BC Lions
CFL.ca Staff
With files from BCLions.com
SURREY, B.C. — Austin Collie and Lavelle Hawkins may have NFL resumes, but during this week’s BC Lions mini-camp they were no different than any other rookie CFL receiver.
Competition at the receiver position looms large for the Lions, especially given the departure of Ernest Jackson and the need for new talent to emerge and fill the void.
Joining first-year head coach Jeff Tedford and starting quarterback Travis Lulay, both Collie and Hawkins took the field in Surrey hoping to prove they can do just that.
“I’m feeling good,” said Hawkins, who played seven NFL seasons for five different teams. “I’m picking up the offence and getting used to the way they do things over here, and I think I’m doing well.”
Hawkins spent five seasons with the Tennessee Titans, his most productive season in 2011 when he played in all 16 games and finished with 470 yards and a touchdown on 47 receptions.
The 28-year-old, best known for his speed, has CFL bloodlines after his brother Andrew, now a Cleveland Browns receiver, played for the Montreal Alouettes from 2009 to 2010. Just like his brother once managed, Hawkins is now figuring out the intricacies of the Canadian game.
“I’ve caught myself just lining up instead of going back and running the motions,” said Hawkins, describing his attempt to learn the waggle. “That’s going to be something I’ll have to keep telling myself, to get back there and run the motion and the waggle.”
“Everything else is pretty much football.”
Collie’s road to the CFL is different from Hawkins, as the 29-year-old is now rebuilding his football career from the ground up after struggling through concussions.
Once one of Peyton Manning’s top pass-catchers with the Indianapolis Colts, Collie caught 15 touchdown passes and amassed 118 catches for 1,325 yards in his first two NFL seasons. After recording 514 receiving yards in 2011, he struggled to stay on the field as a result of his injuries.
After brief stops in San Francisco and New England, now the six-foot, 204-pound receiver has brought his game north of the border in hopes of restoring his career.
“It was fun,” Collie said, asked about getting back on the field for this week’s mini-camp. “I haven’t been able to do this for a long, long time. It was fun just throwing on a helmet and running around.”
Like Hawkins, the veteran receiver is a CFL rookie facing some football concepts he’s never seen before. But his experience, Collie said, should help him both adapt to the new landscape and also bring a different angle to the Lions’ offence.
“This will be my seventh year of professional football, so I hope to bring experience,” said Collie. “I’ve been able to play with a few great quarterbacks and hopefully bring some of the things that they taught me. I’m just looking to contribute in any way possible.”
“The flow of the game is a little bit different, so it’s going to take some time getting used to,” he added. “It was fun to get out here and run around and get to meet some of the guys.”
Whether or not Collie and Hawkins get to make an impact in 2015 is unknown, but the opportunity may be there. The Lions have a solid number of proven CFL receivers, but outside of Emmanuel Arceneaux they lack a true proven game-breaker.
Collie and Hawkins both have proven game-breaking ability, but first they’ll have plenty to learn between now and the end of training camp.
“They’re the same as everybody else,” said Tedford, running his first CFL mini-camp. “They’re in a learning mode right now.”
“They show flashes of doing some good things physically, and mentally they’re trying to figure it out right now,” he added. “There’s a lot they need to get used to, being guys that have never played up here before with the motions and so forth.”
“Every day they’re getting more comfortable with it.”
