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One year of high school football, a stint at a small college and one season in the CFL doesn’t usually lead to a job in the NFL.
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But that’s exactly what former Winnipeg Blue Bombers defensive Dee Alford pulled off on Tuesday.
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Alford fulfilled a dream by cracking the lineup of his home-state Atlanta Falcons, no less.
“Man, it feels great,” Alford told me, over the phone from Atlanta, just before the 3 pm roster deadline arrived. “It’s hard to explain. I just feel blessed. Ever since I started playing football … I’ve always told myself I would play for the Atlanta Falcons.
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“And for my dream to come true, man, it feels so surreal right now.”
As a rookie, Alford led the Bombers with four interceptions last season, helping them win a second consecutive Gray Cup championship.
His play made him a West Division all-star and a hot, off-season commodity south of the border.
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No less than 11 teams scheduled workouts for him, before he signed with the one he grew up cheering for in nearby Griffin, Ga., along with his father.
Together they waited for Tuesday’s news, Alford not quite on pins and needles after a solid preseason.
“I feel like I did a good enough job that I earned the spot,” he said. “It was pretty much just hoping that my phone wouldn’t ring.”
Still just 24, Alford is a walking, talking advertisement for the three-down game and the way the Bombers do business.
“It played a huge role,” he said. “Once you make the team, you know you’re going to be competing for another Gray Cup. That’s the type of guys that were in the locker room. We all care about winning. I’m blessed to be able to play for the Bombers. They made me a champion. I really appreciate those guys.
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“Me going to Winnipeg was definitely a huge part of me being successful now.”
Alford says the uniqueness of the CFL rules, specifically the receiver “waggle,” helps him, too, when he faces more stationary NFL receivers.
Perhaps most importantly, he learned an important lesson in team culture in Winnipeg.
“It’s not about yourself,” he said. “Once you realize you don’t want to let your teammate down, you will make the plays that come your way. And that leads to your own individual accolades.”
Measuring in at 5-foot-11, 175 pounds and from Tusculum University, Alford, undrafted, may not have taken the typical route to the NFL. But he’s there, and that’s all that matters.
For others, Tuesday was much more sobering.
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As expected late Monday, former Winnipeg quarterback Chris Streveler received his pink slip from the New York Jets, despite playing a preseason that’ll be talked about for years to come.
“Tough business,” Streveler posted on Twitter. “So thankful for the opportunities this preseason. This is just another step in the journey. The work and the mindset don’t change!”
Streveler came off the bench to lead the Jets to victories in all three preseason games, tossing five touchdown passes, two of them game-winners in the dying seconds.
“Probably one of the greatest preseasons in the history of football,” is what Jets head coach Robert Saleh called it.
Streveler’s flair for the dramatic, his performance running the ball and the way he endears himself to teammates should earn him another look from another team.
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Then again, that’s four teams in the last year that have taken a look and decided to pass on the 2019 Gray Cup winner.
We’re not suggesting the 27-year-old is headed back to Winnipeg anytime soon. But he has made it clear he’d play in the CFL again if his more lucrative NFL options dry up.
If Streveler was ready to head north, there may well be teams who see him as a potential starter or, at the very least, a reasonably well-paid No. 2 who’d do more than hold a clipboard.
The veteran-laden Bombers seem set at both positions, and likely don’t have the salary cap space. But stranger things have happened.
It would be less surprising to see offensive lineman Drew Desjarlais back in Blue and Gold.
Desjarlais was released by the New England Patriots on Tuesday, making him a free agent.
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The Bombers’ first-round draft pick in 2019, Desjarlais was a West Division all-star last year, part of an O-line that allowed the fewest quarterback sacks in the CFL.
He was replaced this season by University of Manitoba product Geoff Gray.
Winnipeg ranks third in sacks allowed so far this season with 21, behind Calgary (nine) and BC (11), both of whom have played one less game.
A product of Belle River, Ont., Desjarlais quickly developed a reputation as a physical guard, working out last off-season for the Patriots, Jets, Bengals, Saints, Seahawks, Chargers and 49ers before signing with New England.
He’d fit right back into the Winnipeg front five, but then several players would probably be released on Tuesday.
On the other side of the ball, it sounded like D-lineman Jonathan Kongbo, another 2021 Gray Cup winner, cut by Denver, was headed for the Broncos’ practice roster.
The one thing potentially keeping all these players from immediately coming to Canada is the same thing that lured them south in the first place: money. Even landing a spot on an NFL practice roster pays better (minimum $11,500 US/week) than most players earn in the CFL.
Alford will be doing much better than that.
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