Santos won’t get his shot with Big Blue

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This article was published 18/05/2010 (5981 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

All Ricky Santos every wanted — still wants, to be clear — is an opportunity to prove he can be a professional quarterback.

That opportunity won’t come in Winnipeg and with the Blue Bombers, however, after the club cut him adrift Monday afternoon.

"This came as a shock to me," said Santos. "I thought I had a legit shot coming into camp and everything they said before today led me to believe nothing but that.

"I didn’t even get a fair shot with the new coaches and the new system and that’s the one thing that bothers me. I had my best off-season, I felt, since I’ve become a professional. I know how to approach the game now after being in the CFL for two years. I understand the game and I thought this was going to be my year and I was going to go out there and show what I had. But, I don’t get that opportunity now. At least, not in Winnipeg.

"I get one day to feel bad for myself and then it’s time to move on and see what my other options are. I’ll continue to work hard and go out and try to prove people wrong."

Acquired from the Montreal Alouettes last September for Canadian defensive ends Shawn Mayne and Riall Johnson, Santos dressed for seven games for the Bombers as their third-string pivot but did not throw a pass. The former University of New Hampshire star essentially became expendable when the Bombers signed Alex Brink last week, pushing the numbers in their QB stable to five along with Buck Pierce, Steven Jyles and Adam DiMichele. Stefan LeFors remains under contract to the team, although it’s unlikely he’ll report to training camp next month.

And with the team playing its first exhibition game one week after camp opens, the coaching staff wanted to make certain its four QBs got all the work possible with the new offensive system.

"We said all along we wanted to have four (quarterbacks)," said head coach Paul LaPolice. "I wish Ricky all the luck in the world, but we just felt this was a decision we had to make.

"I’ve watched as much film as we could on all five quarterbacks and we just felt that from what we’ve seen we liked those other four guys. We evaluated Ricky, but just feel the other four give us the best chance.

"We know (the release) is late at this point, but we want to give Ricky the chance to maybe catch on with another CFL team or in the UFL. Hopefully he gets an opportunity somewhere because he’s a great kid."

LaPolice said the club is close to its training-camp roster limit, especially with the anticipated signing of its draft picks and others.

"We had a personnel meeting this morning and were close to our numbers if not over," said LaPolice. "You notice everyone in the CFL is making moves. It’s crunch time and everyone’s trying to get down to that number that’s manageable for training camp."

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca