Isaac looking for a new home

REGINA — Brandon Isaac admitted Tuesday that his tour of the CFL over the past year makes his head spin “a little bit.”

The 29- year- old linebacker is in camp with the Saskatchewan Roughriders — the third team to employ him in the past 11 months.

Isaac began the 2013 campaign with the Toronto Argonauts, but they released him July 23. After he signed the next day with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Isaac told the media he felt like he had been made the “scapegoat” by the Argos for their defensive shortcomings.

He played the rest of the season with the Tiger-Cats and remained with them until he was cut on May 9.

“One (transaction) was an unfortunate situation, the other one I kind of saw coming,” Isaac said Tuesday at Mosaic Stadium after practising with the Roughriders, who announced his signing May 20. “I’m here with another opportunity to play something I really love and I want to make the most of it.

“I can’t continue to look in the past about what went wrong and what happened. I’ve got to move forward and be blessed with this opportunity that (Roughriders head coach Corey Chamblin) has given me and do the best I can with it.”

Isaac and Chamblin first crossed paths in 2010 in Calgary, where Isaac was a rookie with the Stampeders and Chamblin was the team’s defensive backs coach.

Isaac spent two seasons in Calgary before signing a free-agent pact with the Argos in May 2012.

He helped Toronto win the Grey Cup that season, but also earned something of a reputation after delivering high hits on Winnipeg Blue Bombers quarterback Buck Pierce ( which resulted in Isaac being fined) and Saskatchewan quarterback Darian Durant (which earned Isaac a one-game suspension).

Since then, Isaac has been a man on the move. He noted Tuesday that the Roughriders were the only team to call after he was released by Hamilton.

“I think I’ve made a bad name for myself for moving from team to team, but I think my play speaks for itself on the field,” he said. “I’ve made plays in this league, but unfortunately situations happen. I guess it made me a bad person.”

Isaac doesn’t view the opportunity in Saskatchewan as his last chance in the CFL, but rather as a chance to build on what he already has done over his four seasons in the league.

It’s not about redemption, either.

“I don’t think I have to prove myself on the football field,” Isaac said.

“When people get to see me and get to be around me and know who I am as a person, I’m cool with that because I’m not a bad person.

“I’m a very helpful person, I look out for others. When I’m on the field, I try to teach the young guys what to do but also they’ve got to learn for themselves through adversity and things that they go through.

The 6-foot-3, 208-pounder offers the Roughriders versatility because he can play several positions in the secondary and linebacking corps.

That said, he’s not a lock to make the roster.

To impress Chamblin, Isaac has to go all out all the time.

“He has to have that edge to make sure that, on each and every play, he’s showing up,” Chamblin said.