Yesterday, they signed former UOttawa Gee-Gee defensive back Delroy Clarke. I added his name to the roster and to the transactions list but left it at that, thinking I'd try to find out more about him tomorrow (now today).
Then, they signed three more guys. So now I know: Jump on that stuff right away!
OTTAWA -- The Ottawa REDBLACKS have signed import linebackers Jasper Simmons and Brandon Denson, as well as import defensive back Reggie Jones.Searching for info on the guys, Denson comes up most often, but typically about his battle against diabetes. The following article appeared on thespec.com in 2011.
Denson, a 6-foot, 240-pound 26-year-old from Willow Run, Michigan, played university football for the Michigan State Spartans, where he recorded 45 tackles in four seasons.
Denson has experience in the CFL with Hamilton and Montreal. Last season, he served most of the year on the practice roster of the Alouettes. He made his CFL debut with the Tiger-Cats in 2011. He has also seen action in the Arena Football League with the Cleveland Gladiators.
Simmons joins the REDBLACKS after playing for the Toronto Argonauts in 2011 and 2012. The 6-foot-1, 223-pound, 24-year-old native of Pensacola, Florida registered an interception in each season with the Argos.
Simmons played four college seasons: two at Missouri after two others at Hutchinson Community College. In 2009, he started 12 games at Missouri and made 73 tackles playing at the safety position.
Jones, a 6-foot, 200-pound 27-year-old from Bellevue, Washington, comes to Ottawa after spending parts of the past five seasons with NFL teams: New Orleans, Washington, Minnesota and Dallas.
He also played in the United Football League with the Virginia Destroyers and helped the team with the 2012 league championship.
Jones played one season of collegiate football at Portland State after switching from wide receiver at Idaho earlier in his career.
And then, there's Delroy:Brandon Denson watches as his Hamilton Ticat teammates devour a rare after-practice treat, Dairy Queen Blizzards delivered to provide some relief from the sweltering summer heat. As players slurp happily away, Denson has to do a series of complex math equations in his head before making a decision on whether to dig in.
Denson, a 24-year-old rookie linebacker, has Type 1 diabetes and requires daily doses of insulin to survive. Diagnosed as he was entering his final year of high school, Denson has to cope with the challenges of the disease — monitoring his blood sugar level, calorie intake and insulin dosage — as well as the mental and physical demands of pro football.
“I don’t let it get to me, that’s the bottom line. I can’t feel sorry for myself — I just have to move forward,” Denson says. “The main thing was I wasn’t going to let it stop me.”
Denson wears an insulin pump under his equipment to help control the flow of insulin into his body. The size of a deck of cards, it’s generally well protected but, given the nature of his work, it’s still vulnerable: He broke the $8,000 pump during training camp this spring.
“The training staff were a little frazzled about it and I had to go back to injections until we could get a new one,” he says. “But it’s still under warranty.”
Denson has adorned his pump with SpongeBob SquarePants stickers — a seemingly odd choice for a 5-foot-10, 230-pound linebacker who wears a perpetual scowl on the football field. But the stickers were a gift from a five-year-old diabetes patient who Denson met through his work with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) in his home state of Michigan.
“He had SpongeBob on his pump and I thought it was cool,” Denson says. “A few weeks later, his family sent me some stickers in the mail so I thought it was only right that I put them on my pump, too.”
Denson is heavily involved with the JDRF, visiting with kids during his senior year in high school and during his four years at Michigan State.
“It’s not just about playing football. I tell kids, if you want to be a doctor or a lawyer, don’t let the disease stop you,” Denson says. “It’s a lot of negatives about having diabetes, but there’s a lot of positive that can come from it, too, especially by talking to kids.”
The biggest challenge is the toll it takes on his body. The physical demands of playing combined with the exhaustive meeting schedule, not to mention the amount of calories he has to eat to refuel, are just some of the issues he faces on a daily basis.
“Given the type of work we do, it’s going to affect you,” Denson says. “Everybody loses energy, but I lose it twice as fast because the disease works a little bit harder on my body.”
...
And, just like most challenges associated with his fight against diabetes, Denson had a strategy to win the battle against the Blizzard, too. An admitted sweet tooth, Denson figured out what the ice cream’s impact on his blood sugar would be and made the necessary adjustments to his medication.
“That ice cream looks pretty good,” he said, smiling. “You better believe I’m gonna have me some.”
That actually covers it pretty well! Anything else I come across about these guys, or any RedBlack singing, for that matter, I'll post here as well.OTTAWA – Delroy Clarke, a non-import defensive back who played collegiate football with the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees, is the latest player to sign with the Ottawa REDBLACKS of the Canadian Football League.
The 6-foot, 190-pound, 31-year-old native of Kingston, Jamaica was a fourth-round selection (29th overall) by the Toronto Argonauts in the 2008 Canadian College draft. Clarke spent three seasons with the Argos before joining the Eskimos in a March 2011 trade that sent a fourth-round pick in the 2012 Canadian College draft to Toronto.
Clarke, who did not play in 2013, has recorded 45 tackles on special teams during five CFL seasons.
He spent three years with the Gee-Gees, with 34 defensive tackles and two interceptions in 16 games.
The REDBLACKS have signed two players who attended the University of Ottawa: Clarke and wide receiver Simon Le Marquand of Gatineau.
No comments:
Post a Comment