The University of Guelph Gryphons football team will be well-represented when the Canadian Football League kicks off its 2021 regular season next week.
There are 14 individuals from the Guelph program that have carried their gridiron career into the CFL, including 11 players currently listed on rosters and three former Gryphons working in the CFL.
Winnipeg Blue Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea and general manager Kyle Walters are looking to defend their CFL championship from the 2019 season.
O’Shea was a star linebacker for the Gryphons from 1989 to 1992 and remains the team’s all-time sacks leader, while Walters won a Yates Cup title in 1992 with O’Shea and then another in 1996.
The Bombers also have running back Johnny Augustine, who played for Guelph from 2013 to 2017. He finished his university career ranked second on the Gryphons’ all-time rushing list.
Jake Reinhart is entering his seventh season as the long snapper for the Toronto Argonauts. He was a Gryphon from 2008 to 2012 and named a CIS Academic All-Canadian in his final year.
Other Gryphon alumni who are now veterans in the CFL include Hamilton Tiger-Cats linebacker Curtis Newton, Calgary Stampeders defensive back Royce Metchie, Ottawa Redblacks offensive lineman Andrew Pickett and B.C. Lions receiver Jacob Scarfone.
There are three former Gryphons entering the CFL as rookies with the Saskatchewan Roughriders: receiver Kian Schaffer-Baker, defensive lineman Alain Cinmankinda and linebacker A.J. Allen.
Offensive lineman Coulter Woodmansey is also entering his first CFL season with Hamilton and so is defensive back Dotun Aketepe with the Edmonton Elks.
Jarryd Baines was named the Gryphons’ defensive player of the year in 2012. He’s now the Tiger-Cats’ wide receivers coach.
Among the CFL free agents that were once Gryphons are fullback John Rush, guard Ryan Bomben and receiver Alex Charette.
The CFL kicks off its regular season on Aug. 5 when Hamilton heads to Winnipeg to take on the Blue Bombers at IG Field.
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