By François Ferland
MontrealAlouettes.com
Sherbrooke – At 6-foot-7, 267 pounds, O.J. Santiago is impressively big for a for a CFL receiver. He had a great career in the NFL, where he played for the Oakland Raiders when Marc Trestman was their offensive coordinator and, even if he’s 36 years old, he wants to continue his career.
While Santiago certainly has had an impressive career, he still has to prove himself. He knows he has a lot of work to do, and it’s with a very good state of mind that he’s been enjoying every day of Alouettes’ training camp.
Welcome to Montreal
“I see this new experience with optimism and I’m having fun,” Santiago said.
A native of Whitby, ON, after four seasons with Kent State, he was drafted by two teams: the Edmonton Eskimos (2nd round, 18th overall) and the Atlanta Falcons (3rd round, 70th overall).
That same year, he managed to earn a spot on the Falcons’ roster with whom he played in 11 games. He caught 17 passes for 217 yards and scored two touchdowns. After several years in Atlanta, he then played for for Dallas (2000), Cleveland (2001), and Oakland (2003). Following his time in California, he went to Denver’s training camp in 2004 before going back to Oakland in 2006-07). He also spent some time with the New England Patriots in 2006.
Inactive for the past two years, this winter, Santiago decided to jump to the CFL. “I had the pleasure of meeting Marc Trestman with the Raiders,” Santiago said. “Then when I saw him recently and I congratulated him for his success with the Alouettes. I asked him questions about his experience in the CFL, and in our conversation he asked me if I would be interested to try out with the Alouettes.”
The offer was too good to refuse. “I have great respect for Marc Trestman – he is someone you can trust,” the receiver said.
Again, Santiago takes nothing for granted with the Alouettes. “For now, it’s the excitement of a new experience that motivates me,” he said. “I am not ready to leave the game yet, I still want to play football. Montreal is an attractive city and I want to have the pleasure of saying to my children one day that their daddy played for Grey Cup champions.
“I’m also thinking about a career as a coach and I think that an experience in the CFL would be good for me.”
A real charmer, Santiago could become a popular figure among football fans in Quebec – especially since he speaks French. “Un petit peu pour l’instant,” he said. “I learned French when I was at school and I respect bilingualism in Canada.”
His initials are not a coincidence. His parents admired the skill of O.J. Simpson when he played for the Buffalo Bills. “Whitby is not far from Toronto, which is near Buffalo” Santiago explained. Simpson set a record in the NFL with 2,000 yards in 1973 while Santiago’s mother was pregnant with him, so his parents decided to name him Otis Jason.
Santiago will have another great experience when the Alouettes will face the Blue Bombers on Sunday in Winnipeg for their first pre-season game.
