Linebacker Curtis Newton of the Gryphons is about to go on a job interview and he’s amped up for it.
“I’m definitely very excited,” he said following a workout this week at the Alumni Stadium performance centre. “It’s a very big weekend, probably the biggest weekend I’ll have to date in terms of my football career. I’m pretty excited and thankful for the opportunity.”
Newton will be participating in the Canadian Football League’s national combine at Toronto this weekend. The three-day event is to start Friday.
“I feel great right now,” he said. “The training has been going really well and a lot of guys on this team have been preparing for the combine as well. We all push each other and it’s been a great atmosphere in the gym. I think we’ll all put up good numbers.”
Nine other Gryphons are to participate in Thursday’s regional combine at Toronto where they’ll be hoping to impress enough to get an invitation to join Newton at the national camp. Gryphs at the regional camp are defensive lineman Donnie Egerter, defensive backs Tristan Doughlin and Colin Mandich, linebacker Mac Myers, offensive linemen Kyle Fraser and Matt Toppan, receivers A’dre Fraser and James Ingram and receiver/kick returner Ryan Nieuwesteeg.
“We push each other in the gym,” Newton said. “That amount of guys going to the combine is a real testament to the success of our football team over the past few years.”
At the combines, the players will be showing their skills in a number of drills and they’ll be under close scrutiny by the CFL teams.
“It’s definitely for the teams to assess you as a football player and the skills you have, but also you as a person to see what kind of character you are and how you act around the pro scouts,” Newton said. “I think they’ll be watching and observing everything you do on the weekend.”
Since the Gryphon season came to an end with the Mitchell Bowl loss to Montreal, Newton has been gearing up for this weekend.
“(I’ve) definitely just been hitting the gym as hard as I can and working on my sprinting and the specific combine testing I’ll be put through throughout the weekend,” he said. "That’s been my main focus since the season was completed.
“They put a lot more emphasis on being fast and running the 40 (metres sprint) properly and specifically being strong in the bench press. Instead of concentrating on more of your overall fitness, you’re really concentrating on those specific tests to be able to put up the best scores possible.”
Gryphon interim head coach Kevin MacNeill served as the defensive co-ordinator throughout Newton’s four years with the team and he knows the approach the linebacker will have to get ready for the camp.
“Curtis is such a level-headed guy,” MacNeill said. “He’s such a mature, young guy that he doesn’t need a lot of talking to about the process. He’s been fantastic and he just goes about doing what he does. He doesn’t need a ton of encouragement because he’s such a hard worker and such a hard trainer.”
Newton garnered praise from MacNeill for his on- and off-field work with the team.
“His level of preparedness has been exemplary, one of the best on the team,” MacNeill said. “He’s missed the least amount of games – I think he only missed one practice in four years. That’s probably the record in people staying healthy, especially starters. He’s been our most consistent starter for the last three years. He hasn’t missed a game. He’s got a great work ethic and he really takes care of his body and ensures that he’s always able to perform.”
Along with the physical testing this weekend, Newton is expecting to have five or six sit-down meetings with CFL teams.
“I think it’s just like preparing for any other kind of job interview, except this one’s obviously for a pro sport,” he said. “You make sure you stay true to who you are and and be yourself.”
After this weekend, the next big day for Newton will be May 10, the day of the CFL draft.
“After I get this weekend out of the way, it’ll be back in the gym and hopefully be preparing to hear my name called on draft day and if not, it’ll just be business as usual and I’ll get ready for another season at Guelph,” he said.
“If you don’t get drafted, it’s not the end of the world. You’ve just got to not give up and stick with it, get in the gym and just have a good season next year and hopefully catch the eye of some CFL teams.”
However, MacNeill isn’t expecting to see Newton in a Gryphon uniform this fall.
“He’s gone,” the coach said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he goes in the first round. I know a lot of guys are going to roll their eyes when I say that, but that’s how good he is and I think CFL teams recognize how good of a football player (he is) and how big an upside he has. I’d love to have him back, but at the same time I’d love to see him play professional football.”
“I’d definitely miss playing at Guelph,” Newton said. “I love all my teammates and I’ve loved my time here, but I definitely think that I’m ready to take the next step and I think the next step for me to improve as a football player is competing for a spot on a CFL roster. That’s my goal right now.”