Dino vet hopes to catch another CFL club’s eye
By Kristen Odland,
Calgary Herald
Obviously, Tim O’Neill is thinking about the future going into his fourth year at the University of Calgary.
But it’s mostly the upcoming Canada West season that’s been on his mind since returning to the Dinos’ offensive line after being put through the paces in the Canadian Football League.
The 27-year old native of Victoria chose to wrap up his communications and culture degree after being released in June by the Edmonton Eskimos, who had scooped him up 22nd overall in the 2005 CFL draft.
“I’m just going to finish my school up, train hard, and see what happens,” O’Neill said Friday after wrapping up the final day of the Dinos’ week-long fall training camp.
“But I’ll see what we can do here first off, that’s for sure.
“That’s all I’m worried about. Take this season as it comes and work hard in school and see what happens.”
Eventually, O’Neill would like to take another shot at the CFL.
But for this season, the six-foot-three, 294-pounder brings his pro camp experience back to the table, and is hoping to help the Dinos improve on their 2006-07 record of 2-6.
Today, O’Neill joins O-line starters Mark Dewit, David Maltman, Dylan Steenbergen, and Chris Vail when the Dinos square off against University of Alberta in an exhibition game in Red Deer.
“You gotta look at it from his point of view,” head coach Blake Nill reasoned. “He wants to accomplish two things here. He wants to finish his degree . . . and he wants to get another shot at the pros. So this opportunity for him was a perfect fit.”
“He’s come back and he’s really improved,” added O-line boss Rohn Meyer, following the Dinos’ final two-a-day practice Friday. “He’s had a good camp. He’s stepped up and filled in and he knows what he’s doing.
“I know, firsthand, that (the CFL) definitely gets you used to going faster, seeing guys that are way quicker and just bigger and stronger. He was exposed to football at a professional level and knows how you should deal with it. When you bring it back to this level, you should be able to handle it, no problem.”
Meyer, a former Dino player who spent five years with the Calgary Stampeders before being traded to Toronto, had coached O’Neill for three years.
Originally a defensive lineman from the junior Victoria Rebels of the British Columbia Football Conference, O’Neill shifted to the offensive line after his first season with the Dinos following the advice of former offensive line coach Peter Connellan.
After two years, O’Neill caught the Eskimos’ eye.
“Back then, I wasn’t too happy about (being switched from the D-line) . . . but it was still football so I still enjoyed it,” recalled O’Neill.
“You learn to be an O-lineman, I think, as the years have gone by. It’s not like the D-line where you make four or five plays a game, and you’ve had a great game. O-line, you make one bad play a game, and you’ve had a bad game. It’s a different mentality but similar.
“Every year you realize how much you didn’t know the year before,” added O’Neill. “I think last year accelerated that even more.
“I learned from watching guys like (Eskimos offensive lineman) Dan Comiskey and practising with him . . . I learned a lot.”
The Dinos kick-off their regular Canadian Interuniversity Sport season on Aug. 31 in Burnaby against the rebuilding Simon Fraser University squad.
