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Canadian player signed to NFL team -- via YouTube
Waterloo Warriors' offensive lineman Joel Reinders has been signed by the NFL's Cleveland Browns.
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNe...loo-browns-youtube-100513/20100513?hub=Canada
CTV.ca News Staff
Date: Thursday May. 13, 2010 10:29 PM ET
As many a character in a Bruce Springsteen song can attest to, it takes more than talent and hard work to make the big leagues in sport. It usually takes a little bit of luck in the form of a major league scout who notices that talent and hard work and makes a case for the player.
But one University of Waterloo football player managed to find a way on to an NFL team when the big league scouts didn't take notice -- YouTube.
Waterloo Warriors' offensive lineman Joel Reinders was signed by the Cleveland Browns shortly after this year's NFL draft after the team watched a highlight reel on YouTube of the eight games he played with the university.
"I was thinking CFL, not NFL. So I was definitely in shock," he told CTV News.
At a mountainous 6'8, 320-pounds, the largely untested Reinders was simply too raw a talent for the organization to pass up.
Reindeers went to Waterloo on a basketball scholarship, playing two years, before deciding to take his third year off. In his fourth year of university, he decided to make a go at football after speaking with the coach, Dennis McPhee.
Obviously, it was the right decision for Reinders, who was born in Oakville, Ont.
He thought about making a move to play in the CFL, but his agent had calls for game tape, so they put together the highlight package and put it on YouTube.
The video, which shows Reinders pancaking a defensive lineman and his impressive reach, caught the attention of the Browns' senior scout Jake Hallum and director of college scouting Pat Roberts, who sent it to offensive line coach George Warhop.
According to the Akron Beacon Journal, Reinders said no one actually came to Canada to see him, but he was contacted before the NFL draft by several teams.
He was one of 10 college free agents signed by the Browns and attended rookie mini-camp in May.
Reinders is not the only athlete in his family. His uncle, Wayne Van Dorp, played in the NHL, including three games in the playoffs with Wayne Gretzky and the Stanley Cup winning Edmonton Oilers in 1987.
His mother, Colleen, said Reinders follows a strict excercise regimen and a protein-rich diet, to keep his imposing frame.
"One night for a snack he had two steaks and two sausages," she said.
With a report by CTV's Omar Sachedina
Waterloo Warriors' offensive lineman Joel Reinders has been signed by the NFL's Cleveland Browns.
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNe...loo-browns-youtube-100513/20100513?hub=Canada
CTV.ca News Staff
Date: Thursday May. 13, 2010 10:29 PM ET
As many a character in a Bruce Springsteen song can attest to, it takes more than talent and hard work to make the big leagues in sport. It usually takes a little bit of luck in the form of a major league scout who notices that talent and hard work and makes a case for the player.
But one University of Waterloo football player managed to find a way on to an NFL team when the big league scouts didn't take notice -- YouTube.
Waterloo Warriors' offensive lineman Joel Reinders was signed by the Cleveland Browns shortly after this year's NFL draft after the team watched a highlight reel on YouTube of the eight games he played with the university.
"I was thinking CFL, not NFL. So I was definitely in shock," he told CTV News.
At a mountainous 6'8, 320-pounds, the largely untested Reinders was simply too raw a talent for the organization to pass up.
Reindeers went to Waterloo on a basketball scholarship, playing two years, before deciding to take his third year off. In his fourth year of university, he decided to make a go at football after speaking with the coach, Dennis McPhee.
Obviously, it was the right decision for Reinders, who was born in Oakville, Ont.
He thought about making a move to play in the CFL, but his agent had calls for game tape, so they put together the highlight package and put it on YouTube.
The video, which shows Reinders pancaking a defensive lineman and his impressive reach, caught the attention of the Browns' senior scout Jake Hallum and director of college scouting Pat Roberts, who sent it to offensive line coach George Warhop.
According to the Akron Beacon Journal, Reinders said no one actually came to Canada to see him, but he was contacted before the NFL draft by several teams.
He was one of 10 college free agents signed by the Browns and attended rookie mini-camp in May.
Reinders is not the only athlete in his family. His uncle, Wayne Van Dorp, played in the NHL, including three games in the playoffs with Wayne Gretzky and the Stanley Cup winning Edmonton Oilers in 1987.
His mother, Colleen, said Reinders follows a strict excercise regimen and a protein-rich diet, to keep his imposing frame.
"One night for a snack he had two steaks and two sausages," she said.
With a report by CTV's Omar Sachedina
