RIDER PRIDE

RIDERS ADD THREE TO DEFENCE

Saskatchewan Roughrider General Manager Eric Tillman announced today they have signed import defensive back Derrick Johnson, import linebacker Kye Stewart and import defensive end Trumaine "Joe" Sykes to contracts. Financial details of the signings were not released.

Johnson (5'11 – 190 lbs) has spent time with Seattle, Houston and Miami over the past two years. He dressed in five NFL games with Atlanta and Houston in 2006. Johnson was drafted in the 6th round of the 2005 NFL Draft by San Francisco and dressed in 14 regular season games for the 49ers in his rookie season and started in four of those games. Prior to joining the NFL, Johnson was a standout cornerback at the University of Washington.

Stewart (5'10 – 210 lbs) spent four seasons at Illinois State. He led his team in his senior season with 131 defensive tackles, 7.5 tackles for a loss and three quarterback sacks. He finished his collegiate career with an amazing 380 defensive tackles, along with 20 tackles for a loss.

Sykes (6'3 – 275 lbs) spent last season with the AFL2's Green Bay Blizzards and was named the league's Top Defensive Player. He finished last year with a league leading 22 tackles for a loss and 19.5 quarterback sacks, while picking up 49 defensive tackles, eight forced fumbles and five fumble recoveries. Sykes spent the 2006 season with the Washington Redskins where he dressed in one regular season game.

"All three of these young men will bring a very high level of competition to our upcoming training camp," stated Tillman. "In fact, each will have a very legitimate shot of earning a spot on a defence which is already very talented."
at 1/28/2009 0 comments