Mexican players take first step to shot at CFL
Twenty-seven Mexican football players started what might not be such an improbable journey to the Canadian Football League on Monday.
The Edmonton Eskimos kicked off the CFL’s history-making draft of Mexican talent by selecting receiver Diego Viamontes. He’s a 28-year-old who plays with the Mayas of the Liga de Futbol Americano, the league that has formed a unique partnership with the CFL.
The nine Canadian teams went heavy on receivers with seven, to lead all positions. There were also five defensive linemen and five defensive backs chosen, as well as all four kickers who attended Sunday’s combine at Estadio Azul, plus two offensive linemen, two linebackers and two running backs.
Winnipeg GM Kyle Walters and B.C.’s Ed Hervey both said they plan to invite all three of their draftees to rookie camp.
“We just told them we’ll see you in May. All three of them will be coming up, like just any other firstyear player. They’ll get a chance to compete and we’ll see what happens after rookie camp,” said Walters, who took two defensive backs, one with considerable size.
“I told them, start running because it’s a fast game. Run, train, lift and be ready to compete for a job on May 12. That’s all they need to worry about.”
The three-round draft involved a little bit of guesswork and gut instinct, as the CFL teams didn’t have hours of game tape on each player.
“What we did was the best we could when evaluating the players based on what we saw yesterday (at the combine), the skills and oneon-ones, and then the interviews,” Hervey said. “And then we just took our shot at who we felt had the best day, the way you would at an open tryout.”