Bea Serdon/Argonauts.ca
TORONTO — Marcus Ball returns to Toronto with the same goal he had before he left. In his rookie year in 2012, the Memphis grad captured a championship. A year later the Argos won the East Division and were within one score of making it back to the big game again.
“I want to win that Grey Cup … It’s the same goal,” he said just days after re-signing with the club after three seasons in the NFL.
Ball, the Argonauts 2012 Most Outstanding Defensive Player, started in 32 contests between 2012-13 with the team, recording 144 defensive tackles, five special teams tackles, seven sacks and four interceptions.
In stints with the New Orleans Saints (2014), Carolina Panthers (2015) and San Francisco 49ers (2016), the native of Norfolk, Virginia, appeared in 18 games, recording 20 total tackles.
“I have gained more experience,” Ball told Argonauts.ca when speaking on his evolution as a football player since we last saw him in Double Blue. “I am a more vocal guy … maybe some would find that surprising,” he continued with a grin.
Returning North of the border, Ball is bringing a new mentality and approach to the game, one that he picked up from Carolina Panthers defensive coordinator Steve Wilks.
“I just try to ‘stay green’ in this game, and learn as if I don’t know. [I try to] learn as if it’s my first day, every day,” explained Ball. “I’m learning as ifI am a rookie all over again.”
EDWARDS ANOTHER WELCOME NEWCOMER TO REVAMPING ARGOS
Another new arrival on the field Monday for the Boatmen was receiver Armanti Edwards, who arrived Sunday in a trade that sent OL Peter Dyakowski to the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Edwards, who hauled in 19 passes for 231 yards and a touchdown in four games with the Riders in 2016, received a tap on the shoulder in the Riders’ introductory meeting and caught an early flight to Toronto on Sunday.
The former Appalachian State quarterback, who played an integral role in the team’s well-documented upset win over the Michigan Wolverines during his 2007 sophomore season, became the first quarterback in NCAA history to throw for 9,000 yards and rush for 4,000 in a career. He later eclipsed 10,000 passing yards.
After converting to the receiver position during his third NFL season with the Carolina Panthers, Edwards crossed paths with Marc Trestman in Chicago during the 2014 season. Now reunited with Trestman, Edwards will wear No. 10 in the Double Blue.
– With files from Argonauts.ca
