Norwood headlines eight former Gamecocks on CFL opening weekend rosters
When former South Carolina All-America defensive end Eric Norwood was released by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League in early May during his rehab from a torn anterior cruciate ligament injury he suffered to his right knee last November, he might have thought his pro football career was over.
Enter the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Based in Regina, perhaps the most football-crazy city in Canada, the Roughriders signed Norwood on May 13, less than two weeks following his release by Hamilton.
However, Norwood is still recovering from the torn ACL injury and so was recently placed on the six-game injured list. Thus, he will not be eligible to play for Saskatchewan until the Week 7 matchup against Calgary on Aug. 4.
Norwood had 30 tackles, seven sacks and two fumble returns for touchdowns last season for Hamilton, but appeared in just 10 games as the injury bug (calf and knee) struck the Acworth, Ga., native for the first time in his career.
“My whole life I’ve been durable,” Norwood told the Regina Leader-Post recently. “Last year, (crap) just hit the fan for whatever reason. My former coaches and everybody else thought I wouldn’t play this year. That was the general consensus. But I had a great surgeon. I’m grateful I was in a position to sign with Saskatchewan.”
Norwood will be playing for one of the CFL’s top defensive minds in Saskatchewan. Roughriders head coach Chris Jones guided Edmonton to the Grey Cup championship before accepting the Roughriders job.
Two of Norwood’s teammates in Saskatchewan are former Gamecocks Jonathan Williams (signed by Roughriders in May) and OL Jarriel King (appeared in three games for Toronto in 2015).
The trio is among eight former Gamecock players on opening weekend rosters for the nine CFL clubs.
Thursday’s season opening tilt between heated Ontario rivals Hamilton and Toronto features a pair of former Gamecocks. Argonauts WR Tori Gurley had a solid first season in Toronto, catching 58 passes for 791 yards and a team-leading 10 touchdowns. His 13.6 yards per catch average was second highest on Toronto among receivers with 10+ receptions.
Defensive back Brandon Isaac begins his second season with Toronto after starting 14 games for the Argonauts in 2015, compiling 48 tackles and three tackles for loss.
Entering his fifth season with the Calgary Stampeders, Fred Bennett has become a CFL mainstay. He appeared in 15 games last season with 31 tackles for the Stamps.
Justin Sorensen won a Grey Cup with Edmonton a season ago as he started all 18 regular season games at center, as well as the Western Division final and Grey Cup.
FORMER GAMECOCKS IN CFL
Fred Bennett (DB) – Calgary
Terrence Campbell (OL) – Hamilton (a)
Tori Gurley (WR) – Toronto
Brandon Isaac (DB) - Toronto
Jarriel King (OL) – Saskatchewan (b)
Eric Norwood (LB) – Saskatchewan (b)
Justin Sorensen (OL) – Edmonton
Jonathan Williams (DL) – Saskatchewan
(a) 1 game injury list
(b) 6-game injury list
