SASKATOON — Brandyn Bartlett’s life has been a whirlwind of late.
It all started after his 2016 season at Tusculum College in Greenville, Tenn., when Bartlett — who was born in Vancouver, Wash., and raised in Atlanta — discovered that he possibly could get Canadian citizenship.
Bartlett’s dad, Mark, was born in Toronto and lived there until his family moved to Los Angeles when he was eight. Mark’s time in Canada meant that Brandyn could get dual citizenship, which made a career in the CFL an enticing prospect for the 6-foot-1, 230-pound linebacker.
The 23-year-old sent his paperwork to the CFL, but not in time for the draft on May 7; instead, he was the only player available in a supplemental draft that was held Thursday.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders gave up a fifth-round pick in the 2018 CFL draft to select Bartlett, who flew to Saskatoon that night, practised with his new team Friday and played in its pre-season game against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Saturday.
“I was still learning the rules,” Bartlett said with a grin after a training-camp workout at Saskatoon Minor Football Field. “The clock ran out (at the end of the first quarter) and I thought it was going to be the second quarter; I didn’t know you get another play after that. That was a little different.
“The biggest thing is learning the playbook,” he added. “Football’s football. There might be different rules, but it’s just football.”
Bartlett had college stints at Mississippi State University and the North Dakota State College of Science before landing at Tusculum. In 31 career games there over three seasons, he had 224 tackles, nine tackles for losses, six forced fumbles and four sacks.
He knew his dad been born in Canada, but Bartlett initially didn’t know that Canadians are guaranteed a certain number of roster spots on CFL teams. When he didn’t generate a lot of NFL interest, he started the process of getting his dual citizenship.
Bartlett had seen CFL games on TV while living in the United States, but the speed of the game and the size of the field were eye-openers when he joined the Roughriders. Now he’s trying to get adjusted to his new home country and to the chance he has been given.
“This means everything to me,” said Bartlett, whose mom hails from New Orleans. “I love football. I’ve been playing since I was six years old. It’s a pretty good opportunity.”
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The Roughriders welcomed fullback Spencer Moore, receiver Joe Craig and defensive tackle Zach Minter back to practice Wednesday.
The list of non-participants comprised defensive linemen Ivan Brown, A.C. Leonard, Jonathan Newsome, Jordan Reaves and Davis Tull, offensive linemen Dillon Guy, Brendon LaBatte and Josiah St. John, defensive backs Zavian Bingham and Tevaughn Campbell, linebackers Sam Eguavoen and Derrick Moncrief, receiver-returner Chad Owens, receiver Rob Bagg, quarterback Vince Young and tailback Kienan LaFrance.
Many of the non-participants were at SMF Field, however. Strength and conditioning coach Clint Spencer put several injured players through a light workout while practice was going on.
“A couple of (the injuries) have been lingering, so we’ve got to do some things to actually get them some conditioning,” said head coach-GM Chris Jones. “We changed our philosophy a little bit today.”
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On Friday, the Roughriders will complete their pre-season schedule against the B.C. Lions in Vancouver. On Saturday, Jones and his staff will significantly pare the Roughriders’ roster on the CFL-mandated cutdown day.
It’s not one of Jones’ favourite days.
“You get close to the players,” he said. “You love them. You coach them. I treat them like I would my son. I’m hard on them. I expect the best out of them every single day. I’m sure that they don’t like me somedays, but I love them.
“(It’s tough) when you have to release one, because a lot of these guys don’t know what’s next. They’ve always had football. It has always been the thing that they’ve been able to do and when you’re putting them out there where they don’t have football, that’s uncharted territory.”
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Legendary CFL head coach Don Matthews, who guided the Roughriders for part of the 1991 season and all of the 1992 and ’93 campaigns, died Wednesday. He was 77.
Matthews started his CFL coaching career as an assistant with the Edmonton Eskimos in 1977. His first head-coaching job was with B.C. in 1983.
He was hired by Saskatchewan after John Gregory was fired early in the 1991 season. Matthews guided the Roughriders to a 5-6-0 record in ’91, a 9-9-0 mark in ’92 and an 11-7-0 record in ’93. He resigned after that season to take over Baltimore’s expansion CFL franchise in 1994.
As a head coach, Matthews compiled a career record of 213-132-1, was named the CFL’s coach of the year five times and won five Grey Cups. He was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2011.
In 2002, when he was the head coach of the Montreal Alouettes, Matthews hired a newcomer to be the Als’ defensive line coach. That newcomer was Chris Jones.
