Attention Cameron Wake

[Rammer]

NFL 'rescue' became a CFL honeymoon; Argonaut Reflects; 'Elder statesman' glad he decided to stay in Canada
National Post
Fri 17 Oct 2008
Page: S4
Section: Sports
Byline: Joe O'Connor
Source: National Post

TORONTO - It was one of those seismic moments in a man's life, and it changed everything for Jonathan Brown.

He had a plan. Canada was supposed to be a place to play football for a few years to earn some money, and to rack up a whole bunch of quarterback sacks until a National Football League team rescued him and brought him back home.

"I meant to go back, I did, I truly did," Brown says. "I was thinking I was coming to Toronto , maybe to spend two years doing my thing, and actually get back to the NFL by the time I was 30.

"But things happen. And I am in a place I love to be, and with an organization that enjoys having me be a leader, and so what can I say: I am an elder statesman now."

Four years ago, Brown was an Argonauts rookie on a team that rolled to a Grey Cup championship. The victors took the train back to Toronto from Ottawa after the big game, just like in the old days, and Brown, with one arm around wrapped around the championship trophy and a cellphone in hand, told his agent that, whatever else he did, he better land him a long term deal with the Argos .

Brown had fallen in love with the city, with the guys in the trenches with him, and with the coaching staff and management that genuinely seemed to care about the players. Sure, the CFL money wasn't the same as the NFL. But there wasn't the same politics either, where a guy with a big fat contract who is not playing well, plays ahead of the nobody who is working hard and playing for the league minimum.

"I was so fed up by the politics of football in the NFL," says Brown, a defensive end and a former third-round draft pick of the Green Bay Packers. "I played there for three years, so I know how the game works down there, and playing down there made me sick and tired of playing football."

Brown's Canadian honeymoon continued from one season to the next. Toronto remained a contender, and Brown became a CFL all-star. He was the East Division's outstanding defensive player in 2007. Everything was purrfect.

Until this year. Brown is now a 32-year-old veteran in a dressing room full of unfamiliar young faces on an Argos team with a 4-11 record.

He should be depressed. Politics has come to Canada . Many of his old defensive comrades from the Grey Cup squad have either been effectively benched, such as linebacker Michael Fletcher and defensive back

Chuck Winters, or cut outright, like safety Orlondo Steinauer.

"I always understood this was business, believe me," Brown says. "But, I don't know man, this year has really opened my eyes, because I've seen a lot of guys who made a lot of plays and were in the foxhole with me just gone.

But Brown, a big man with a booming voice and a broad grin, is still standing. And he remains irrepressibly positive about his Argonauts experience while continuing to perform at a high level -- he has six sacks -- despite playing with a broken rib that made it hard to breathe and painful to laugh for much of the season.

Loud, likeable, the elder statesman is a locker room leader. "His value is not only on the football field," says Toronto coach Don Matthews.

But Brown's biggest asset, in a season gone wrong, might just be his perspective.

"How do I stay positive?" he says. "It is kind of the same thing as my homeboys ask me back in the States: why do you go to Canada ?

"Because I love this game. Because I could be at home right now working a 9-to-5 job that I totally hate, and coming home each night and being mad at my family because I hate my job.

"But I am playing football -- and getting paid to play. And that is how I break it down to the young guys here. Your contract says you play 18 games, so let's play 18 games together --and let the chips fall where they fall, and if we lose, we lose. "But let's make it a learning experience, because sometimes you have to go through bad periods to get back to the good."

[Wakesbetterthanyou]

As i told Cam at sports and stuff, returning to the lions should be priority number one, but if the nfl is what he wants to do, no miami.

[Tighthead]

Why no Miami? They run a 3-4, and need talent. I think it would be a great fit.

[Wakesbetterthanyou]

Why no Miami? They run a 3-4, and need talent. I think it would be a great fit.

they got nasty jerseys. plus i told him to go to the cowboys is he "HAD" to go to the NFL

[zark]

If I did this,or ifI did that.I hear it all the time.If only I bought property in Whistler.If I only bought property in Lions Bay".Shut-up. You didn"t.So keep working.I don't want to frame this house in the winter".Go for it Cam.Should've,coud've,would've is sooo pathetic and sad."Cowboy -up"...lol...sniff

[CatsEyes]

If I did this,or ifI did that.I hear it all the time.If only I bought property in Whistler.If I only bought property in Lions Bay".Shut-up. You didn"t.So keep working.I don't want to frame this house in the winter".Go for it Cam.Should've,coud've,would've is sooo pathetic and sad."Cowboy -up"...lol...sniff

[No Ordinary Joe]

Don't be hatin' on my Dolphins!

Go to Miami Cam!!! (but I'd rather you stayed in BC)

[TheLionKing]

Interesting perspective.

[Wakesbetterthanyou]

Don't be hatin' on my Dolphins!

Go to Miami Cam!!! (but I'd rather you stayed in BC)

gotta diagree with u here....i hate the dolphins and the tuna

[zark]

Tuna?With a cheese melt over it perhaps.Thanks for the dinner suggestion.

[No Ordinary Joe]

Don't be hatin' on my Dolphins!

Go to Miami Cam!!! (but I'd rather you stayed in BC)

gotta diagree with u here....i hate the dolphins and the tuna

What's with the hate for the Dolphins? (I can understand the Parcells hate though)

[CartWheelFan]

Forget the Dolphins (no offense) IF he can't be sweet talked or otherwise coerced into staying with the Lions he should go to Tampa Bay, just imagine how the Bucs defense would look with both Ronde Barber and Cam Wake! This year the Bucs are 4-2, first in the NFC South and have not allowed a rushing touchdown all season. Some questions on offense, but when your defense limits the opposition to 3 points as was the case last week vs Carolina and your special teams come up big with both turnovers and points (ie an INT that was returned for a TD) the stats on RB Warrick Dunn are impressive, and as long as he can get the Bucs within FG range things can be turned over to the sure foot of Matt Bryant, who is a purrfect 5/5 on FGs' and 8/8 on PATs'. The Bucs have a cool logo, hot cheerleaders and a Superbowl Championship in recent memory (2002) While they might not be foremost in the press up here I'd say they are more than a dark horse in the NFC.

All that said I think/hope that Cam Wake just SAYS PUT!!

[No Ordinary Joe]

The Bucs D has certainly looked damn impressive this year. Almost at their Super Bowl form of a couple years ago.

[Tighthead]

Considering that there seems to be a new league policy which allows linemen to hold Wake with impunity, the NFL may be looking more attractive every day.

[Lions4ever]

Considering that there seems to be a new league policy which allows linemen to hold Wake with impunity, the NFL may be looking more attractive every day.

Good point.