Darcy Brown figured he would be drafted. But in the first round, sixth overall? That was a pleasant surprise.
The Saint Mary’s Huskies receiver wasn’t exactly complaining when the Hamilton Tiger-Cats called his name in the Canadian Football League draft on Saturday.
The Ticats had already taken Alberta offensive lineman Simeon Rottier first overall and traded their third overall pick to the B.C. Lions to move down to sixth. They turned heads picking Brown, who wasn’t ranked in the top 15.
“It was a bit of a surprise for me,” Brown said.
“I knew Hamilton liked what they saw of me at the (evaluation) camp in March and once I saw them make that trade, I was really hoping I would go sixth, but I didn’t know anything for sure.”
The six-foot-three 251-pounder isn’t exactly coming off the kind of eye-popping season that usually precedes a first-round selection. He was part of a neglected receiving corps at Saint Mary’s and only had eight catches for 75 yards and a touchdown. But he blew the socks off CFL scouts in March with his strength and speed and teams saw plenty of untapped potential.
Brown said he received a call from Tiger-Cats head coach Marcel Bellefeuille after the first round ended.
“They want to use me as a receiving fullback, like I expected, maybe even a little bit of slotback,” said Brown, who has never played fullback in his life. “They have a bunch of different ideas about how they want to use me.”
Brown is originally from Mississauga, Ont., which is just up the highway from the Ticats’ Ivor Wynne Stadium. For obvious reasons, his family is thrilled.
“They’ve had to make a special trip to come see me in Halifax so it’s good that they’ll be so close and I’ll have an opportunity to play in front of them,” Brown said.
He reports to the Ticats’ camp later this month and will return to Saint Mary’s in the fall if he doesn’t crack the roster.
Brown was the only member of the Huskies to be drafted. Former Huskies linebacker Andrea Bonaventura — who followed Blake Nill to the Calgary Dinos in 2007 — went in the third round, 40th overall to the Edmonton Eskimos.
Acadia receiver Matt Carter (fifth overall, Toronto) and St. F.X. offensive linemen Steve Myddelton (30th, Calgary) and Gordon Sawler (34th, Toronto) were also drafted.
