THEY THE NORTH
Updates on Canadian NFLers: Diehard Leafs fan Urban at home now on Titans; Seahawks thrilled that Willson is back
It was great to see the Raptors win it all, but you want to see the Leafs do it. They’re my Leafs.
Brent Urban of the Titans
CLEVELAND — Two members of the 2006 Mississauga IceDogs triple-A peewee hockey team now play sports professionally in Nashville, Tenn.
Ryan Ellis with the NHL’s Nashville Predators.
Brent Urban with the NFL’s Tennessee Titans.
Yes, Urban moved on from hockey once he reached Grade 11 at Mississauga’s Lorne Park Secondary
School, to concentrate on football.
On Saturday night, Ellis and the Predators played their home opener against the Detroit Red Wings. On Sunday afternoon, Urban and the Titans (2-2) play host to the Buffalo Bills.
As it happens, Ellis and Urban all these years later haven’t really stayed in touch. One of them, at least, is able to remain a huge fan of the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs — and the NBA’s Toronto Raptors too, for that matter.
“Hey, as soon as the Raptors won it all, I went online and bought a ton of stuff for the house — Raptors championship gear,” Urban, 28, said in a locker-room interview following Tennessee’s Week 1 upset victory over the host Browns.
Last time I’d interviewed Urban, in summer 2018, he was in his fifth and final season with the NFL team that drafted him, the Baltimore Ravens. He greeted me by proudly sporting a Raptors ball cap.
As much as he reveled in the Raptors’ unlikely NBA championship run that culminated last June, Urban said he’s hoping it soon will be the Leafs’ turn.
“Like any true hockey guy from the Toronto area, you want to see the Leafs win,” Urban said. “That drought hurts me more than the Raptors’ one did, obviously. It was great to see the Raptors win it all, but you want to see the Leafs do it. They’re my Leafs and you want to see this thing happen, for sure.”
Although Urban was listed as a starter at defensive end for the Titans entering Week 1, he has seen spot duty only as a backup. You’d never know it by his gleaming face in that victorious locker room at Cleveland’s FirstEnergy Stadium, following the
Titans’ 43-13 win.
“I think every game we go into thinking the battle’s going to be won up front. We like our guys in our room. We have depth. We have a lot of really good players,” Urban said. “As defensive linemen, we go into every game thinking we can control the line of scrimmage.”
A strong D-line — which primarily features ex-CFL star Cameron Wake, Jurrell Casey, DaQuan Jones and Isaiah Mack — has helped the Titans rank fourth in the NFL in scoring defence (15.5 points allowed per game) entering Week 5.
Urban signed with the Titans in the spring, after five mostly injury-ravaged seasons in Baltimore —he tore an ACL, battled a torn biceps and a Lisfranc foot injury. Last season, he was finally healthy and played in all 16 games for the Ravens. Urban was not impactful statistically and the club chose not to re-sign him.
Helping Urban to make his first NFL team transition this past spring and summer in Nashville was that Titans defensive coordinator Dean Pees held the same role for most of Urban’s time with the Ravens.
“Oh, absolutely it helped,” Urban said. “I couldn’t imagine going to a team where I didn’t have a rapport with the defensive coordinator. There’s a lot of familiarity there. And the guys have been really great welcoming me. It was a smoother transition than I expected.”
NO PLACE LIKE ‘HOME’
A “rare” celebration took place when Luke Willson returned to Seattle a week ago Tuesday evening.
That’s when the Canadian tight end arrived to so re-sign with his first NFL club, after a
frustrating year and a half away.
“The coaches came out of the offices to meet him in the hallway,” Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll said last week. “It was like a celebration. Rarely is it ever like that.
“This is an unusual player. A gifted personality and spirit. Bringing him back to the program … we didn’t miss a step. The coaches were thrilled to get him back. The players that knew him, same. The guys that don’t know him are kind of wondering: What the heck is going on with this guy? Because they can’t understand why it’s so obvious to the rest of us. It’s great to have him on the team.”
The 29-year-old native of the Windsor, Ont., suburb of LaSalle helped the Seahawks win a Super Bowl six years ago as a rookie backup. He enjoyed more pronounced on- and off-field roles over the following four seasons in Seattle.
The club chose not to re-sign him following 2017, and last year Willson signed as a free agent with his ‘hometown’ team — or at least the American team that plays its home games only 12 km (eight miles) north of Willson’s LaSalle home: the Detroit Lions.
Willson caught only 13 passes, though, as a Lion. It was a tough, humbling year for him.
This past spring and summer he was a member of the Oakland Raiders, before being cut at the end of training camp. Tryouts in September with New Orleans, the Los Angeles Chargers and Arizona proved unsuccessful.
Then the Seahawks called, after trading their top tight end, Nick Vannett, to Pittsburgh. Willson now backs up Will Dissly.
“It’s great to have (Luke) on the team,” Carroll said. “We were very fortunate.”
Carroll was asked if Willson — a real character off the field, with his trademark long, flowing brown hair now regrown— is one of the more unique personalities he has coached over four decades.
“He’s on my all-time team. He would definitely be there,” Carroll said.
“He’s just so valuable as a spirit on your team, because he’s so upbeat, been so tough, unbelievably durable, and overcame stuff. He’s a good performer. He runs fast. He’s in great shape. He’s done a great job of staying in shape.
“His hair is back and all of that. He looks good.”
In two games already — division wins last Sunday in Arizona, and on Thursday night against the Los Angeles Rams — Willson has caught three passes for 36 yards.