Five years ago, quarterback Paxton Lynch entered the NFL as a first-round pick of the defending Super Bowl champions in Denver. Now, he’s gone north of the border, up Saskatechewan way.
Lynch made his debut on Monday in the CFL, at Roughriders training camp.
“It’s been difficult,” Lynch said of the transition to the Canadian game, via John Hodge of 3downnation.com. “A lot of the pre-snap stuff has been a big adjustment for me. When you break it all down and get down to the core of it, it’s really football — it’s the same, just different terminology and things like that concept-wise.”
It also entails a greater sense of urgency on every drive, because the CFL gives teams three chances to cover 10 yards, not four. Lynch, happy where he is, nevertheless wants to get back to the NFL.
“Absolutely,” Lynch said regarding his desire to get back to where he got started. “It’s always been my dream. As a kid, you dream of winning the Super Bowl and that fire inside of me to accomplish that is still there and it’s very strong. It hasn’t wavered at all, but I don’t want to get that confused with how I feel about being here because I’m very excited to be here.”
Lynch never did much with the Broncos, or with any other NFL team. And to think the Cowboys badly wanted to land Lynch in round one, and that they then settled for Dak Prescott in round four.
Credit Lynch for rolling the dice in Canada in an effort to continue his football career, and possibly to develop skills that will lead him back to the NFL. Another former first-round Broncos quarterback refused to give Canada a try when his career washed out, perhaps for fear that it would become even more clear at the CFL level that he shouldn’t be playing quarterback in any FL.