| Ottawa Happy With Building Efforts | |
By: Jean Francois Fournier
Dateline: March 12, 2002
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With the March 7th signings of wide receiver Aubrey Cummings and defensive back Donavan Carter, Ottawa Renegades General manager Eric Tillman closed off what he felt was a successful free agency period.
Tillman appears to have met most, if not all, of his goals in stocking the shelves for the expansion Ottawa team which is returning to the CFL almost six years after the previous franchise collapsed under shoddy ownership and management. He has been able to gather a mix of veterans, young and old, to which he'll add a bushel of rookies in the coming draft this April. As a result of the expansion draft and a little trading action, the Renegades own two picks in the first round and five in the second.
That Ottawa should feel successful in free agency isn't surprising when one considers that they have absolutely no salary cap issues to deal with. They have more liberty in terms of amounts of money available to spend, at least for the time being. That they should feel they've been productive with the expansion draft is even less surprising when one recalls that Tillman had a hand in designing the draft rules in the first place.
While negotiations went on between the league and the Renegades' owners-to-be, Tillman had been hired as a consultant (by the Ottawa ownership group) and was involved in ironing out a player allocation procedures with which the current CFL owners and the Renegades brass could be comfortable.
Tillman's resume certainly made him appear to be the best man for the task, and his appointment to that duty further cemented the rumours that he would be hired as General Manager. The Jackson, Mississippi native hadn't served in that capacity since 1999 but had stayed involved with the Canadian league as an analyst on The Sports Network's game broadcasts. His previous stops in Toronto and British Columbia had resulted in championships for those teams (in 1997 and 1994 respectively).
Very simply put, the rules were set up so that Ottawa would obtain one non-Canadian player from each club, as well as two Canadian players. Tillman could opt to snag an existing team's second-round draft choice in lieu of the second Canadian. The Renegades went into the dispersal draft with only one player under contract, former Illinois State running back Sam Zanders.
Expansion drafts are often seen as sifting through another team's garbage but that's not necessarily the case. Because only a certain number of players can be protected, teams with depth in certain areas are forced to make that depth available.
A prime example is Montreal's situation. Only able to protect a portion of their deep linebacking corp, they not only lost Kelly Wiltshire, a five-year veteran largely considered to be among the league's top Canadian players, but his back-up as well in John Grace. Wiltshire was brought into the league by Tillman when Tillman managed the Argos and he has won a Grey Cup ring as a rookie. He was so excited at having been picked up for the expansion franchise that he made the 90-minute drive from Montreal to Ottawa in order to put a face to the name. Sure, he got lost and it actually took him four hours to reach team officials...but it's the thought that counts. Also picked up was receiver Jimmy Oliver, a former second-round pick of the San Diego Chargers and a Dallas native who played his college ball at Texas Christian. He came from the BC Lions and was eager to leave what he referred to as "B.S." from that team's management, a criticism caused by feelings of not being appreciated. The opportunity to be a go-to player in Ottawa is one of which he wants to take full advantage. That he knew Head Coach Joe Paopao from the latter's days in British Columbia also didn't hurt matters.
One major deficiency remained following the expansion draft however; no quarterback was deemed worthy of selection. The team had planned to add another 8-10 players through free agency regardless, but now it was obligated to address that position in that fashion.
The result was Edmonton's Dan Crowley. The 29-year old Towson State grad from Washington D.C. broke into the league with the Baltimore Stallions in 1995, and followed that team to Montreal when it relocated. He signed with Edmonton in 1999 and stayed there for three season, tying a team record for five touchdown passes in a game against Winnipeg in 2000 along the way. At the time the acquisitions of Cummings and Carter were made official, they counted as the eighth and ninth free agent pick-ups for the franchise. Ex-Hamilton defensive back Gerald Vaughn brings two All-Star selections with his resume, as does guard Val St-Germain, a hometown boy plucked off the Edmonton roster. Additionally, running back Mark Nohra (also a former Eskimo) has won a Hec Creighton award (the Canadian equivalent of the Heisman Trophy) and a Collegiate National Championship with the British Columbia Thunderbirds.
So the cupboards aren't bare, and fans have cause for optimism. Credibility is critical, because while the prospect of a football revival in the nation 's capital was met with excitement (the team had sold out a third of the stadium by Christmas, seven months before the start of the season), many fans still remember the dark days of the team that lost money for 20 straight seasons and had 10 coaches over their last 11 years. The team that was ranked 106th among sports franchise by the financial Post...out of 106. The team on which a player was thrown through a window during a fight with a teammate...while the players had gathered to determine who should get the "Good Guy Award" that season. The team that drafted Derrell Robertson...five months after he died in a car accident.
In Ottawa, a little credibility can go a long way.
