Dillon an already-proven tough Guy
After tearing his ACL and MCL, Canadian a wild-card in CFL draft
If there’s one characteristic normally associated with offensive lineman, it’s toughness in the trenches.
The reason Dillon Guy is a wild card heading into the 2016 CFL Draft is also the same play he’s showing teams as an example of that toughness.
Now five months removed from reconstructive knee surgery, Guy actually had no idea he tore up his ACL last October during his final season as the University of Buffalo last October as a fifth-year senior.
“The adrenaline’s going and everything, so I get up and I’m like, ‘All right, I just got rolled up on,’ ” Guy recalled of the play against the University of Miami (Ohio) and fellow Canadian Mitchell Winters.
“I get up after this thing happened to my knee and I’m cussing and pissed, so I play the next play and my buddy Mitch is looking at me like, ‘You all right, Dillon?’
“I’m like, ‘Yeah, I’m fine, let’s just play,’ and he’s like, ‘No, you’re not. Your knee brace is in your knee.’ ”
The 6-foot-4, 335-pound Hamilton-born offensive lineman wasn’t fine.
“My knee brace broke and I had two barbs in my knee and I was bleeding,” Guy said.
“The ref looks and sees the blood and is like, ‘You need to get off the field.’
“I walk off the field and they check my knee and say Something’s not right.”
Little did he know he had a Grade 3 medial collateral ligament tear and a completely torn anterior cruciate ligament that would quickly end his final season with the Bulls once it was diagnosed.
From there, Guy’s focused turned to getting ready for the three-down draft and thanks to a ultra-quick rehab process, he’s now on a tour of CFL cities to prove to teams that he’s healthy and worthy of an early pick.
His goal is to prove he’s the top offensive lineman in the draft, something that was completely realistic until the injury bug intervened.
“You really can’t tell I’ve had a knee injury,” said Guy, who worked out for the Stampeders and offensive line coach Pat DelMonaco at McMahon Stadium Thursday afternoon.
“Teams won’t show their cards right before the draft, but we’ll see what it holds.
“I’m ready now. I’m full go for training camp. Every doctor has said they’ve had no problems. Winnipeg’s doctors and Calgary’s doctors both looked at me and said, ‘Yeah, you’re going to be ready,’ so the injury’s not a factor anymore.”
Guy’s film from his five partial seasons at the University of Buffalo show a versatile player capable of playing all three interior positions, including centre, which will have numerous teams interested because of his snapping ability.
But those topics are secondary to his health.
“Everyone asks about the knee,” Guy said. “I simply just tell them, ‘Hey, you saw the knee, but did you see what I did after? Tell me how many guys stand up and go back to the huddle instead of rolling around asking for a trainer.’
“I don’t know if it’s a high pain tolerance, just more of my love for football. I’ve always had the feeling that no one’s every carrying me off the field. I walk off the field under my own power.”
It’s that type of lunch-bucket mentality that will endear teams.
The bloodlines — Guy’s father, Shawn, played football at Purdue University and had a cup of coffee with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats — are of interest, as well.
Even though he went to school close to home, Guy’s family only has one priority when it comes to where he lands.
“I don’t really think too much about it and he doesn’t really think too much about it,” Guy said of the Hamilton connection.
“He’s just laughing and he says, ‘Find a place where it’s good fishing.’ ”
Guy’s next stop is a workout Friday in front of Wally Buono and the B.C. Lions, with the Ticats, Toronto Argos and Saskatchewan Roughriders (May 9, the day before the draft) also scheduled. He doesn’t care who picks him. “I’m a guy who always has his bags packed and is ready to go,” he said. “I’ve told every team, as soon as you draft me let’s get the contract dealt with within two days and let’s fly out and get right into football. That’s just the way it is.
“That’s not just me talking what they want to hear, that’s just the type of person I am.”
EXTRA POINTS
The Stampeders signed a trio of receivers Thursday. The biggest name of the signees — all of whom attended the team’s mini-camp in Florida earlier this month — is Canadian pass-catcher Matthew Norzil, who was a fourth-round pick of the Toronto Argonauts in last year’s draft, before catching on with the Stamps late in the season. Also inking deals were Josh Harper, a 6-foot-1, 185-pounder out of Fresno State University, and Jamal Nixon, a 5-foot-11, 215-pounder out of Division II University of Arkansas-Monticello.