riders. Saskatchewan also released receiver Alex Carroll, running backs Brandon Deschamps, Carl Fitzgerald and Stephen Houston and defensive lineman Sage Harold. Carroll, Deschamps and Fitzgerald are Canadians.
http://regina.ctvnews.ca/cfl-veteran...ders-1.2901533

[jerrym]

Jon Cornish may have retired but he is still working for the Stampeders as a game-day ambassador.

In lieu of football, he’s substituting a little of everything these days. The annual May Fanfest extravaganza, usually seen as the unofficial start to the Calgary Stampeders’ new season each year, was always Cornish’s day.
His December retirement after nine CFL seasons and 6,844 rushing yards hasn’t changed that at all, even if the 31-year-old banker is now in a new role as a Stampeders gameday ambassador.
“I was introduced on stage before the players and not with the players, so that was a lot different,” Cornish said as he stood in a familiar place — the north endzone at McMahon Stadium — and signed autograph after autograph. “I felt, basically, how I thought I’d feel — this is their time and I’m in a different role now.”
The newly-created position will see Cornish handling some of the community and gameday duties that new president John Hufnagel won’t have time for due to his dual role as GM. You can expect to see Cornish at each and every home game, interacting, informing and just generally being himself.
“It’s definitely cool for me to be in the role that I’ve been sort of working with the team to create,” Cornish said. “I’m just honoured that they wanted to have me around so I can do more of this, more of the fan interaction that I’ve been so interested. “I’ll interact with some fans and, hopefully, engage with them on social media and in person, lots of pictures. It’s not about me. It’s about celebrating the Stampeders.”
While he may not have his pads anymore, he’s still got that Cornish cachet. With oodles of players in attendance — quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell may have a sore signature wrist tomorrow — to mingle with the more than 8,000 fans streaming through the gates, Cornish was still a draw, ...
He’s been keeping busy with a number of things, including studying for level two of the chartered financial analyst exam, rather than working out in preparation for another gruelling 18-game season.
“It’s been a lot different than I could have imagined,” Cornish said of retirement. “I thought that having a job in place would be a good thing and it absolutely was, but I started my job seven days after retirement and about day three after officially retiring it was like, ‘OK, well, this is a little bit scary.’
“I certainly understand the plight of any professional athlete — or even college athlete — that you go through your process the whole time and your whole life is structured, and then it’s done and all that structure is gone.”
But Cornish has never been one with much idle time. “I have a pretty big deal coming down the pipeline with the Alberta Children’s Hospital, I’m going to continue working with Wood’s Homes, the Calgary Sexual Health Centre with their WiseGuyz program, so a whole bunch of different things in the pipeline once I’m done studying,” Cornish said.

http://www.montrealgazette.com/sport...316/story.html

[jerrym]

The Redblacks are trying to sign former former overall #10 NFL pick Amobi Okoye.

Okoye, who will turn 29 in early June, was the 10th pick overall in the 2007 National Football League draft by the Houston Texans. He played four seasons with that club and two with the Chicago Bears before being stricken with anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis, an autoimmune syndrome that caused severe convulsions. He was placed in the medically induced coma for three months before being released from hospital in August 2013.
He told the Houston Chronicle that doctors cleared him to resume football activity a year later. He was on the “non-football illness list” of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys in 2014 and 2015 before being released.
General manager Marcel Desjardins confirmed Friday that the Redblacks had been negotiating with Okoye, but had not yet reached an agreement.

http://www.montrealgazette.com/sport...493/story.html

[jerrym]

The Riders will induct Matt Dominguez and Ivan Gutfriend to the Plaza of Honour.

The former Saskatchewan Roughriders receiver was introduced Tuesday as one of the members of the Plaza of Honor’s Class of 2016. His fellow inductee is Ivan Gutfriend, a longtime athletic therapist for the CFL team. ...
The 2016 induction ceremony is to be held Sept. 16 at the Credit Union EventPlex. Dominguez and Gutfriend are to be honoured for their contributions to the Roughriders, who previously have paid tribute to 120 individuals and three Grey Cup-winning teams by enshrining them in the Plaza of Honor.
Gutfriend, 69, retired from the Roughriders at the end of January. That ended an association that began in 1970 when he helped trainer Sandy Archer during Saskatchewan’s training camp. ...
Dominguez joined the Roughriders in 2003 after spending two seasons with the NFL’s Denver Broncos.
The product of Sam Houston State University played six seasons in Saskatchewan, recording 250 receptions for 3,741 yards and 19 touchdowns in 59 regular-season games and adding 27 catches for 440 yards and three TDs in six playoff games. He was named a West Division all-star in 2006 and was a member of the 2007 Roughriders team that won the Grey Cup.

http://leaderpost.com/sports/footbal...plaza-of-honor

[R.J]

Bombers to have their own "All Access" radio show.

Excited to announce a brand new football show premiering May 30 — Blue Bombers All Access.

Mondays 6-7pm on @TSN1290Radio. 🏈💯 #Bombers #CFL

— Darrin Bauming (@DarrinBauming) May 17, 2016

[R.J]

Bombers sign three of their 2016 draft choices.
http://www.bluebombers.com/2016/05/1...draft-choices/

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers today announce the signings of three of the club’s draft choices from the 2016 CFL Draft. Offensive lineman Zachary Intzandt (fifth round, 37th overall), defensive lineman Rupert Butcher (sixth round, 46th overall), and Frank Renaud (eighth round, 63rd overall) have all inked contracts.

[jerrym]

#BCLions draft choice OL Brett Boyko has been released by the Phladelphia Eagles. #CFL

— CFL News (@CFL_News) May 17, 2016

[jerrym]

#Bombers have added former #Ticats DE Sam Scott. #CFL

— Kirk Penton (@PentonKirk) May 17, 2016

[Will]

Bombers to have their own "All Access" radio show.

Except, I bet Bomber fans don't have to worry about how much coverage their team gets on that station.

[doubleblue]

#Bombers have added former #Ticats DE Sam Scott. #CFL
— Kirk Penton (@PentonKirk) May 17, 2016

I have never heard of Sam Scott. Was his nick name "Vince".

[R.J]

Some speculation that Henoc Muamba could soon sign with the Riders.

[KCargosfan]

Some speculation that Henoc Muamba could soon sign with the Riders.

At least he's in the West.

[R.J]

#Bombers sign pair of 2016 #CFLDraft picks: DB @taylor_loffler (19th overall) & LB Shayne Gauthier (28th) #CFL #TSN pic.twitter.com/aPEikYHDFJ

— CFL on TSN (@CFLonTSN) May 20, 2016

[R.J]

http://www.bluebombers.com/2016/05/2...draft-choices/

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers today announce the signings of two of their selections from the 2016 CFL Draft. Offensive lineman Michael Couture (2nd round, 10th overall) and receiver Alex Vitt (seventh round, 55th overall) have signed contracts with the club.

[R.J]

#CFL source tells me that LT Xavier Fulton set to re-sign with #riders. Adds more experience to the OL. Will be some training-camp battles

— Murray McCormick (@murraylp) May 22, 2016