Johany Jutras/Argonauts.ca
It has been said many times that a football team is like a family. For the Toronto Argonauts receiving corps it now literally is.
When the team signed former Ticat Brian Tyms to the practice roster it not only added a receiver who has a chance to be a contributor on the field, but it also added S.J. Green’s brother-in-law.
The Florida duo became family as they married sisters, Christal and Danielle, meaning they’re now teammates both off and on the field. The Greens relationship is longer than the Tyms, so S.J. was established in the family first.
His first impression of Tyms was based on something that shouldn’t surprise anyone who has met the newcomer to Toronto.
“Full of energy and full of life,” said Green. “My first impression was just full of energy, full of life and somebody trying to aspire to be a professional football player one day.”
It’s normal for anyone meeting their girlfriend’s family for the first time to be a little nervous, a bit on the anxious side. It was a family member that made sure the ice was quickly broken.
“Their dad kinda broke the ice,” recalled Tyms. “He said both y’all play the same position, at the time he was in the CFL, I was trying to go to the NFL, the whole time he was like, maybe you should leave the NFL and play with S. in Canada.”
The duos’ father-in-law now has his wish. Both players in Canada and now both on the same team.
The signing was extremely well received by Green, now first in the family and first on the Argos.
“I was ecstatic,” said the elder of the pair. “We tried to get on the same team before, a couple of years ago when I was in Montreal. He had an opportunity to go back to the NFL and it worked out good for him, but we tried this situation before once, but to actually have the opportunity to play with family, this is an opportunity I’m excited about.”
Head coach Marc Trestman admitted he doesn’t know a lot about the newcomer, but his initial impression was a good one.
“He’s certainly got good size and he ran really well in practice,” Trestman said of the 6’3”, 204-pound Tyms. “You can see the way we play S.J., he plays to the boundary, he plays the field, he plays inside. (Tyms) certainly looks like a guy we can move around and do the things we like to do.”
That fits in well with the Argos playbook.
“We’re not really good at being complacent, having guys line up in one place,” admitted Trestman. “We like to move them around, so that will be the case for him as well.”
Tyms won a Super Bowl with the Patriots before heading north last year. With the Ticats, he showed his potential in the Eastern Semi-Final where he caught eight passes for 114 yards.
Is Tyms now pushing for his brother-in-law’s job?
“Oh, ya, I’m at his head!” shouted Tyms, as the pair burst out laughing. “We’re always at each other’s head though, we try to make each other better. If you took a camera and followed us around in the off-season you would have thought we didn’t like each other the way we went at each other, but it just makes you better.”
Green was straightforward when he was asked what the Argos have just acquired.
“A hell of a player,” said a suddenly serious Green. “He just needs an opportunity to showcase his skill set. His vertical threat and his jump ball ability, I think that’s the highlight of his game. I think he can be a spark for our offence.”
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats have not made a habit of handing impact players to the Argos. Mike O’Shea, Orlondo Steinauer and Jude St. John are examples of players who turned in their stripes for two shades of blue and it worked out well.
Tyms and the Argos are hoping he can add his name to that list.
