New Eskimo Vega says he’s excited to be playing with Reilly
Free agent gets call after DE Howard injured in game against Alouettes
The Edmonton Eskimos aren’t just kicking tires on Jason Vega.
An undisclosed injury to defensive end Marcus Howard during Thursday’s 23-12 win over the Montreal Alouettes led to the free agent being signed by the defending Grey Cup champions ahead of Tuesday’s practice at Commonwealth Stadium.
And for Eskimos quarterback Mike Reilly, it’s a chance to reunite with one of the members from a memorable Reebok commercial from 2014, where he was filmed throwing a football through one, then two, then three tires that had been tossed in the air as part of the #LetsPlay campaign.
While it was all done in one continuous take, the most amazing part is how many tries it took, according to the cast members.
“Just one,” Vega said Tuesday. “I was there.”
While it would be tough to argue for anyone who wasn’t, the execution still fell just short of perfection. It appears the ball didn’t quite pass through both tires on Reilly’s second throw, which saw Vega and B.C. Lions linebacker Adam Bighill in charge of the tossing.
“Well, I would never call Bighill out because I’ve got to play against him and he’s an old teammate, too, so if anybody almost messed up, it was probably me,” said a grinning Reilly.
“That was the first time, really, that I spent a lot of time with Jason. It was good to see him in the lockerroom. He’s a veteran guy who’s obviously had a lot of success, he’s a good player. He’s a guy that should be able to come in and make our football team better right away.”
Back then, the six-foot-four, 255-pound Northeastern product was fresh off a year in the NFL, where he spent the pre-season with the New England Patriots before joining the Dallas Cowboys.
He became a free agent after playing the 2015 season with the Toronto Argonauts, before returning to Winnipeg, where his CFL career began in 2011.
“I had to do something with my time and had an interest in (selling) vehicles, so I was doing that in the meantime and working out at a Y (MCA),” said Vega, who also sold his share of tires over the years. “I was pretty darned good. My manager was actually pretty upset but he understood why I was leaving.”
And now he gets a chance to actually play with Reilly instead of just shooting commercials.
“Yeah, I messaged him on Twitter yesterday and said, ‘I might see you soon,’ ” Vega said. “And I showed up this morning, it was pretty exciting. It’s easy here because they make it easy.
“You have guys willing to help each other, coaches willing to spend time with you, and it helps when you’ve been around for a few years and you kind of get familiar with most concepts.”
The Eskimos didn’t give any indication Tuesday as to Howard’s status or any details of his injury.
“It’s eight weeks into the season and Marcus is a little chingered up,” said head coach Jason Maas. “So we brought Vega in and we’re going to see how Marcus does here during the week, how he responds (to treatment).”
He’s a veteran guy ... He’s a guy that should be able to come in and make our football team better right away.