National Post (National Edition)
MEXICO’S TOP TALENT TAKEN AT CFL DRAFT.
27 PLAYERS DRAFTED OUT OF COMBINE
Trademark crazy traffic permitting, it takes two hours or more to drive here from the bustling city of Puebla, just 135 kilometres to the southeast.
Teammates Carlos Olvera, Guillermo Calderon and Juan Marquez have made the trek often for football and fun, but this one was the trip of a lifetime for the three kids from the university there, the Universidad de las Americas Puebla.
On Saturday, all three UDLAP Aztecas were drafted by teams in Mexico’s only pro loop, the Liga de Futbol Americano Profesional. Then all three attended the Canadian Football League combine on Sunday, and were drafted by CFL teams on Monday. Not a bad way for three amigos to spend three days in the big city.
“It means everything but I’m conscious that there is a long road,” said Olvera, who went 15th overall to Saskatchewan. He quickly searched up Regina on his iphone and is now a happy follower of the Riders on Instagram and Twitter.
“This is the first step, you know. I’m very anxious to be part of this great organization. I’m going to make proud the coaches and the staff from the Roughriders for selecting me. I’m speechless right now. I’m very excited.”
Marquez, chosen 21st by Montreal, couldn’t wait to reunite with his wife Vanessa and their 11-month-old baby Renata. In addition to being a dad, husband and ballplayer, the 25-year-old is a Masters student in administration.
“I’m happy. I can’t wait to see my daughter and my wife. To kiss her,” he said. “It’s amazing for all of us to be here and to have this opportunity.”
Calderon was the 27 th and final pick, taken by Calgary. All owe a debt of gratitude to their head coach, Eric Fisher, who knows how to represent his players. He was all over the Estadio Azul field at Sunday’s combine, offering insights on his guys to the assembled CFL personnel. And you can bet Fisher’s opinions had an effect, as there were six present and former Aztecas drafted on Monday.
“That’s part of my job as a head coach,” said Fisher, a native of Missouri who has coached in Mexico for 15 years. “Even though they have graduated and maybe been out for three years, we recruit family, we talk about family, we believe we have constructed a family at UDLAP so they are always members of the family and I am always going to be here to support them and try to help them on with their professional dreams.”
He celebrated each time another Azteca walked onto the stage at the Crowne Plaza Hotel de Mexico to grab a hat and pose for pictures with his new CFL team.
“I’m happy. I’m proud of them. The (CFL) coaches have been asking me about our players. They are bilingual, bicultural and they have the chance to represent themselves well in camp. They’re going to get a good quality person as well as a good football player coming up to Canada.”
Fisher builds good players and helps them become good men. Diego Torres is one of them. He won’t be eligible for the LFA draft until next year, so the big linebacker wasn’t at the CFL combine. But he’s exactly the kind of player and person Fisher will be convincing CFL teams to draft next season. And Torres is grateful for Fisher’s influence on him and the program at UDLAP.
“He came to the team with something called the quest for greatness,” Torres said. “It’s a lot of values that we are supposed to embrace. I will give you an example. One is be a man of honour. Don’t lie. Be the kind of person that people want to be around. Another is make time your friend, not your enemy. Take advantage of time. Take advantage of the opportunity you have. Enjoy every moment. So he came with all these ideas and values that definitely changed the whole program and college football in general.”
This is that moment for these Aztecas. Fisher did what he could to get them ready as men and players. Now it’s up to them. Most of the 27 Mexican players selected Monday will, at the very least, attend a CFL rookie camp in May.
“All you want in life is to get your foot in the door, get a chance, then go compete,” Fisher said. “If they get the opportunity to go to rookie camp or training camp, it’s up to them to shine.”
And if they do that, they might fulfil a dream to play professionally outside of Mexico, as part and parcel of Commissioner Randy Ambrosie’s bold CFL 2.0 initiative.
“It was amazing to see that much energy in the room today,” said Ambrosie. “Clearly this is a huge story here in Mexico. There is a real passion for this idea. You saw the look on those players’ faces. We probably changed a few lives today.”
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 maya soft he li ga de futbo lA me rica no, the league that has formed a unique partnership with the CFL.
The nine Canadian teams went heavy on receivers with seven selected 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, plus two offensive linemen, two linebackers and two running backs.
Winnipeg general manager 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 first-year player. They’ll get a chance to compete and we’ll see what happens after rookie camp,” said Walters, who took two defensive backs.
“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.”