Lineman offered a second chance to make an impression at Lions’ camp
After getting the green light from his ill mother, Randolph rejoins team that cut him last year as injuries bedevil defending champions
KAMLOOPS — Dane Randolph last played for the B. C. Lions in 2010 at Empire Field, on a football surface composed of 22,000 recycled tires. Now, because of injuries along the offensive line, Randolph himself is being recycled.
The 25- year- old guard/ tackle from Owings Mills, Md., rejoined his former club at training camp Friday, the same team which released him last June just before the start of the 2011 CFL season.
Lions GM Wally Buono offered Randolph a re- do at training camp this year thanks to knee injuries to Jon HameisterRies, Jesse Newman and Dean Valli. At first, Randolph said he had some hesitation about flying west to rejoin his old club, though it had little to do with lingering resentment for being spurned by the Lions a year ago.
His mother, Angela, a military intelligence specialist with the U. S. navy, is dealing with breast cancer issues and will have a medical procedure performed today to see if her treatment is working. Her initial surgery was three years ago. Randolph said he was torn between remaining with his mom or following the latest twist in his career path.
“It was only with her blessing that I’m here,” Randolph admitted.
“I promised I would be there for her, every step of the way. But she has other family coming up to join her and she’ll be okay. I’ll be waiting for the phone call [ today] to tell me everything’s okay. Initially, that was the only reason I hesitated about coming here.”
Randolph, who played his college football in Maryland, is certainly no stranger to British Columbia.
As a child, he spent two years on Haida Gwaii ( Queen Charlotte Islands) when his mom was posted to the village of Masset by the U. S. navy. While Dane studied English, French and the Haida language in school, his mom was tracking Russian submarines operating in the North Pacific and intercepting their communications.
The Azores, the Portuguese archipelago in the Atlantic, and the ancestral home of Lions head coach Mike Benevides, is another of the stops Randolph has made with his Navy mom, making him an import player with a global perspective.
“It is very difficult to get anybody, because the NFL has expanded their [ training] camp rosters to 90,” Buono explained of his decision to rehire Randolph. “A lot of players are tied up in the NFL, and in other leagues. Plus, to get a player who can get brought up to speed very quickly, is difficult. When we let Dane go before, we had Ben Archibald and Jovan Olafioye [ at tackle] and those were two pretty good guys. But he knows our system, and he can play both guard and tackle.”
Randolph was released by the Lions in 2011 after the team picked another import, Nick Hennessey, to back up Archibald and Olafioye at the starting tackle positions.
END ZONE: Defensive backs Hamid Mahmoudi and Jerome Dennis were released Friday, bringing the Lions training camp complement to 65 players. That does not include two draft picks ( Matt Norman, Jordan Verdone) and two juniors ( Jordan Yantz, Steve Doege) who remain with the team.