Surrounded by close to a dozen friends and family, Daniel English waited anxiously to hear his name called as he and his entourage crammed into his living room, intently monitoring the CFL Draft live stream. Finally, in the sixth round, with the 52nd pick, the Hamilton Tiger Cats announced they had selected the 6 foot 3 receiver, igniting celebration in the English household.
“It was a relief but also I knew that it was just a foot in the door,” said English speaking from the Tiger Cats rookie camp. “It was a quick high, a nice little half an hour to hour high and then I knew that the real work was about to start.”
English was born in Mississauga, Ontario but was raised in New Westminster, B.C. and played for the powerful New Westminster Secondary Hyacks where he currently holds the record for career receptions and touchdowns with 65 and seven, respectively. From there, he parlayed his high school dominance into a spot with the New Mexico State University for a season before transferring back home to UBC for the 2012 season. Following that season, English would play for the Langley Rams of the Canadian Junior Football League for two seasons before being drafted. However short his stay with the Thunderbirds was, his time there was instrumental in his ascension to the sports highest level in Canada.
English chalked his success up to former head coach Shawn Olson as well as the receivers coach at UBC. “He taught me how to run routes better which has obviously translated into me being drafted ... he was pretty hard on me and pretty technical when it came to me getting stuff down in practice and that definitely helped.”
The jump from Junior Football to the CFL is a big one, and English knows that he will have to bide his time before he can realistically make an impact at the professional level. The Tiger Cats are coming off a Grey Cup appearance and are stacked at the receiver position with veterans such as Brandon Banks and Luke Tasker which means English might have to find alternative ways to get on the field.
“Honestly I just want to try to learn the playbook and try to dominate on special teams because that’s how I know I’m going to make the team,” said English. “No matter how good you are they like to develop you, they don’t like to just throw you in there ... but special teams are where you’re really going to make the team.”
With training camp opening up on May 31, English will have only a couple weeks to impress his potential employers as he hopes to turn that foot in the door into a professional contract and fulfill a life long dream.
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