Olafioye thrilled to be a Lion again
Offensive lineman from Detroit returns to place where he became a six-time all-star
Jovan Olafioye looks around and a smile creases his features.
“This is home for me,” he said. “It’s so good to be back. It feels like I’ve only been gone for a couple of weeks.”
Well, it’s more like 78 weeks. But even if much has changed for the giant offensive tackle in the last yearand-a-half, much is now familiar again.
Olafioye, who makes the short list of the greatest offensive linemen in Lions history, was repatriated by his former club four weeks ago after he was unceremoniously released by the Montreal Alouettes. That experience still rankles the 30-year-old Detroit native, but signing with his former team has gone a long way toward erasing the memory of last season.
The Lions are just happy to have him back.
“He’s a joy to work with every day,” said offensive line coach Dan Dorazio, who helped mentor Olafioye when he broke in with the Lions seven years ago. “He brings physicality, he has a high football IQ and he knows the league. You can’t coach experience. There’s a high value placed on that.”
But not high enough for the Als, the team, as luck would have it, the Lions open their regular season against on Saturday night at B.C. Place Stadium.
Olafioye was dealt by the Lions to the Alouettes in March of 2017 for Canadian offensive lineman David Foucault and promptly signed a rich — by CFL standards — three-year deal.
Last season, however, the six-time CFL All-Star missed six games because of injuries, five with a broken hand and a sixth with back spasms. The Alouettes also struggled to a 3-15 season and when Olafioye showed up at training camp in May, GM Kavis Reed requested he take a salary cut after he paid Olafioye a $50,000 roster bonus in the off-season.
Olafioye rejected the Als’ request, was cut and immediately picked up by the Lions. That was four weeks ago but if you think he’s forgiven and forgotten, you’d be wrong.
“I drove 10 hours and they told me that?” he says. “I thought that was disrespect- ful. (Reed) could have handled it better but it’s the business.”
Olafioye was asked about his experience in Montreal.
“It was OK,” he said. “There were a lot of good guys. But it just wasn’t right over there.”
Still, that bonus paid by the Als allowed the Lions to sign Olafioye at a reduced rate — about $150,000 in a one-year deal — and they’re also getting a motivated player. In his seven years with B.C., Olafioye didn’t miss one game. Last year he missed six, suggesting perhaps he has passed his best-before date.
You can guess what he thinks of that.
“I just broke my hand,” he says.
“It happens in football but I was playing at a very high level last year. It wasn’t like it was my knee.
“I still believe I’m the premier tackle in this league. I want to play at the highest level I can.”
And Dorazio knows how high that can be.
“He’s got a lot left, believe me,” says the veteran coach.