Tag: Canadian Football League

Terrell Owens Says He Can Play in the CFL. I Say He’s Not Crazy.

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Fresh off a night on which he was FINALLY inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame, Terrell Owens was out to prove that he can still play.

Much of the talk surrounding T.O. in recent weeks has focused on his decision to skip out on attending the actual H.O.F. induction ceremony in Canton due to what he believes to be a “flawed system.” (Seriously, it took THREE tries for the committee to vote him in??!! That’s absolutely shameful, and I don’t necessarily blame the guy for feeling the way he does.)

But regardless of whether or not you agree with his decision, there should be no questions about his resolve.

ESPN reported early this morning that T.O. worked out for the Canadian Football League’s Saskatchewan Roughriders on Sunday in Tennessee. And while some may initially laugh at the 44-year-old’s seemingly foolish hubris – after all, he hasn’t played a full season of football since 2010 – the guy is still in phenomenal shape and has been seriously talking about a comeback for quite some time now.

Just check out these tweets, which he posted back in May:

The man is a freakin’ Adonis, and apparently still has the jets, too:

Here it is right here!! Just ran a 4.44 and 4.43 @theherd @undisputedonfs1 @shannonsharpe84 @ucla Ask the fellas how I’m picking em up & puttin em down! 🏃🏾‍♂️💨@juliojones_11 @hawk_inc @larrylegend85

A post shared by Terrell Owens (@terrellowens) on (By the way, the person recording that video was Julio Jones, as the two have been working out together quite a bit this offseason. And I don’t know about you, but if one of the NFL’s current premier studs thinks T.O. can still get it done, I’ll buy in, too.)

As much of a meathead as he could be at times, Owens is an absolute NFL legend and one of the very best receivers to ever play the game:

  • 1,078 career receptions (8th all-time)
  • 153 career receiving touchdowns (3rd all-time)
  • 15,934 career receiving yards (2nd all-time)

Though Larry Fitzgerald is likely to surpass Owens on the all-time receiving yardage list this season (he’s only 389 yards away at the moment), those are some pretty astounding numbers that most guys at his position will never even come close to sniffing in their lifetime. And, while it was indeed eight years ago, T.O. finished his last season in Cincinnati with nine touchdowns and fell just 17 yards shy of compiling his 10th 1,000-plus-yard season.

(I realize he attempted to come back in 2012 with the Seahawks, and let’s just say it didn’t go so well. However, as he only played in a few preseason games that summer and was cut before the start of the regular season, I’m going to go off of what he did when it last mattered.)

Above all, if anyone has the stones to actually come back in his mid-40s after a six-year absence from professional football, it would be Terrell Owens. This is someone who, for better or worse, has never once given a flying shit what ANYONE thought about him or the things he does. And as much as he may have rubbed people the wrong way over his very enigmatic 15-year NFL career, the guy’s got the heart of lion, and I truly believe he is committed to the cause.

Will anything actually come out of this, or is this simply a PR stunt? Only time will tell.

Does The 300s have a great track record so far with predicting success in the Canadian Football League? Not so much. (Sorry to both Red and Johnny Manziel for that one. But hey, it was only one game, right??!!)

All I know is that I am rooting like hell for Owens, and here’s to hoping the Roughriders decide to take a chance on a living legend.

Johnny Manziel Traded to Montreal. Roadtrip SZN!

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ESPN – The Hamilton Tiger-Cats have traded quarterback Johnny Manziel to the Montreal Alouettes, reuniting him with the coach who recruited him to Texas A&M. Manziel, offensive tackle Tony Washington and offensive lineman Landon Rice were sent to Montreal in exchange for defensive end Jamaal Westerman, wide receiver Chris Williams and first-round picks in 2020 and 2022.

Has Johnny Football lit up the CFL like I had hoped? Not quite yet, but he hasn’t really had the opportunity to showcase himself. He didn’t even record a pass attempt with the Tiger Cats. Now is that a bad sign that he can’t beat out some CFL quarterback to get on the field? Maybe, but the guy in front of him was also putting up some crooked numbers:

“Masoli tied a CFL record with nine straight 300-yard passing games before the team’s Week 5 bye.”

So I would like to see him under center and running around like a madman before I make any assumptions because I think he can still ball.

Manziel now goes to Montreal where the Alouettes are currently coached by none other than Mike Sherman, the guy who first recruited Johnny to Texas A&M. If thats not a match made in heaven then I don’t know what is. This is a guy who went on the recruiting trail to bring Manziel in just a handful of years ago so he obviously likes the guy. Not to mention Montreal is terrible so there should be ample opportunity to get on the field.

“Manziel will try to improve an offense that ranks last in the league in points scored and rushing yards, is tied for last in turnovers, and is seventh of nine teams in passing yards. The Alouettes are 1-4 and in last place in the CFL’s four-team East Division.”

Oh and one more thing.

Yea, Montreal is a mere 5 hour drive from Boston, which means The 300s Does the CFL is a very, very real possibility. And if thats happens then you know its my duty to swipe a Johnny Manziel Montreal jersey on The 300s corporate card (Red’s Visa debit card).

I don’t exactly know when the CFL season runs until because this league is ass backwards in everything they do, but I’m already planning this roadtrip. Reminds me of the English Premiere League where they basically play for 10 months, crown a champion without any sort of playoffs, take 2 months off and then they’re back on the field and I’m back in the Green Briar having a Guinness at 9 am. Round and round we go.

Now the real question is, with so many choices, which Montreal Manziel jersey do I get? Decisions, decisions.

Terrell Owens Wants Back Into Football. Canadian Football.

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ESPN – Retired wide receiver Terrell Owens, soon to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, wants to return to the field. Owens, 44, activated a procedural window that requires the Edmonton Eskimos — who own his CFL rights — to offer him a contract or release him from their exclusive negotiation list within 10 days. Jason Staroszik, a Canada-based agent who is representing Owens on the matter, said Owens “100 percent” wants to play football again at the pro level. “He wants to play in the NFL,” Staroszik told ESPN. “But if he can’t, the CFL is the next-best option.”

Apparently Terrell Owens, the retired 44-year-old receiver who is being inducted into the Hall of Fame at the end of the month, wants back into football.

Canadian Football.

He hasn’t played since 2012 when he was cut by the Seahawks in training camp and there was also a short lived stint in the world famous Indoor Football League where he BALLED. OUT.

“Owens caught 35 passes for 420 yards and 10 touchdowns in eight games for the Wranglers.”

Soo its been a while since ya boy has been on the pitch. About 6 years if we’re counting. To put that into perspective, 6 years ago I was in between my first job out of college working in capital-J Journalism and working the door at a bar in Faneuil Hall. Some time has passed.

With that being said though, I always felt TO got hosed on his way out of the league. The guy was the diva of all divas and probably a complete pain in the ass for every coach and every quarterback he ever played with, but TO could ball. Even in his last season with the Bengals in 2010 when he 40 years old he caught 72 passes for 983 yards and 9 TDs. Thats goddamn impressive. That is a legit NFL receiver, regardless of age. And he never got another sniff in the league again. I’d be pretty fucking bitter about that too if I were him.

So he decided screw it, I’ll be the first active Hall of Famer to play since (???). Granted it is Canada, but hey it looks like Johnny Manziel may have started a trend with Comeback SZN and taken away some of the stigma of playing on the 110 x 65 yard field north of the wall.

TO has activated a “procedural window” with the Edmonton Eskimos, who own his CFL rights, so the Eskimos now have 10 days to either renounce his rights or offer him a contract.

Its hilarious how the CFL works. Since they are the bastard league of professional football, 99% of players with the ability to play in the NFL opt to play in the NFL over the CFL. The CFL still holds these supplemental drafts though so basically every top player (or popular name) that has played in the NFL has their rights owned by someone in Canada. Robert Griffin III, Baker Mayfield, Colin Kaepernick, Lamar Jackson, hell even guys like Tim Tebow and Vince Young were on these CFL negotiation lists before they made it all but clear they were done with football. Just in case any of these ever do decide to strap it up in Canada they’ve basically already been drafted.

TLDR; If TO does indeed sign with a CFL team then I think that locks in my long standing claim that I will need to figure out a way to pirate legally stream CFL games.

PS – Say what you want about the CFL, they’re nothing if not savy, savy social media users.

“[Owens] has continued to train as if he is an active player, and recently posted video to social media that indicated he is still running the 40-yard dash in under 4.45 seconds. The Eskimos added him to their negotiation list immediately after the post.“

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Johnny Manziel Currently Dominating in the CFL. Now How Do I Pirate (Stream) Canadian Football Games?

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Yahoo – Start with this when it comes to Johnny Manziel and his attempted return from self-induced football career disaster – the former Heisman Trophy winner has said all he wants is a chance to play, and faced with no NFL opportunities, he’s grabbing one. In Canada, no less. Manziel, 25, announced Saturday morning that he has signed a two-year contract with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League. Conceivably, he could suit up for a preseason game against Toronto as soon as June 1.

Johnny Manziel is playing football again! And playing well at that might I add. Listen, I’ve gone back and forth on Johnny and whether I thought he’d play again, that time I thought he was a lock to join the Patriots, and then of course that time I boycotted the CFL when they blackballed Manziel. But we’re back baby!

It took me a minute to find the stats for Manizel’s first game because if I asked you right now, where do you go for CFL stats? What’s your go to source? Its not exactly on the back page of the sports section or in my ESPN push notifications.

I ultimately used my brain and just went to the Hamilton Tiger Cats website where I was swiftly and sharply reminded that this is Canada.

If I had just written that joke out you would have ridiculed my wit and said it was too predictable. Welp, thats literally the first thing I saw on this Canadian Football League website, god bless em those hosers love their Tim Hortons.

Say what you will about Johnny Football, but his game was created in a Canadian lab somewhere in the mountains of Alberta. (Does Alberta have mountains?) The wider fields, the larger endzones, the unlimited motion on offense; this is like college football on coke.  Anyways, on to the stats because as we all know stats don’t lie. And my dude Johnny Manziel is LIGHTING. IT. UP.

Can’t say I necessarily understand the vaunted three quarterback attack, but in his first CFL game Manziel had an 81% completion percentage going 9/11. Thats a pretty good start after only throwing footballs in the illustrious Spring League and at Texas A&M Pro Days. I have full confidence that Manziel will be wrecking that league in no time at all.

But the real question is; how do I pirate legally stream CFL games? I feel like thats some shit you’re going to need an old school black box from your dad’s shady buddy. So if anyone finds that stream deep down the Reddit rabbit hole tweet me @the300sboston to hook it up. Otherwise, we might have to expense a road trip on The 300s non-existent credit card to Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton, Canada in the name of content.

I think Johnny Manziel needs a new nickname though if he’s going to truly follow in the footsteps of another diminutive American QB and run shit in the CFL.

My vote goes to Johnny Maple. Bookmark this blog so when somebody with a little more venture capital steals it and makes a billion dollar t-shirt out of it, I want my royalties.

 

 

Johnny Manziel Has Been Cleared to Play Football!! Has My Long Standing Boycott of the CFL Come to an End?

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NFL.com – Johnny Manziel’s return to professional football is close to getting a green light from north of the border. Canadian Football League Commissioner Randy Ambrosie announced Thursday the league is prepared to approve a contract for Manziel to play for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats if he continues to meet certain conditions tied to his eligibility. The Tiger-Cats own Manziel’s CFL rights.

Everybody, REMAIN CALM. JOHNNY MANZIEL HAS BEEN CLEARED TO PLAY FOOTBALL. I said back in September that I would be boycotting the CFL after Johnny Manziel was barred from signing a contract with the Hamilton TigerCats. I even mocked up this very appropriate quote from “Blow” in my rage.

I vowed that I would not watch a single CFL snap until one Johnny Football was allowed the opportunity to dominate that 110 yards long 65 yards wide Canadian Football field. It seems like that day is near.

We’ve been close to this before though and I’ve written about Johnny Manziel comeback rumors ad nauseam so I’ll believe it when I see him on the field tossing TDs against the Toronto Argonauts.

The NFL is probably a long shot for Johnny these days, which is a shame since he was *electric* at Texas A&M. His only shot at making a comeback is to DOMINATE in the Canadian Football League a la Doug Flutie and Warren Moon. Even if he doesn’t win 5 Grey Cups like the #1 Rated CFL Player of All-Time in Doug Flutie…

…he will still be fun as all hell to watch. I need Money Manziel back in my life and the CFL is legit built for him to thrive. CFL fields are just under 12 yards *wider* than NFL fields so that will make it that much more difficult for linebackers to chase him down, stack the box, or QB spy him. The wider fields give him tons of room to scramble around and make things happen with his feet.

And ya know, maybe take less massive hits from gigantic linebackers. Manziel is listed as 6’0″ 209 lbs on Google, which is like me claiming to be 6’2″ on my driver’s license. A bold faced lie. So a little extra room to scramble around will do Johnny good. Although, maybe he is 209 these days.

Thicc Money Manziel.

So while I don’t exactly know if the CFL Sunday Ticket is a package thats available on DirecTV in Boston, you can bet your ass I will illegally stream pay to watch any and every Johnny Manziel game I can find.

I am Officially Boycotting the CFL for Barring Johnny Manziel

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Bleacher Report – The CFL announced Wednesday that it has barred quarterback Johnny Manziel from signing a contract to play in the league during the 2017 season. While Johnny Football won’t be permitted to play north of the border in 2017, the CFL left the door open for him to join the league in 2018 provided he “meets certain conditions.” Manziel is on the Hamilton Tiger-Cats’ negotiation list, and the CFL announced earlier this month it had extended the team’s 10-day window to sign him so the league could independently evaluate him, per ESPN.com’s Kevin Seifert.By pushing the window back again to Nov. 30, Hamilton will have a chance to negotiate a contract with Manziel for 2018 following the conclusion of the 2017 campaign.

This is some straight up BULLSHIT. The CFL basically told Johnny sorry, try again next year, all while imposing a double secret probation.

No, seriously, they did that.

“Mr. Manziel will be eligible to sign a contract for the 2018 season and, if Mr. Manziel meets certain conditions that have been spelled out by the Commissioner, the CFL will register that contract. The specifics of those conditions are confidential and will not be disclosed.”

I bet even Josh Gordon read that and said, wow Johnny you’re really getting fucked here. So it is with much sadness that I must boycott the Canadian Football League until my boy Johnny Manziel is given the opportunity to tear up that goofy ass extra wide field with uprights in the endzone. #FreeJohnnyFootball

 

CFL Team Hires and Fires Dirtbag Ex-Baylor Coach Art Briles in Less Than 24 Hours

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SB Nation – “On Monday morning, the CFL’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats announced the hiring of former Houston and Baylor head coach Art Briles, who was fired in May 2016 amid the Bears’ program-wide sexual assault scandal, as an offensive assistant. But Briles won’t join Hamilton after all, according to the league. Its statement on Monday night: “Art Briles will no longer be joining the Hamilton Tiger-Cats as a coach. We came to this decision this evening following a lengthy discussion between the league and the Hamilton organization. We wish Mr. Briles all the best in his future endeavours.”

I gotta say, I was more than a little surprised when I saw that ex-Baylor coach Art Briles had gotten hired by a CFL team as their offensive coordinator. Granted its the CFL, but this guy wouldn’t be able to get a job managing a Denny’s, let alone another football team.

For anyone that forgets all the details of the Art Briles era at Baylor, here are the sparknotes: this guy basically emboldened scumbags up and down the Baylor roster and intimidated college women from coming forward about sexual assault at the hands of his players. Baylor had one arrest after the other, most of which were for violent crimes. There were legitimate gang rape allegations against Briles team. Sports Illustrated had the below breakdown of utter scumbag entitlement Briles promoted while at Baylor.

“The details of what happened at Baylor under Briles are sickening. At least 52 acts of rape committed by 31 different players between 2011 and ’14, including five gang rapes, according to a lawsuit filed earlier this year by a former Baylor student. Multiple instances of Briles and his staff either ignoring or covering up reports of assault and interfering with police investigations. Players not disciplined while victims were encouraged to keep quiet or leave the university. A blind eye toward accepting players with a history of violence toward women.”

So how the fuck anyone would let this guy oversee even the equipment room for a football team is beyond me.

Well, its apparently beyond the Hamilton Tiger-Cats as well who figured 15 months was enough time passed for a Briles hiring to not be controversial. They guessed wrong. The internet had a field day with this once it caught wind of the hiring. Not even 24 hours later the CFL team came out and said just kidding we’re not going to hire Art Briles.

Art Briles’ new coaching job?

 

NFL and CFL Legend Doug Flutie Named to Toronto All-Time Team

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Toronto Argonauts – The Toronto Argonauts Football Club and the Toronto Argonauts Alumni Association are proud to announce that quarterback Doug Flutie has been named an All-Time Argo. Flutie played in Toronto for two seasons and was named the league’s Most Outstanding Player in both, leading the Argos to back-to-back Grey Cup Championships in 1996 and 1997. He was also named the Grey Cup MVP in both games. The product of Boston College holds the Argos’ single season record for most passing yards (5,720 – 1996), most pass completions (434 – 1996) and most passing touchdowns (47 – 1997).

First off, what a distinction. Rarefied air. Good for Doug Flutie. Now I readily admit I cant name a single other former Toronto Argonaut aside from Ricky Williams, but I recognize greatness. And holy hell did Doug Flutie put up some numbers in the CFL. He was (Canadian) Tom Brady before Tom Brady.

Have you ever actually looked at Flutie’s career CFL stats?

  • His career CFL statistics include 41,355 passing yards and 270 touchdowns.
  • He holds the professional football record of 6,619 yards passing in a single season. He led the league in passing five times in only eight seasons.
  • He once held four of the CFL’s top five highest single-season completion marks, including a record 466 in 1991 which was surpassed by Ricky Ray in 2005.
  • His 48 touchdown passes in 1994 remains a CFL record.
  • He earned three Grey Cup MVP awards, and was named the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player a record six times (1991–1994, and 1996–1997).
  • He passed for 5,000+ yards six times in his career and remains the only player in pro football history to pass for 6,000+ yards in a season twice in his career.

Those are legit Madden on Easy mode numbers, just a disgusting level of dominance of the CFL and their goofy wider field with goalposts in the endzone. Canada WORSHIPS this guy. Like I love Doug Flutie, but he’s a goddamn legend in the great white north. They voted him the greatest CFL player of all-time and then made him the first non-Canadian EVER inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame.

And how am I only just now hearing about Doug Flutie bobblehead night? I’ve been talking about seriously getting into the CFL this year. I think this is a sign. I think I have to drive up to Toronto for this right? I could expense this to The 300s (read: my credit card) right?

I need a Doug Flutie CFL jersey so bad. Its like acid in my mouth.