THE CANADIAN PRESS
CFL.ca Staff
TORONTO — Spring is in the air and now so are the first footballs of 2015, as mini-camps have officially gotten under way. The Saskatchewan Roughriders held theirs last weekend while the Alouettes’ kicked off on Wednesday, both in Florida.
With mini-camps under way on top of retirements and player signings, here’s the latest around the CFL with the latest edition of Checking Down:
BC Lions
- The Lions continued building their quarterback depth this off-season, adding international Jonathon Jennings to the roster.
The Saginaw Valley State product is the sixth quarterback on the Lions’ roster, and joins the team after a four-year collegiate career in which he threw for 10,710 yards and 96 touchdowns on 799 completions.
In 2013 he was the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference’s Player of the Year, completing 220 passes for 3,284 yards and a conference-leading 31 majors. Johnson joins the battle for positioning behind starting quarterback Travis Lulay.
- The first of three Lions’ off-season free agent camps kicks off this Saturday, as players looking for a chance to make a professional football team will go through a series of tests, including the 40-yard dash, pro agility shuttle, football drills and one-on-ones.
A full list of the Lions’ off-season free agent workouts can be found here.
Edmonton Eskimos
- The CFL and the Edmonton Eskimos are mourning the death of Howie Schumm, a former linebacker and fullback that played for the Esks for 14 years from 1959-1972.
Schumm played in 128 consecutive games and amassed 46 carries for 218 yards and a touchdown to go with 12 receptions for 202 yards, plus contributions on defence and special teams.
- The Eskimos will become the third CFL team to open a mini-camp this coming weekend, practising from April 17-19. The camp will be held at historic Dodgertown in Vero Beach, Fla., and will be attended by quarterbacks Matt Nichols and Mike Reilly along with a number of first-year players on the roster.
Calgary Stampeders
- Romby Bryant ended his productive CFL career this week, signing with the Calgary Stampeders and then officially retiring. Bryant split his career mostly between Winnipeg and Calgary plus a year with Toronto, and will be most remembered for this game-winning touchdown grab in the 2012 Western Semi-Final:
