KAMLOOPS — Athletes from NCAA Division II football programs frequently are a step slower and smaller than the Division I players who dominate draft boards. Yet, at six-foot-four and 250 pounds, Chris Wilson not only measured up to NFL requirements — he was capable of making a six-year run with the Washington Redskins and Philadelphia Eagles.
That was in the past.
On Sunday, Wilson became part of B.C. Lions’ history too, when the likable defensive end from Flint, Michigan was released by the Canadian Football League club along with four other players.
Also gone are defensive backs Cam Chism, Jemarlous Moten, defensive lineman Jarrell Root and wide receiver Jabin Sambrano — all “internationals”, the new term for imports as outlined in the collective bargaining agreement agreed to last week.
None of the other cuts, however, were established players with name recognition — unlike Wilson, a 44-game veteran of the CFL and 80 more in the NFL.
“It’s always about trying to find talent, trying to find the next evolution of youth,” explained Lions head coach Mike Benevides. “We’ve just got some young guys who really impressed in the preseason game (a 14-11 win over the Edmonton Eskimos on Friday). It’s not anything that Chris did. He’s been a soldier for us. He won a championship (Grey Cup) with us in ’06. But it’s time to find some different guys. And some of the guys we saw Friday, really, really impressed.”
Benevides identified Alex Bazzie from Marshall, David Menard from the University of Montreal and Chris Olson from West Texas A&M as defensive linemen and rush defenders whose stock has jumped over the course of training camp. All of them are 23 years old.
Wilson turns 32 in July.
“As we said, this was going to be a competitive camp,” Benevides stated. “People are looking to take jobs.”
Wilson was only 21 when he signed with the Lions in 2005 from Northwood University in Michigan and just 23 when, still maturing physically, he was signed by the Redskins after two seasons in Canada.
A free agent in 2013, with a wife and three young children depending on him, Wilson reached out to the Lions when he didn’t get a call back from the NFL. He agreed to a one-year (plus option) contract with B.C., rejoining the Lions on September 11.