NFL vet pumped about Riders’ trial
Prior to joining the Saskatchewan Roughriders, J.T. O’sullivan’s connection to the Canadian Football League was rather tenuous.
“I actually have family from Vancouver, so I remember playing three-down football at family reunions growing up,” O’sullivan, who hails from Burbank, Calif., said after Wednesday’s second mini-camp session with the Roughriders. “Certain things about it don’t scare me at all, so I’m excited.”
The quarterback first set foot on Taylor Field one day after a former teammate — Jason Clermont — announced his retirement.
Admittedly, it is a stretch to refer to O’sullivan and Clermont as erstwhile cohorts. They were allies for only one game — the 2002 East-west Shrine Bowl — en route to the pro ranks. O’sullivan was then an accomplished collegian with the University of California, Davis. Clermont was invited to the annual showcase of graduating college players after starring for the University of Regina Rams.
Clermont’s inclusion in the equation is an example of O’sullivan’s longevity. The Regina-born slotback has just wrapped up a stellar, 10-year CFL career. Over the same period, O’sullivan has had stints with 11 NFL teams — tying him with kicker Dave Rayner as the most-travelled player in league history.
O’sullivan’s extensive resume also includes time spent with NFL Europe’s Frankfurt Galaxy. And, now, he is in Saskatchewan.
“I’m definitely a novice at this point, so I’ve got to soak it in, get all the intricacies of the whole league and understand everything I need to know at the position to play at a high level, and then hopefully get an opportunity to find out if I’m good enough,” O’sullivan said.
Hold on. How can someone with such a wealth of experience — someone who turns 33 on Aug. 25 — be considered a novice?
“I’m a novice in a lot of things,” the personable O’sullivan said with a chuckle. “I don’t pretend to be an expert in too many things.
“It’s a great opportunity for me to come up here and kind of renew myself and just get back into the game and be excited about coming out here and playing football.”
O’sullivan’s mind is clearly set on looking forward. Asked to discuss what it was like to be the San Francisco 49ers’ starting quarterback for half of the 2008 season, O’sullivan responded cordially but without specificity.
“Starting a game is starting a game,” he reflected. “You put so much into it at every level. I didn’t prepare any harder when that was happening than when I was a fifth-string guy in a different camp.”
O’sullivan now is one of five quarterbacks under contract to the Riders. He is vying with Colt Brennan, Levi Brown and Drew Willy for backup duty behind Darian Durant in 2012.
“With J.T., the biggest thing for him right now is that he wants to detach himself from his past and he just wants to move forward,” said Roughriders head coach Corey Chamblin, who is 21 months older than O’sullivan. “He wants to establish himself here, and I think that’s good for him to have that mindset. He doesn’t want to live in his past. That’s why he came up here. He still wants to play ball and he wants to play at a high level. He doesn’t want to live off what he used to do.”