No contract offered to Clement: Bombers

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This article was published 19/03/2013 (4828 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are denying that they have made a contract offer to Chase Clement, a former record-setting quarterback at Rice University who walked out on the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 2009, saying the CFL “wasn’t the game I wanted to play.”

While the Bombers have had discussions with Clement, team spokesman Darren Cameron said Tuesday morning that the 26-year-old NCAA record-holder has not worked out for the Bombers and has not been offered a contract.

The Bombers held workouts in the U.S. for three different quarterbacks last week and are known to be in discussions with at least two others, including Clement. But Cameron said none of the QBs has been made a contract offer and Bombers GM Joe Mack would have no formal comment on Clement or any of the other quarterbacks the team has had discussions with until one has been formally signed.

Joseph Duarte, the Rice University beat writer for the Houston Chronicle, tweeted Monday night that Clement “has an offer on the table from the CFL’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers.”

Clement has a bizarre history with the CFL. Signed to a two-year deal by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on June 2, 2009, Clement showed up for training camp and lasted a grand total of one practice in Hamilton before quitting on June 6, 2009 and returning home to Texas.

At the time, Clement told the Houston Chronicle’s Jerome Solomon than the CFL just wasn’t to his liking and he decided to return home after praying.

“I just did not feel like it was the best situation for me,” Clement said about his two days in Hamilton. “I prayed about it and came to the conclusion it wasn’t the place I needed to be.

“The rules there are different, the game is different; just not the game I grew up playing and loving. It wasn’t the game I wanted to play.”

Clement told the Chronicle at the time that he was leaving football behind and had taken a job with a financial services company.

But his retirement was short-lived, as Clement went on to play for the Las Vegas Locomotives of the UFL the following year. He worked out for the Houston Texans in late 2011 and also had workouts last winter with the San Francisco 49ers and Jacksonville Jaguars.

Clement and former Rice wide receiver Jarett Dillard hold the NCAA Division Divison I record for career touchdowns between a quarterback and receiver with 51 and Clement is also tied with former Heisman Trophy winner Matt Leinart for career NCAA touchdown passes with 99.