Ex-Eskimo White joins Tiger-Cats
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats have agreed to terms with veteran CFL running back John White, according to multiple reports.
White was released by the Edmonton Eskimos the day before training camps opened.
The 26-year-old is coming off a torn ACL suffered in the second game of the 2017 season, after rushing for over 100 yards and one touchdown in Week 1. It was his second season-ending injury in three years: he also tore his Achilles during training camp in 2015 and missed the entire season.
But the University of Utah product produces when healthy. White had 1,350 yards from scrimmage with 886 on the ground in 2016. In four seasons with the Eskimos, White played in 41 games with 376 carries for 2,110 yards (5.6-yard average) and 12 touchdowns, adding 84 catches for 736 yards and four majors.
The move comes after Ticat running back Alex Green missed the first day of practice week on Tuesday with what head coach June Jones described as a hand injury. Green had 79 carries for 447 yards and five touchdowns and eight catches for 47 yards in six games last year, his first in the CFL. He missed a portion of training camp while dealing with family issues, but returned to play in the pre-season win over Montreal, where he had nine carries for 28 yards.
The injury news was mixed on two other key players who were injured against Montreal. Defensive back Don Unamba, who took a knee to the head, was back on the field; while Canadian defensive tackle Justin Vaughn was a limited participant.
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Vernon Adams is back — sort of.
The erstwhile quarterback was on the field for the first day of Ticats practice week on Tuesday, just days after head Coach Jones said he would be traded — but Adams wasn’t working with the rest of the pivots.
“We’re looking at him as a receiver. He wants to do it, so we’re going to evaluate him and see where it leads,” Jones said. “He’s doing what he can to help the team win. He’s a great kid. You never know what the next day brings, but he’s doing what he has to do to contribute where he can contribute.”
Jones says it’s possible Adams could still be dealt, though it doesn’t sound like a move is imminent. Jones likely scuttled a deal last week when he announced that Adams was about to be traded to Edmonton or Montreal before things were finalized.
Given the turn of events, it’s remarkable that Adams — who declined to speak to media on Tuesday — is still with the club and apparently on decent terms with Jones.
“It’s honesty. I told him straight up what the deal was when we first talked and he respects that,” Jones said. “He wants to play.”
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While his Hamilton Tiger-Cats teammates finalized their living arrangements or recovered from a long and arduous training camp, quarterback Johnny Manziel used Monday’s off day to fly to New York City to record the first episode of his Comeback SZN podcast and appear on the Barstool Rundown webcast.
Manziel and his agent Erik Burkhardt shared the backstory on the podcast of how the contract with the Ticats came together quickly.
“Here’s the way the contract situation works with (Burkhardt): ‘All right, I think we got the deal done. You’re leaving at 10 p.m. tomorrow night.’ ‘Eric that’s in 12 hours. You’re telling me I’m moving to Hamilton, Ontario, for the next six months of my life,’” Manziel said. “That’s pretty much how it went. There wasn’t a lot of fluid talks that were going on behind the scenes.”
Burkhardt offered his perspective on the contract negotiations.
“They stepped up. We didn’t think they’d step up to where I told them they needed to get to,” Burkhardt said.
After agreeing to join the Ticats in late May, Manziel took a red-eye flight to Buffalo and spent time at the border getting a work permit — but that wasn’t the only delay.
“They held me up for having too much cash at the border,” Manziel said. “It’s super casual to have $25,000 in your backpack.”
The Heisman Trophy winner did make it into Canada, but Burkhardt divulged the Ticats wanted Manziel on the team sooner.
“Last year, they really wanted to sign and made a push halfway through the season,” Burkhardt said.
“My big thing was: ‘Johnny, if we’re going to do this I want you up there day one.’ That’s exactly what Johnny told me. We knew it was going to take some time, we knew he wasn’t going to be starting right away.”
Manziel has played two preseason games and already been fined $50, likely for criticizing officials.
“Something like that. It’s a little bit different than the NFL. It’s not like the $5,000 that you would get,” Manziel said.
The 25-year-old does seem happy to be back playing football, as opposed to what he had been doing.
“Sitting on your (butt) on the couch reading Barstool every day, and playing Fortnight, and watching Netflix as August, September roll around,” Manziel said. “It gets pretty boring.”
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From the hall outside the second-floor Hamilton Tiger-Cat offices at Tim Hortons Field, Matt Afinec can look through the north end zone and see the church where he was christened.
And on Tuesday afternoon at the stadium, where Hamiltonians gather for a more secular type of worship, the Ticats announced that Afinec is their new president and chief operating officer of business operations.
“I’m humbled and honoured, and thankful to Scott (Mitcheell) and Bob (Young) for the opportunity,” said Afinec, “and to the fans and corporate partners who have made us a success.”
The 38-year-old Burlington native, who’s been with the Ticats since 2010, has been the Ticats executive vice-president of business for three years. His grandparents owned a house a the corner of Lottridge and Cannon Streets and both his father and grandfather attended Prince of Wales School, which is 50 metres from the main gate of Tim Hortons Field.
“Matt’s done a fantastic job with the organization,” said Mitchell. “He’s been with the Bob Young group of companies for nearly 10 years and has really been the lead executive running the business operations of the Tiger-Cats the past couple of years. He’s the right guy to lead the Ticat business operations in the next phase, and, of course, a guy with deep, great Hamilton and regional roots. It’s fantastic to have him in the role.”
Mitchell says the organizational structure won’t change, with football operations reporting directly to him and Afinec reporting directly to him on all sides of the business interests of the company. Mitchell, who’s busy in a number of ventures for Young’s group of companies (including the Canadian Premier Soccer League), said he’ll still work closely with Afinec, but will now be able to get back to spending more time helping with the football operations side of the franchise.
Prior to joining the Ticats, Afinec spent five years with the Toronto Argonauts. He oversaw revenue for the 2007 Grey Cup, the first held in Toronto in 25 years, and that’s where he first met Mitchell.
Afinec graduated from Burlington’s Lester B. Pearson High School and studied industrial relations at McGill University.
— With files from Steve Milton