Whats up everybody? This is Jordan Younger. First off i want to say thank you to those that welcomed me back. I love being a Toronto Argonaut and there is no other team id rather play for. I started my career here and God willing i will finish it here. I am going to get right to the point. I have read almost every post from the last 3 seasons. I want to say thank you to all of you for caring enough for us to even be a topic that matters in your life. We haven't given you guys much to be hopeful about. Its not due to lack of trying but this is professional football and giving great effort should be a given. I originally moved to Sam linebacker because of the skill set needed to play that position in "match" coverage. The most important skill being route recognition and the ability to cover. The Sam is one of the more complicated positions to play in that defence and honestly there where times that i struggled at it. @Area 51-i read your defensive reports cards and if i was a general manager and i was making the decision solely based on on-field performance than i would be more inclined to agree with you about the way that i played. I could talk X's and O's for days and give you reasons and excuses but the bottom line is I didn't make enough impact plays at Sam. The last few games of the season i played at Free Safety. It was a much more natural fit for me. I was able to effect the game and being further away from the box gave me a perspective more like the one i had when i played cornerback. It allowed me to see the bigger picture. I could see the quarterback drop, the movement of the lineman, the quarterback's last look and the release of the inside receiver's all at once. It was the first time in my career that i could take in that much information almost every play. My speed is not in question. There were plays this year where i had to run down some players that most would call fast players. My speed didn't show up often at Sam mostly because of indecision. At Free Safety i didn't feel that indecision. My natural instincts brought me to where the ball was going.
Reaching out to you guys like this isn't really my way but i feel like we have an opportunity to make this an incredible year; a special year. What made 2004 special is that we truly did it together. I didn't appreciate it then because i was a rookie and i hadn't gone through the pains and disappointments like Mike O'Shea, Michael Fletcher, Orlondo Steinauer and some of the other guys so i didn't appreciate how difficult it is (even in an 8 team league) to be a champion. If you don't believe i am young enough, if you don't believe in my athleticism, if you don't believe in my speed PLEASE believe that i have enough pain and embarrassment burned into my memory to last a lifetime. Ive been on the field for all the boos. Ive listened to every critique. Ive read every post on OUR fan forum. Ive heard us get bashed time and time again from those on the outside and inside. I am a competitor and i can feel all of those things burning under my skin whenever i think of them and i take them to bed when i sleep at night . This year is much more personal to me than it is for most. Its these feelings and the success i had at safety at the end of this past season that makes me believe that i can make a difference on the field this year. I believe i can make impact plays and i know i can make my teammates better.
Please don't underestimate your energy or your ability as fans to effect what happens on the field both in a positive way and a negative way. I can remember back in 2010 Angelo V posted a critique of the way i was playing at the time. He wasn't mean or spiteful. He just gave his honest opinion on what he saw from me on the field. What he said was well thought out and it made football sense. If you read this Angelo i want to say thank you. You challenged me and you were as big a reason as any as to why my play improved. I have never actually sat down and talked to you but I could hear your critique in my head while i was actually on the field. I know that critiques like that come from frustration and i completely understand why our fans have been frustrated. I am tired of seeing disappointment in the eyes of our fans at Jack Astor's. I am tired of walking past Joe Bidali's and having to see disappointment in Lori's eyes. I am tired of seeing other teams laugh and joke and celebrate at OUR team after party. Its not going down like that this year. I believe that energy is contagious. I reached out because i wanted to give off some positive energy. I wanted to give you guys some hope and bring you guys closer so that we could share this experience. We play in the best city in Canada. We have an offensive head coach that comes from the offense that changed the way the game has been played in canada over the last 4 years. We have coaches on both sides of the ball that that have been champions. We have a quarterback that is the real deal and is as competitive and resourceful as they come. We have men on this team that are winners that are tired of being labeled as losers. We have a core group of some of the most diehard fans in the league. This is OUR moment and i believe we can do it if we do it together. i am going to give everything that's in me to help our team win and to make you guys proud to be our fans. The 100th ANNIVERSARY OF THE GREY CUP is being played in our back yard...what could be cooler than that??
#ALLHANDSONDECK