Townsend Jr. tries to make dad proud with Redblacks
Greg Townsend Jr. wasn’t around for much of it, but from 198393 and again in 1997, his dad, Townsend Sr., was making life miserable for NFL quarterbacks.
Townsend, the Oakland Raiders’ all-time sack leader with 107.5, retired 20 years ago.
So imagine the thrill when Jr. got a call and an opportunity to play for the Raiders in 2016. The NFL opportunity didn’t work out. But a new opportunity — a chance to play for the Ottawa Redblacks — has the 24-year-old Townsend Jr. excited.
“This is a chance to continue the dream, try to live out the legacy,” said Townsend Jr., following the first day of the Redblacks’ rookie camp Wednesday at TD Place. “My dad said to make sure I brought the talent and legacy to Ottawa and help them win.
“It’s part of the journey, part of the process. You get a limited amount of opportunities to showcase yourself and I ended up here. It’s a chance to show my talent in a pro football league. I’m going to try and do what I do best — go get some sacks.”
Townsend Jr., who stands 6-foot-3 and weighs in at 258 lbs., plays a position, defensive end, where the Redblacks would like to add some speed and the ability to sack quarterbacks.
“We haven’t been able to find that guy through free agency and there haven’t been those guys available,” Redblacks GM Marcel Desjardins said. “It’s a need we have — somebody who could be the Aston Whiteside of this year’s team. When we have tryout camps, you’re not going to see a whole lot of the D-ends in terms of what they can do because they’re not in pads. We’re excited about the group we have.”
While Townsend Jr. had a very good football-playing dad, there was never any pressure to put on the pads and tackle people.
“My dad didn’t want me to play organized football when I was young,” Townsend Jr. said. “He eased me into it. I was a basketball player until about eighth grade, then I started playing football.
“Some of the guys popped by the house ... Tim Brown, Deacon Jones, Rod Martin. I got to meet a lot of great football players. I learned little things from them.”
Now the road has brought the kid to Ottawa.
“I was weighing my options, trying to figure out if I could sign somewhere,” Townsend Jr. said. “My agent called and said Ottawa liked me and wanted me to come in.
“Sometimes people see that it’s the CFL and think it’s downgraded a level. What they don’t understand is (a lot of ) these players could play in the NFL.”
RETURN OF HIGHTOWER?
While 25-year-old defensive back Forrest Hightower, a key player for Ottawa in 2016, was waived by the New Orleans Saints a few days ago, don’t expect to see him back with the Redblacks — at least not anytime soon.
Said Desjardins: “We’re happy with what we have right now. We’ll continue through camp with this group and see how it evolves from there. You never say never. He was a good player for us. But we’re probably not in position to do a whole lot right now.”
So how about defensive end Ricky Foley, who is also in the market for a team?
“He called me and I talked to him, but it’s not something we would be looking to do at this point,” Desjardins said. “Again, never say never.”
DRAFT PICKS SIGN
The Redblacks have signed seven of the eight players they drafted earlier this month. In camp are offensive linemen Evan Johnson and Jordan Filippelli, fullback Anthony Gosselin, defensive lineman Mathieu Dupuis, long snapper Louis-Philippe Bourassa, receiver Austen Hartley and running back Ed Ilnicki.
The exception is Ottawa native Eli Ankou, a defensive lineman who has signed with the Houston Texans.
FOUR KICKERS IS TOO MANY
While former University of Ottawa quarterback Derek Wendel has signed with the Montreal Alouettes, the Redblacks had a look at former Gee-Gees kicker Lewis Ward, but have decided they will go into training camp with Ray Early, Ronnie Pfeffer and Zack Medeiros.
“We (had interest), but at the end of the day we don’t have room for a kicker and we’re not going to move forward with him,” Desjardins said. “We liked him, it’s not a function of liking him or not. The bottom line is you can’t have four kickers in camp.”
BINNS CALLS IT QUITS
The Redblacks were hoping to get a good look at receiver Armon Binns, who got hurt at the team’s 2016 mini-camp. But he has told the team he’s retiring.
“He simply decided not to play anymore,” Desjardins said. “He notified us prior to mini-camp that he didn’t feel he was 100 per cent yet, he wasn’t sure what he was going to do. Within the past 10 days or so, he notified us that he was not going to continue playing football.”
PRACTICE TIMES
The Redblacks rookies and quarterbacks will practise from 8:30-10:20 a.m. Thursday and Friday at TD Place. The team will be off Saturday, with full training camp beginning Sunday morning.