For 10 weeks in 2009, the Calgary Stampeders had Maurice Price waiting and watching. They couldn’t find a way to get the receiver into the lineup.
Now Price gets a chance to blossom with the Stamps. Since leaving the team’s practice roster at the end of that season, Price has bounced around the NFL, showing enough to get jobs but not finding a real home.
That could all change in 2012. The Stamps announced Wednesday they signed the 26-year-old Charleston Southern product to a contract. When Price was with the Stamps in 2009, there were no shortage of flashes in practice.
Despite just being on the practice roster, he went to the NFL afterwards, getting stints with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Washington Redskins and Baltimore Ravens. The 6-foot-1, 200-lb. receiver has plenty fo speed and could just be suited for the CFL game.
The Stamps also signed Marquay McDaniel and Fred Rouse, who spent time on their practice roster in 2011, as well as Dominique Johson, a product of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. McDaniel has the most experience of this group, as he nearly had a 1,000-yard receiving season with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 2010 (998), which was his second year with them. (He’s pictured above battling Keon Raymond for a pass.)
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Garber lands with Bombers
Chip Garber has landed on his feet after a rough 2011. The former Toronto Argonauts defensive co-ordinator, who was fired mid-season in the midst of a disappointing campaign for the team, was hired Wednesday to be the linebackers coach for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
Garber had a great defence in 2010, as his unit led the league with fewest point allowed and was second in average yards gained per pass and average yards gained per rush. He was ousted in Toronto midway through 2011 while the Argos were having a terrible time on offence, and the move was a curious one.
The Bombers also hired Will Plemons to be their defensive-line coach. Plemons comes to the Bombers from Fresno State and he takes over full-time for Richard Harris, who died of a heart attack early in the 2011 season, shaking the entire league.
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Argos officially add Jackson
For the first time in a few years, the Toronto Argonauts will go to battle with two experienced quarterbacks on the roster.
Ricky Ray will be the undisputed No. 1 guy, but now they have a veteran backing him up. The Argos officially signed Jarious Jackson Wednesday, a former B.C. Lions starter who has played in and won some big games during his career.
The Notre Dame product won two Grey Cups with the Lions, although the wasn’t the starter in either game. He and Ray are on the same side now after being on opposite sides of the Lions-Edmonton Eskimos rivalry.
“Jarious Jackson gives us an experienced and proven backup quarterback,” said GM Jim Barker. “He is a great team leader and has taken meaningful snaps in big games. He augments the other quarterbacks we have under contract. Jarious will be a good sounding board for Ricky Ray and will help mentor the other quarterbacks on our roster.”
— Buz