Three-hundred pound tackle Joe McGrath ready to win for Lions

They didn't call him 'Mean Joe' in Edmonton.

Joe McGrath, cut after the Eskimos accused him of playing soft, will start at right tackle on Friday night in Montreal, less than two weeks after joining the Lions.

“It's exciting because it's a new opportunity, but I have 100 starts in my career in the CFL,” McGrath said.

He was an NCAA champion with Miami (and Sherko Haji-Rasouli) in 2001, the second-overall pick (Calgary, 2003) in the CFL and the Eskimos' 2006 nominee for outstanding offensive lineman.

Yet the Esks, perhaps looking for a player-scapegoat to accompany the firing of GM Danny Maciocia, accused the 29-year-old native of Moose Jaw, Sask., of being a softie.

McGrath is 6-foot-5, 300 pounds - you try asking him if the accusation is true.

“That's what they said, but I'm just going to go out there and play my game,” McGrath said on Wednesday. “If I play outside myself, that's when I'm prone to making mistakes.”

Because Haji-Rasouli's knee still can't pass muster, McGrath slots in to a position that's been filled by committee.

Yes, he has been flagged for major fouls.

“But you don't want that,” McGrath said. “I mean, it looks great for the fans and the media picks up on it, but it hurts your team because you get a 15-yard penalty.”

In one of those sweet CFL vignettes, Davis Sanchez is donating Thursday night's paycheque to the Tony Proudfoot Foundation.

Proudfoot, a one-time Lion and an all-star Canadian defensive back with the Montreal Alouettes, has Lou Gehrig's Disease.

- Buono, in a nod to his stubborn side, acknowledged he should have used Yonus Davis earlier as a special teams returner, but the coach was wed to having a receiver do the job, going back to last season.

Once Davis finally got a shot at returning kicks, he churned out total yardage of 111, 161 and then 225.

Despite dropping a missed Calgary field-goal attempt last week, leading to a 7-0 Stampeders lead before fans had found their seats at Empire Field, Davis was named special-teams player of the month.

“He's been a very, very exciting player and I'm glad the voters have seen that,” Buono said. “I think the best is yet to come with him.”



(theprovince.com)