Rhymes proving to be good catch for Redblacks
Two weeks ago in Winnipeg, Ottawa Redblacks receiver Dominique Rhymes was excited about the prospect of telling his mother, Tangela, about his first Canadian Football League touchdown catch.
Unfortunately, his phone wasn’t working. The screen had been cracked.
He got the phone working the next day, though, and made the call.
“She was ecstatic. When I called, she was yelling. She was so happy for me because she knows how hard I’ve worked,” said Rhymes, who plans to give Tangela the football when he heads home to Miami in the off-season.
Rhymes nearly didn’t get the souvenir, though, after catching a five-yard touchdown pass from Redblacks quarterback Trevor Harris against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. He was so caught up in the moment that he left the ball behind in the end zone. The quarterback retrieved it for him.
“I was excited to score, coming off an injury,” Rhymes said. “Hopefully I can score more touchdowns.”
His mom was in Ottawa earlier this month for a Redblacks game against the Montreal Alouettes.
“She’s my biggest supporter, my biggest fan,” Rhymes said. “She’s been with me through it all. I love her.”
After playing the first two games of the 2018 regular season, Rhymes missed five. He was happy to be back in the lineup for that Aug. 11 contest against the Alouettes.
“It’s frustrating ( being injured),” he said. “You want to be out there with your team, fighting with them every game, but you just want to make sure you can help in any way, even if it’s not on the field.”
Standing 6-4, Rhymes gives the Redblacks another valuable offensive weapon.
“It’s a huge difference when you have a big-bodied player who can go in there and catch slants, basically position himself in between the ball and the defender,” Redblacks offensive co-ordinator Jaime Elizondo said. “He’s going to make contested catches where he’s going to get hit. It’s a comfort zone on intermediate routes: a 14-yard dig route where he can go up with a long wingspan and make those catches. He’s also a very physical blocker, so having him around the box is also good.”
A big-bodied player who can go in there and catch slants ... position himself in between the ball and the defender.