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DE Jonathan Brown inked a contract extension with the Argos on Friday
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Mississauga – Tonight on TSN’s daily sports debate show Off The Record, reigning East Division Outstanding Defensive Player Jonathan Brown signed a contract extension that will keep him with the club through
the 2009 season. Argos GM/Vice President, Football Operations, Adam Rita was on set with host Michael Landsberg to get the new deal done.
A
menace to opposing quarterbacks, Brown is coming off a dominant 2007
campaign which saw him record a team-leading, 13 quarterback sacks
(second in the CFL), along with 47 tackles in 18 regular season games.
He earned his first career East Division Outstanding Defensive Player
honour, his second CFL All-Star nod and his third straight East
Division All-Star credit.
Remarked
Brown, “This was ultimately the right decision for me. As a team, we
have one common goal and that is to win the Grey Cup and bring it back
to the fans and the city of Toronto.
It is a comforting feeling to know that the core group of veterans,
especially on defence, will be kept together and are committed to going
to war each and every week in search of that ultimate goal. Last
season, Saskatchewan
won the Grey Cup in our home stadium and if that doesn’t make you itch
to get back on the field and start playing for your team again, nothing
will.”
Since
joining the Argos in May 2004, the man teammates affectionately call
“JB” has been nothing short of sensational, racking up 157 defensive
tackles and 40 quarterback sacks in just 4 seasons. The All-Time Argos
nominee is now third in club history for most quarterback sacks in a
career with 40 (behind Harold Hallman, 44, and Rodney Harding, 92), and
helped his defence achieve the third-highest single-season team-sack
total in Argos history, 53 (1988, 61, and 1984, 58) in 2007.
Often revered by coaches and teammates as the emotional leader of the Boatmen, Brown was the 3rd round (90th overall) draft pick of the Green Bay Packers (NFL) in 1998. He later
spent time with the Denver Broncos, St. Louis Rams and Washington
Redskins (NFL) as well as the Berlin Thunder (NFLE) and the Indiana
Firebirds (AFL) before coming to Toronto.
Commented Argonauts’ Head Coach Rich Stubler,
“Jonathan is one of our leaders both on and off the field. He is a
consistent playmaker whose size and athletic ability really brings the
defensive line together and is a perfect complement to Adriano Belli
and Riall Johnson.”