Canadians most adept at toiling in the trenches
10 of the 13 Canucks currently playing in the NFL are linemen, with six on defence
Until the late ’90s, the joke among talent-seeking American football coaches, pro or college, was that Canada had only two things worth checking out.
First, doughnut shops. Second, the occasional raw, hulking, promising-but-slow offensive lineman.
Sure, there were the occasional diamond-in-the-rough, skill-position exceptions such as running backs Rueben Mayes of North Battleford, Sask. (Washington State, then primarily in the NFL with the New Orleans Saints) and Tim Biakabutuka of Longueuil, Que. (Michigan, then Carolina Panthers). There was quarterback Jesse Palmer of Ottawa (Florida, then New York Giants), tight end O.J. Santiago of Whitby, Ont. (Kent State, then Atlanta Falcons), and WR Tommy Kane of Montreal (Syracuse, then Seattle Seahawks).
Oh, and great kickers galore, including Eddie Murray of Halifax (Tulane, then Detroit Lions), Steve Christie of Oakville (William & Mary, then Buffalo Bills) and Mike Vanderjagt of Oakville (West Virginia, then CFL, then Indianapolis Colts).
Times have changed. Canadians at almost every position except quarterback are now annually trying out for NFL teams. But it seems the country’s main football exports play on the defensive line.
Of the 13 Canadians who spent time in 2018 on an NFL regular-season active roster, six are D-linemen. And that doesn’t include Akiem Hicks, the Chicago Bears defensive end who, as a native Californian, finished his college playing career in 2011 at the University of Regina. Hicks has just been named to his first Pro Bowl.
The most productive of the raised-in-Canada sextet D -linemen is Tyrone Crawford, the seventh-year end for the Dallas Cowboys who hails from Windsor, Ont. He’s Postmedia’s Canadian NFL player of the year.
A leader and starter on one of the NFL’s stingiest defences this year, Crawford has enjoyed his most productive NFL season — with 5.5 sacks, 12 QB hits, 25 QB pressures, four tackles-for-loss, a forced fumble and two pass knock-downs.
The 29-year-old suffered a scary neck injury last Sunday in the opening minutes against Tampa Bay and while it wasn’t as serious as first suspected, he won’t play in Sunday’s meaningless season finale at the New York Giants. (Dallas has clinched the NFC East title and is a lock for the NFC’s No. 4 playoff seed).
Together, the Canadian corps of D -linemen including Brent Urban of Baltimore, Christian Covington of Houston, David Onyemata of New Orleans, Nathan Shepherd of New York Jets and Eli Ankou of Jacksonville amassed 13.5 sacks, 30 QB hits, 15 tackles-for-loss, two forced fumbles, five pass knockdowns and 125 tackles.
As for the other seven Canadian NFLers, Kansas City Chiefs guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, the highest-paid among all the Canadians, was off to another stellar season at right guard on the Chiefs’ offensive line. But in Week 5 against Jacksonville he suffered ankle ligament tears and a fractured fibula.
The McGill University medical-school graduate was placed on injured reserve, but just this week he was designated for return, and resumed practising. He didn’t miss a snap on the scout team.
The Chiefs now have up to three weeks to decide whether to activate “LDT” or return him to IR. Kansas City was 5-0 in games the 27-year-old started, and is 6-4 in games he has missed.
“We’ll just bring him back gradually, see how he does, easy him back in to playing,” Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said on Wednesday. “It’s just a matter of getting in and getting caught up with the speed of the game.
“He’s a mentally strong kid. He’s tough. He knows the (medical) side of it, too. He’s got the answers to the test. Not a lot of guys have that. He knows what needs to be done to take care of it. He works at it hard.”
Louis-Philippe (L.P.) Ladouceur of Montreal is finishing his 14th NFL season as long snapper with the Cowboys. Incredibly, the 37-year-old still has yet to snap an errant ball on a punt, extra point or field goal in 1,985 combined career attempts.
Luke Willson of LaSalle, Ont., has had a quiet season as tight end with the Detroit Lions, starting eight of 14 games after five years mostly as a backup in Seattle. The 28-year-old has 13 catches for 87 yards.
On the eve of the season, the New York Giants traded interior offensive lineman Brett Jones of Weyburn, Sask., to the Minnesota Vikings. The former CFL all-star in Calgary started the first three games at centre for the Vikings before regular starter Pat Elflein returned. Jones, 27, has been a backup since.
Antony Auclair of Notre-Dame-des-Pins, Que., has started nine of 15 games at tight end in his second pro season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The 25-year-old has caught all seven passes thrown his way for 48 yards.
T.J. Jones — born in Winnipeg, but raised in the U.S. — for a fifth season served as a kick returner and backup wide receiver with the Detroit Lions. The 26-yearold started two games at receiver and caught 16 passes for 150 yards, while returning seven punts for 62 yards and four kickoffs for 81.
Austin Pasztor of Tillsonburg, Ont., is a journeyman guard/ tackle whom the Atlanta Falcons cut at the end of training camp. The Tennessee Titans signed the 28-year-old on Dec. 11, and he played briefly last Saturday.
Finally, undrafted rookie offensive lineman Ryan Hunter of North Bay, Ont., has been parked all season on the Kansas City Chiefs’ practice squad. The Bowling Green State University product is a developmental prospect the Chiefs like.