Lions give Bibla one more chance

He is fluent in Polish and Russian, thanks to parents whose roots are in Eastern Europe.

But the most intriguing thing about Martin Bibla is his age. He turns 30 later this year (October 4), yet he is still pursuing the dream of playing professional football, this time in Canada.

A fourth-round pick of the Atlanta Falcons in 2002, Bibla and 23-year-old Darren Marquez were added to the Lions training camp roster on Tuesday. Both are candidates at left tackle to replace the departed Rob Murphy.

"He's [Bibla] a guy we've had on our radar for a while," said Lions assistant GM Neil McEvoy. "When the Arena League suspended operations in December, he was looking for a place to play. Sherko [Haji-Rasouli] recommended him to us. He has experience, like Rob [Murphy], playing in the NFL. He's a guy who can compete for that [left tackle] spot."

Bibla is the second former Miami Hurricane to join the Lions thanks to sponsorship from  Haji-Rasouli. Let's hope he's more successful than the first. Last year, Haji-Rasouli convinced the Lions to give ex-Hurricane offensive lineman Brad Kunz a look. Kunz was in competition at the 2008 training camp for the back-up left tackle position won by Walter Stith.

The college glory days for Haji-Rasouli and Bibla are a while back now -- 2001, when they were part of the national champion Hurricanes. Miami's formidable offensive line that year also included Joaquin Gonzalez, Bryant McKinnie and Brett Romberg. All but Romberg, a native of Windsor, Ont., and Haji-Rasouli were drafted by the NFL. McKinnie was a first-rounder. Romberg has spent the past six seasons in the NFL, however, with three different teams.

Cut by the Denver Broncos in 2006, Bibla was with the Philadelphia Soul of the Arena League for two seasons. But he was out of a football job when the indoor circuit suspended operations for 2009.

In February, he was back at the University of Miami auditioning for NFL scouts in hopes of getting an invite to a training camp. It didn't happen.

Bibla told the Miami Herald: "Your job is on the line every time you step on the field [in the NFL]. Put together a string of mediocre plays and you have a bad day. Do that more than once and you're off the team. Word floats around and all of a sudden you're a has-been."

At Lions camp, he`ll be trying to prove there`s still some get-up left in the gridiron golden ager.

(communities.canada.com)