The BC Lions Football Club today announced that the following players have signed 2020 contracts with the club:
Nationals: OL Andrew Peirson, DB Jamie Harry, K/P Greg Hutchins, DL Charles Nwoye
Americans: LB Ken Olugbode, WR Josh Simmons
Peirson dressed for one game in 2019 (vs Saskatchewan) while spending the majority of the season on the club’s practice roster. His tireless efforts in community programs during his second season with the club earned him a team nomination for the CFL’s Tom Pate Award.
Harry was signed as a free agent in September and spent five weeks on the Lions’ practice roster before making his CFL debut versus Saskatchewan in October. Prior to joining the Lions, Jamie attended the University of Ottawa and was a 2019 CFL Draft selection of the Toronto Argonauts (5th round, 39th overall).
Hutchins is a UBC grad and was signed to the Lions’ practice roster in October. The Nova Scotia native was originally signed by the Edmonton Eskimos in May 2019 and attended training camp with the club before eventually making his way to BC in the fall.
Nwoye was the club’s sixth-round selection (49th overall) in the 2019 CFL Draft. Another former UBC Thunderbird, he enjoyed an impressive training camp but suffered a season-ending injury just prior to the final roster cut-down period. The hard-hitting linebacker is expected to be at full-speed in May.
Olugbode returns to the CFL after a brief stint with the Calgary Stampeders in 2017 when he saw action in a pair of games. The former University of Colorado standout was an undrafted free agent signing of the Cleveland Browns and also saw action with the ill-fated AAF’s San Diego Fleet earlier this year.
Simmons brings some blazing speed to the team’s receiving corps after a two-year stint at Prairie View A&M. The Texas native was a mainstay in the Panthers’ offence over 19 games hauling in 52 passes for 596 yards and four majors while also adding 536 yards on 21 career kickoff returns including a 93-yard return for a TD.