James released by Winnipeg
Two days after his professional football career began it came to a screeching halt.
CJ James, a former Eastern football player, was released by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League Tuesday.
“It came as a shock to me as well as the whole team,” James said. “It didn’t make sense to me, I was No. 2 on the depth chart.”
James reported to Winnipeg’s training camp Sunday, only to be released by the team two days later.
James said the team told him they had a lot of veterans playing at his position so they weren’t going to hold onto him any longer.
James was one of three Blue Bombers released Tuesday, to get the team depth chart down to 68 players.
Now, James and his agent are back on the market looking for teams to sign with for the upcoming season. James said the Bloomington Extreme, in Bloomington, of the Indoor Football League, have already offered him a contract.
However, James said he and his agent are looking at bigger arena football teams.
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats, of the CFL, are another option, James said.
“They were looking at me before I signed with Winnipeg,” James said.
James’ former defensive coordinator at Eastern, Roc Bellantoni, said James’ game is a good match for the CFL.
James could offer a CFL team a lot of versatility at cornerback, especially given that the CFL is a passing league, Bellantoni said.
Rashad Haynes, another former Panther who graduated with James this spring, said he is a big supporter of what James can do professionally.
“I’m his biggest fan right now,” Haynes said.
Bellantoni said Eastern’s coaching staff has expected both Haynes and James to sign on with professional teams; however, he said the NFL’s lockout has made players change plans.
James has not made any decisions yet on where his next stop in his professional career will be.
Alex McNamee can be reached at 581-7942 or deneic@gmail.com.
James released by Winnipeg
Former Eastern cornerback CJ James was released by the Canadian Football League’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers Tuesday, two days after the start of the team’s training camp. (File Photo
