Jun 27, 2021
A total of six Japanese players were chosen in the Canadian Football League’s April draft, but none are declaring victory after having only earned a flight to North America.
All must now fight to make the active rosters of their respective teams by putting on strong preseason performances.
The 2021 CFL season was originally slated to start on June 10, but that start was pushed back to Aug. 5 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The players will depart for Canada next week ahead of the start of training camp on July 10.
The regular season will start on Aug. 5 and each team will play 14 games – four fewer than the usual schedule. It will be the league’s first action since November 2019 after the 2020 season was canceled as a result of the pandemic.
LCF : les Alouettes annoncent 5 mises sous contrat, dont l ancien des Carabins Kevin Kaya rds.ca - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from rds.ca Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
3-D Chess: Quick explains the intricacies of the 2021 CFL Global Draft Share
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TORONTO During the 2021 CFL Global Draft, Montreal Alouettes defensive and special teams assistant Greg Quick felt right at home.
Over the previous year, Quick had been preparing for the draft, but in a different capacity. In 2019, he was brought in by the CFL to be the league’s first director of global scouting, helping to scour the globe and find the best talent to help with the CFL 2.0 initiative.
“I took a special interest,” Quick said to Donnovan Bennett on the latest episode of The Waggle presented by Sport Clips. “Greg Dick, Ryan Jansen, Lawrence Hopper, and I went around the world one-and-a-half times looking for these players and it’s really exciting to see the future. I’m just like the fans. I can’t wait for football to start in 2021.”
Les Alouettes se tournent vers le Japon journaldemontreal.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from journaldemontreal.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Montreal Alouettes Share
Joseph Zema in the first round (sixth overall) of the CFL Global Draft on Thursday.
Montreal then slected Japanese linebacker
Akio Yamagashi in the second round (13th overall), Japanese running back
Taku Lee in the third round (24th overall), and Swedish defensive back
William James in the fourth round (31st overall).
Zema (6’2″, 210 lbs.) played 11 games for the Incarnate Word University in Texas in 2017, during which he maintained a 46.7 yard average on 77 punts, forcing opposing teams to start from inside their 20-yard line on 20 occasions. In 2019, the Melbourne, Australia native played for the San Antonio Commanders in the AAF, where he averaged 45.8 yards on 37 punts.