proCane starting safety for the CFL BC Lions helped the Lions defeat the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 34-23. B.C. became the first team in CFL history to win the Grey Cup after losing its first five regular-season games. B.C. also became the first squad since the 1994 Lions to capture the league title at home. Reddick finished the game with tackles but was a standout all season for the Lions in his first year in the CFL. Congrats to Anthony!

Thanks to James Bryant for the photo at @BigHit_Bryant24

Blitzes, pressure and a secondary that wouldn't give in.

It was too much for Edmonton quarterback Ricky Ray on Sunday as the B.C. Lions beat the Eskimos 40-23 in the CFL West final.

Ray was sacked at key times by nose tackle Khalif Mitchell and defensive back Anthony Reddick and also had to hurry throws or dump the ball out of bounds.

Edmonton had a first down on the B.C. 11-yard line when Reddick sacked Ray and forced a fumble that Solomon Elimimian recovered on the B.C. 29-yard line.

That possession ended in a 13-yard TD for the Lions.

B.C. LIONS
Overall record: 9-6
Streak: Eight wins

DB Anthony Reddick was terrific with 10 tackles and a sack. To win out, the Lions will have to beat Hamilton on the road, Edmonton and Montreal at home.

B.C. Lions defensive back Anthony Reddick left picks off a pass intended for Saskatchewan Roughriders slotback Weston Dressler during the second half CFL football action at Mosaic Satdium on Saturday September 24, 2011. The Lions defeated the Roughriders 42-5. Canadian Press/Liam Richards

No teammate would dare admit as much, but Anthony Reddick recently was the envy of everyone in uniform on the B.C. Lions, or any other working stiff for that matter. He got to hit his boss. In fact, Wally Buono told Reddick to hit him hard, too.

A hairline arm fracture has been bothering the sophomore defender. But in an attempt to convince him he could play with the injury supported by a cast, Buono told Reddick to give him a shot so the player could determine whether it hurt enough to play.

Reddick returned to the defensive unit briefly in Winnipeg last week, and judging by the amount of package work he is receiving this week, he'll play a greater role Friday against the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

"[Buono] was just trying to get into my mind and it's true, your mind controls your entire body," said Reddick.

If Reddick didn't make an appearance soon Buono would eventually have to find someone who could take the field. He was needed Tuesday. When Davis Sanchez was absent a second straight day because of his elbow and J.R. LaRose was dealing with a family tragedy, Reddick had a few reps at safety, which he played effectively in college at Miami.

Buono also has had to be parental in order to get another sophomore, linebacker Joe Henderson, on the field. He tore his hamstring injury the first day of training camp, and has only played two games since September.

"If I come back too early, I'm done for the season. Wally knew that," Henderson said. "He helped me to get my mental trust back in my leg."
It took awhile, but Henderson will replace Adam Bighill Friday and make his season debut. The only difference is he didn't get to hit his coach.


(theprovince.com)

Anthony Reddick can't say much about the Stanley Cup riot that saw louts, low-lifes and middle-class kids from the suburbs find common ground to trash downtown Vancouver last week. But the B.C. Lions defensive back can speak about mob mentality and how rash, unconscionable behaviour can damage and fracture a reputation just as easily as a plateglass window.

Reddick, in the midst of the CFL team's training camp, said he was aware that scores of young men, emboldened by alcohol and egged on by their peers and seemingly solid citizens, went nuts in Vancouver a few nights ago, although he admits his glimpse of the coverage was only fleeting.

Yet, as one of the players at the centre of a vicious and widespread brawl in Miami's Orange Bowl five years ago, Reddick can speak to the subject of embarrassing behaviour, how its implications follow you and how difficult it is to expunge the taint left behind.

On Oct. 14, 2006, the University of Miami's reputation for lawlessness reached a new low when Reddick, his teammates with the Hurricanes and players with city rival Florida International, poured on the field and began waling on each other, in an attempt to settle scores and festering animosities that had existed since high school. Officers from the FIU police and the Florida Highway Patrol had to step in to sort out the mess, which eventually led to the suspension of 31 players. The cameras made Reddick the symbol of the melee, capturing him swinging his helmet, Braveheart-style, at FIU players. Suspended for four games and the publicized object of scorn and condemnation, he just has to click on YouTube to be reminded of the wild scene, and his part in it.

"I think about it," he said. "If the situation were to happen again, and it's happened numerous times, I would react to it differently. I would stay out of it. My teammates are like my brothers. I'm not helping them, if I get caught up in stuff like that and I get suspended. I would react totally different to the situation if it happened today."

Not thinking, out of control, heedless of the consequences. In a misguided way, Reddick agrees he bought into the mentality that he was only protecting his house, the Hurricanes' turf. But what principles were the rioters in Vancouver standing up for? Mayhem, anarchy, stupidity?

"It can happen to anyone, doing things without thinking," said Reddick, speaking from the perspective of a wiser 25-yearold. "I think it can happen to anyone. You should always think before you react. Trouble is easy to find, if you're looking for it. Sometimes, I think it just had to do with the maturity process. If you start thinking before you react, your life will go a lot better. I'm smarter, more mature, I have a bigger view of life because of what happened [five years ago]. I know more of what I want out of life, what I want to be in a couple of years."

As far as football goals go, Reddick would like to progress from backup to Lions starting nickelback, a hybrid defensive back/linebacker position currently held by Korey Banks, an individual who is arguably the best all-around defender in the CFL.

A three-time CFL all-star, Banks is going into his eighth season and turns 32 in August. But Banks led the Lions in sacks (seven), fumble returns (four), made 55 tackles and two interceptions last season and seems impervious to injury. His current consecutive games streak stands at 66, and he sees no reason why he can't push it to the century mark and beyond.

"When I'm ready to leave, he [Reddick] will replace me," Banks said. "But I'm not ready to leave. Even if they cut me next year, I'll play somewhere. No problem. I have another three years to play, at least. And I don't know if you really could replace me, because somebody like me is hard to find. I just feel this way: You'd need a collective group to do what I do."

Banks grew up in Boynton Beach, Fla.; Reddick in Fort Lauderdale, just a little farther south. But their backgrounds and neighbourhoods are so similar, Banks feels as if he knew Reddick even before he really got to know him.

"He reminds me of the guys I grew up with," Banks said. 'He's a humble guy and hardnosed. He's going to do whatever it takes. See how he flies around and hits people? That's why they brought him in to replace Sean Taylor in Miami."

Reddick was issued jersey No. 26 with the Hurricanes, the same number he wears today with the Lions, out of deference to Taylor, the Hurricane who played free safety before him. Known as "Meast" -short for half-man, half-beast -Taylor was voted the hardest hitting player in the NFL, by Sports Illustrated, after he graduated to the Washington Redskins. Taylor died tragically at age 24, however, when the Miami native was shot in the leg and bled to death, the unintended victim of a home robbery. The four male perpetrators, all between the ages of 18 and 20, were later apprehended, convicted and sentenced to life terms in prison.

"More young men making bad decisions that affect them the rest of their lives," Banks said. "All those four guys are locked up now. They should be locked up forever. So stupid, so senseless. Sean Taylor was the best free safety who ever played the game. They walked away with $2,000-$3,000, and they're spending the rest of their lives in prison. Animals, real animals."

That's also what they're saying in Vancouver about the mob that wantonly destroyed property, taunted police and beat up civic-minded individuals who bravely attempted to stop them.

"Do the right thing," Reddick said.

"That's basically what I learned from my experience [at Miami]."

Out of the Cup chaos, one can only hope other young men will acquire the same hard lesson.


(vancouversun.com)

The area is called Tatertown, and to Anthony Reddick it is still home.

It is a suburb of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., that brings a smile to the face of the B.C. Lions defensive back and it is a place where he will return upon completing his first CFL season.

It is not, however, a place where an easy life is made, especially if it is done without either of your parents. But the 24-year-old made it out of Tatertown, just as he is picking his way through the potholes represented by playing a strange game in a foreign country for the first time.

Getting to the point where Reddick has become an increasingly valuable piece in the array of Lions defensive packages this year ultimately arose because he was able to overcome surgical procedures on both knees during a six-year stay at the University of Miami.

It also happened because the smallish back stayed focused on finding a way out of Tatertown through the aunt and grandmother who raised him. Reddick's mom only recently re-entered his life, as did his father, returning from a Mississippi jail.

"I learned from them and from their mistakes. I made up my mind I wanted to go a different route," he said. "I realized there are other paths. But it's not something that happens suddenly."

It certainly didn't happen when he started playing football at age six, when the only way his grandmother got through to Reddick was when the game was taken away from him as punishment or when he continually got suspended from school.

"I just did some of the things teenagers do, but I always was a good listener; if I didn't listen I wouldn't be here right now," he said. "My aunt and grandmother know what it would do if they took me away from football. It's my everything."

The passion also once showed itself in a less-beneficial way when Reddick was suspended four games in 2006 for a helmet-throwing incident while at Miami. It may have played a part in why he went unclaimed in the NFL draft, but it was the same toughness which attracted the Lions.

Reddick would definitely be placed behind Solomon Elimimian and Yonus Davis on a list of players to be considered for the club's top rookie nomination. But in a season where so much about the Lions has been reformed by coach/GM Wally Buono with rough-around-the-edges recruits, Reddick has more than played a marginal role.

Though railbirds at training camp in Kamloops thought he was a natural to start at safety, given that he played the position at Miami, defensive coordinator Mike Benevides was also aware he played dime linebacker in college. The hybrid position has become his role with the Lions, who didn't have an obvious replacement for Jerome Dennis when they traded him to Hamilton in the offseason.

"A lot of things are not easy for that position," Benevides said. "In one package you're a linebacker, the next you're a blitzer. I don't take that for granted when you look at what he's done.

"He's got an edge to him. He's tough-skinned. But the biggest thing I've learned about him from Week 1 to now is how he's developed as a professional and how he's taking care of his body. He's also diligent. Practice can be over for four or five hours and he's still watching film."

There is a slowly maturing sense to a player who was called "Amp" as a kid because he could only pronounce his name "Ampony." A lot comes with his approach.

Reddick was admonished by Buono after a game against Calgary earlier this year when he came free on a blitz, but whiffed trying to take down Stampeders quarterback Henry Burris.

However, given a second chance two weeks ago in the same situation, Reddick put a hit on Burris that may have been one of the best from a Lions defender all season by slightly changing his angle of attack.

A lot more maturing, Reddick said, took place in Tatertown simply because he had no other choice.

"It's not the best area," he admitted. "It's an environment where not all the people are fortunate, but it's a community that sticks together. There's crime, but there's crime throughout the world. It's a great place to live and I love my neighbourhood."

It's OK to have two homes. It's slowly working out that way for one of the large handful of Lions rookies this season.



(theprovince.com)

Anthony Reddick, Defensive Back (B.C. Lions). Reddick joined British Columbia after playing for one of the top U.S. college programs - the University of Miami - “The U.” Through both talent and hard work, Reddick earned a job with the Lions and has recorded 11 tackles, 1 sack and 1 interception in their first four games. With loads of natural ability, as Reddick gives the Lions much needed depth in the backfield.



(boxscorenews.com)

Anthony Reddick of the BC Lions recorded his first interception in the CFL with a 1st quarter interception of Toronto Argonaut Quarterback Cleo Lemon. Reddick also recorded 4 tackles in the 20-24 loss.




(cfl.ca)

In his first game as an Edmonton Eskimo in the Canadian Football LEague, Anthony Reddick recorded one solo tackle and also had one fumble recovery that set up an Eskimo touchdown in their 25-10 losing effort. It was a promising start for Reddick who is playing significant minutes for the Eskimos as an “import.”

VANCOUVER — The B.C. Lions seem committed to playing a Canadian at safety this season, but Anthony Reddick hopes to change that way of thinking.

Reddick, who decided to forgo his final year of eligibility at the University of Miami and enter the 2009 National Football League draft, was one of two defensive backs whose signings were announced today by the Canadian Football League team. The other rookie defensive back is Dominique Williams, who appeared in 48 games over four seasons at Arkansas State before attending the New Orleans Saints mini-camp last spring.

Reddick, 25, made an immediate impact as a starting freshman safety with the Hurricanes in 2004, one of two first-year players on defence voted rookie of the year.

However, in 2005, Reddick tore his anterior cruciate ligament 22 plays into his sophomore season and missed the rest of the year following knee surgery. He ripped up his knee again in the spring of 2007 in a pick-up basketball game and missed an entire season of football.

Besides getting lots of sheet time in Miami, Reddick was suspended for another four games for his role in an infamous 2006 bench-clearing brawl with Florida International University when he swung his helmet, Braveheart style, at some FIU players.

With his helmet placed where it's supposed to be, however, Reddick was an all-conference safety in his final year with Miami in 2008 when he finished the year ranked second on the Hurricanes with 67 tackles. But, needless to say, his college career didn't live up to its early promise. Reddick was widely considered to be one of the best prospects in the state of Florida coming out of high school when he was recruited by Georgia, Florida, Ohio State and other top NCAA football schools.

"I came in with a lot of expectations and I set high expectations for myself," he says.

Though the NCAA would have granted Reddick another season of college eligibility in 2009 based on his medical history, he chose to enter the NFL draft instead. He didn't get selected but did get an invite to the Chicago Bears rookie camp. Reddick was subsequently released.

"On a professional level, I thought I was ready," he says. "My body was ready, I was mentally ready — I was just ready for an opportunity. That's the main reason I decided not to even bother to get NCAA approval for a sixth year."

Reddick said he stayed in football shape throughout 2009 waiting for his next opportunity. It came in February of this year when the Lions worked him out at a free-agent camp in Hollywood, Fla.

"Football is still my passion," Reddick says. "It's what I do best and there's still a lot of football in me. I'm ready for the opportunity to show that."
At 6-0, 205, Reddick will have to make some very positive impressions in a hurry if he's to catch the eye of the Lions’ coaching staff at rookie camp. Scouting reports say he is fast up the field (4.55 seconds in the 40) and a solid tackler with an aggressive streak.

Following the retirement of Barron Miles, the Lions indicated they intend to give Canadians Tad Crawford, Jason Arakgi or Mike McEachern a chance to earn the starting job at safety. The team also worked out free-agent safety J.R. LaRose, an Edmonton native, at a tryout camp last week.



(vancouversun.com)