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LB Eric Maranda will participate in the East-West Shrine Bowl later this week in Houston, Texas.
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Mississauga – The
Toronto Argonauts Football Club added some of the best talent the CIS
has to offer by signing 2007 draft pick and East-West Shrine Game
participant LB Eric Maranda as well as OUA All-Star OL Scott Evans.
Argonauts’
Head Coach Rich Stubler enthused, “We have been excited about Eric for
quite some time now but after watching his last year at Laval,
it proved to us that not only is he a tough competitor but has the
finesse and smarts to make him a solid player in this league.”
Stubler
continued, “Scott is a player who we have seen before, however, he has
returned with maturity, size and strength which should make him an even
better tackle.”
Maranda was the Argos’ fourth round (29th overall) pick in the 2007 CFL Canadian Draft. He is only the second
player (Carl Gourgues, 2004) in Laval history, and one of just four CIS
players in 2008, to be invited to the annual East-West Shrine Game
(U.S. College All-Star game) that will be played on January 19 in
Houston, Texas. He returned to Laval
in 2007 for his fifth season where he was simply dominant. The 6-foot-1
linebacker led the team with 35.5 tackles, was named CIS First Team
All-Canadian, QUFL Defensive Player of the Year and was named the
conference nominee for the President’s Trophy which is awarded annually
to the country’s best defensive player.
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OL Scott Evans joined the Argos in training camp last season and has now returned after an impressive year at Wilfrid Laurier.
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In
2006, Maranda was named a QUFL All-Conference Defensive All-Star en
route to his third Vanier Cup championship (2003, 2004, 2006) and the
Ted Morris Memorial trophy as the game MVP. In 2005, he was invited to
play in the CIS East-West Bowl at the end of the season despite missing
a significant portion of the year with an abdominal injury.
Argonauts’
Assistant GM/Director, Player Personnel Greg Mohns commented, “We have
been following Eric’s career for three years now and every year we are
blown away by how much he improves. He really matured as a football
player in his final year at Laval
and now he enters our system with a huge upside. He is a feisty
defender that brings his lunch pail to work everyday and has the
potential to really develop into a solid inside presence.”
Current Argos who also participated in the annual East-West Shrine game include RB/FB Kojo Aidoo, 2002 and LB Mike O’Shea, 1993.
A strong and gifted offensive lineman, Scott Evans originally joined the Argos
for training camp last season but returned to Wilfrid Laurier to play
out his final year of eligibility. He capped off a promising college
career by being named OUA Lineman of the Year and earning First-Team
All-Star honours in 2007. In 2006, he was named a First Team OUA
All-Star in addition to being named a CIS Second Team All-Canadian at
offensive tackle.
“We
see huge potential in Scott,” Mohns said of Evans. “He is an athletic
player that could really turn into an outstanding CFL lineman. He is a
player that we brought to training camp last season but felt he could
use another year in the OUA. It worked out best for all involved as he
had a tremendous season at Laurier in 2007 and we are extremely excited
to have him back in the Argos fold.”