Dave Campbell
CFL.ca
Football is a great game but a crappy business too. 14 aspiring members of the Edmonton Eskimos were faced with that harsh reality as the coaching staff made their final cuts to reach the 46-man roster limit.
Shown the door were: LS Taylor Inglis, SB Jamaica Rector, WR’s Kevin Challenger and Kelton Tindal, DB’s Willie Amos and Gemara Williams, OL’s Jabari Ferguson and Patrick Afif, QB Floyd Haigler, DL Anthony Maddox, DE Larry Birdine, LB’s Frantz Joseph and Greg Whelan.
Head coach Richie Hall says it’s a relief to get beyond this point.
“It’s been a tough time the last four days just because you’re telling a variety of players that they can’t be a part of your football team”, said Hall. “Especially over the last two weeks where there’s been relationships developed when they’ve been out there. They’ve had fun together, they’ve worked hard, and they’ve performed well. And now, because of the rules of the game, we can’t keep everybody.
The biggest surprise is the release of long-snapper Taylor Inglis who’s been with the Eskimos since the 2005 season. Inglis was a member of the Edmonton Wildcats of the Prairie Football Conference. He won the long-snapper role as a 21-year old.
He hurt his knee during the Western Semi-Final against the Calgary Stampeders missing the Western Final and the Grey Cup Game. It was a position that didn’t look like it was a problem area for the green and gold but Richie Hall says there’s a good reason for the change.
“There’s a phrase I picked this week that says will you risk something good to get something better, and this is what we’re doing”, explains Hall. “We’re looking at the overall development or improvement of our football team. He (Inglis) has done a great job long snapping for us but at the same time we’re looking at how we can be more athletic, how we can get more linebackers on our roster”.
The man who now will deliver the ball to Noel Prefontaine is non-import linebacker Tim St. Pierre, hurt all of training camp, he is now deemed to be healthy for the regular season opener on July 4th against the B.C. Lions at Commonwealth Stadium.
Clearly the reason to go to St. Pierre is because Richie Hall wants the long snapper to have some versatility. St. Pierre can also play some snaps on defense.
“We’re not trying to have one dimensional players, we want players that are able to play a variety of positions,” Hall said. “We’re able to provide ourselves with some versatility with some football players that can play more than one position, that’s very important with small rosters. Where were trying to go forward with our football team, we’re looking for athletes. Not saying that he (Inglis) wasn’t athletic but there are some players like Tim that bring more to the table.”
Jamaica Rector found out the harshness of the business, after he enjoyed an excellent camp. Only Jason Barnes and Skyler Green among the imports were better than Rector who was simply caught in the numbers game.
“That’s all it is because you can’t keep everybody. It’s just an unfortunate situation because whether it was Rector or somebody else, we were going to be letting a very good football player go,” said Hall.
The Eskimos are loaded at the receiver position. Barnes and Green along with 2009 Canadian Football League receiving champion Fred Stamps, Kelly Campbell, Efrem Hill, and Termayne Kirkland make up the imports.
Even with the departure of Kevin Challenger, five non-import receivers remain: Kamau Peterson, Andre Talbot, Andrew Nowacki, Brad Smith, and Kevin Wuthrich. That’s eleven receivers, consider you play five on a regular basis and dress a backup or two, there’s still too many on the roster and something will eventually have to give.
Skyler Green is still needed because kick-returner Tristan Jackson is hurt with an injured shoulder. Peterson and Talbot were competing for one spot in training camp and one didn’t separate themselves from the other. On the flip side, the Eskimos still have the option of using three imports and two non-imports in the offense or the opposite.
Perhaps, that hasn’t been decided yet.
The Eskimos received some tough news this week as second-year safety Elliot Richardson broke his wrist in Vancouver on Sunday. He’s already undergone surgery and will be lost for several weeks. 2010 second-round draft pick Saleem Borhot missed most of training camp and returned to practice this.
Expect Richie Hall to use veteran Jason Nugent at that spot. Unless a team comes calling looking for a receiver in exchange for a safety?
I’m just saying.