MONTREAL — New Montreal Alouettes signing Shawn Lemon is one team away from being a member of every CFL franchise, and he says he’s fine with it staying that way for a while.
The 34-year-old defensive lineman, who signed with Montreal on Monday, has played 135 career games with Saskatchewan, Edmonton, Calgary, Ottawa, Toronto and B.C., and got his first taste of the CFL on Winnipeg’s practice squad in 2011.
But Lemon says he’s not worrying about matching longtime quarterback Kevin Glenn and signing with Hamilton next to be part of all nine teams – he’s focused on making it a long-term stay in Montreal.
"I just had a chance to (sign with Hamilton) and I decided to come here," he said Wednesday at the Olympic Park. "I'm happy to be here, and hopefully I’ll be here for a while. That’s the plan."
Lemon said he was talking to five CFL teams including B.C., which he says was looking to get him back after releasing him during training camp to improve its Canadian ratio.
Ultimately, he felt Montreal was the best fit.
"This has been a city that I’ve always had my eye on, I’ve wanted to come play football here," said the two-time Grey Cup champion, noting the passionate fan base and great meals on the road. "When the opportunity came, I just jumped all over it."
It took a surprisingly long time for Lemon to find a new team after being released by the Lions, considering he was the West Division nominee for defensive player of the year with 14 sacks, 29 defensive tackles, four knockdowns and five forced fumbles for the Calgary Stampeders last season.
Montreal general manager Danny Maciocia chalks up Lemon’s availability to negotiations, teams putting value on different things and his age, but not his strong personality in the locker room.
Maciocia says the Alouettes did their due diligence before signing Lemon by talking to some of his former coaches and teammates. The reviews he got back were positive, describing Lemon as a good teammate who gives it his all.
With Montreal coming off a bye week, Maciocia had a chance to sit down with his coaches and spend the whole break evaluating where the team was at through five games.
As a team with a league-low seven sacks this season, improving their pass rush is something they identified, and Lemon ranks 15th in CFL history with 92 sacks.
"Even if we were satisfied with our defence, we had to find a way to get to the opposing quarterback," said Maciocia "That doesn’t mean the number of sacks, necessarily, but bothering and tiring him out to complicate things for him.
"When we saw the performance of some players, and we saw that someone like Shawn Lemon was available, we wanted to address that and bring him to Montreal."
Alouettes head coach Jason Maas said Lemon’s availability as Montreal prepares to host a 2-4 Calgary team on Sunday will depend on his fitness and how acclimated with the team’s systems, but he’s excited to add a player of Lemon’s stature on defence.
"He's been proven to get to the quarterback, I think over the last couple of years he’s had quite a few sacks to his name – he’s tremendous at doing that," said Maas. "Not only that, usually when he gets to the quarterback he creates turnovers too.
"We knew that Shawn was out there and available and we know that he probably wasn’t going to be available for too much longer."
Whenever he does get that chance, Lemon, who says he already understands the playbook, is excited to use his speed to disrupt opposing quarterbacks and create turnovers.
Considering how long it’s taken for Lemon to get onto the field this season, Maciocia won’t be surprised if he comes in with something to prove, too.
"You’re going to have a little bit of a chip on your shoulder … when you’re sitting there and watching all these games being played every single week, and you’re saying to yourself ‘I know I can still play at a high level," Maciocia said. "The opportunity has presented itself and I hope he’s going to cash in on it."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 26, 2023.
Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press
