Glenn Signs with Riders; Visits Scotties

"Welcome back", that was the message to Kevin Glenn from hundreds of fans on the concourse at Mosaic Place on Thursday afternoon.

The veteran quarterback signed with the Saskatchewan Roughriders earlier in the day and then made an appearance with the Riders' brass in Moose Jaw to catch some curling action at the 2015 Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

Glenn spent much of the game speaking with fans and he said since he left Saskatchewan after the 2003 season that was one of the things that has stayed the same is the fans and their love of the team and players.

"The one thing that didn't change (about Saskatchewan) is the fan support, the community support," said Glenn. "Very, very faithful fans and loyal fans."

Glenn has been a CFL nomad since joining the league with the Riders in 2001. This will be his 15th season in the league and he has played for four other organizations, including spending last season with the BC Lions.

The 35-year-old knew deep down that he wanted to come back to where it all started however.

“It feels like it's a story book ending, this is where I was suppose to be, this is where I was suppose to end up,” said Glenn.

“It's funny that the guy who actually took me away from Saskatchewan, traded for me in 2004, is the guy who's bringing me back to Saskatchewan towards the end of my career. It's just felt really, really good – the situation.”

A veteran of 222 career regular season games, Glenn will serve as back-up for starting quarterback Darian Durant. He will be a safety valve in case Durant were to go down with an injury again like last season when the Riders' year went off the rails due to a lack of a veteran back-up.

“You always try to have as good as depth as you can at the quarterback spot,” said Brendan Tamam, general manager and vice-president of the Riders. “Kevin obviously adds to that.”

The Riders locked up third-year QB Tino Sunseri last week, but remained open about the need for a veteran behind Durant.

Glenn – who sits eighth all-time among CFL quarterbacks in passing yards with 43,336 – said he knows what his role is with the team and will hope to help the team in anyway that he can.

“My mindset is just to come in and compete, I think competition makes anybody better,” he said. “Even when you're not playing, the extra set of eyes on the sideline, it helps and when all three, four, five guys in that quarterback room are all on one page, it makes a very successful group.”

The Riders signed Glenn to a one-year contract, but Taman stated that they have an agreement to add another year if everything goes well this season.

Glenn started 17 games last season for the Lions in place of the injured Travis Lulay. He was second in the league with 3,918 passing yards and third in touchdown passes with 17.

He said after considering offers from other teams, mainly Montreal, he decided that a return to Saskatchewan was too much to pass up due to the strength of the roster that is in place.

“I love the team, I love how consistent across the board each facet of the team is, like defence, offence and special teams,” he said. “A lot of good core veteran players with a mix of new players and when you look at the coaching staff, it's the same thing, you've got some older coaches, younger coaches, some coaches in the middle, so they can adapt to all different facets of being a player.”

Glenn Enjoys Night at Scotties

After signing his new deal, Kevin Glenn made his way to Moose Jaw to take in some curling action at Mosaic Place during the 2015 Scotties Tournament of Hearts. He was intrigued by the athletes and the skill that goes into the game.

“This is my first curling event, I've never seen it live, I've seen it on TV before,” he said before Draw 16 got underway. “All I know is that it's a thrower and a sweeper and I know that they're trying to get it into the ring.

“Just watching do that that sweep, you've got to have some real strong leg muscle and some core to sweep that hard and that fast on that ice and not fall... I'm staying away from sweeping, throwing is one thing, but sweeping, I don't want to do that.”

Glenn met with Saskatchewan skip Stefanie Lawton before the game and presented her with an autographed hat and then posed with the team for a picture after their 9-1 win over Alberta.

Riders Extend Chick & Add to O-Line

The signing of Glenn was just part of a busy day for the Riders' front office as they also signed defensive end John Chick to a contract extension that will keep him in green and white through the 2016 CFL season.

“John would have been free at the end of this year, so anytime you can get a guy extend past one year and he deserved that after the year that he had,” said Taman. “To have him secured for two more years in Saskatchewan is pretty big and he's very happy about it and we've secured that D-end spot for at least two years now.”

Chick posted a CFL-best 15 sacks in 18 games last season, while also posting 11 tackles for loss and a career-high 45 defensive tackles.

He was named a CFL All-Star and the Riders' nominee for Most Outstanding Player and Defensive Player.

After the Chick extension, the Riders were also able to sign veteran national offensive lineman Gord Hinse, who has spent six seasons in the CFL with the Edmonton Eskimos and Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Hinse will give the Riders more depth on the o-line after losing Ben Heenan and Dominic Picard this offseason. He's expected to compete for the starting centre spot.

“He's a veteran Canadian offensive lineman and he was sitting out there and we felt, lets bring him in for a look,” said Taman. “He's played centre and guard, so another guy to look at and another guy to add to the list and evaluate.”