He’d sat on it for weeks last season, the limbo bar just one trick in a bag full of them.
Diontae Spencer isn’t denying that there’s a Possible Viral Celebrations, 2018 list at least floating around in the back of his mind right now, but like any creative gem, its better produced in a group, a brainstormed work of art.
The Ottawa REDBLACKS’ limbo bar might have been the best touchdown celebration in all of football last year. The clip of Spencer running into the end zone in Ottawa’s East Semifinal showdown with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, then being propped up by teammates and having Greg Ellingson shuffle his way under him raced through Twitter timelines, Facebook feeds and sports networks’ best-of packs for weeks after they unveiled it. They drew laughs out of hundreds of thousands of football fans and jealously out of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who swore they had the same idea but were beaten to the punch on it.
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It was all cool, Spencer said, but a day after signing a one-year contract extension and avoiding free agency, he’s thinking more about the things that lead to those celebrations right now.
“I knew I wanted to be in that situation that we have in Ottawa with our offence,” he said. “I felt like we were one of the best offences in the league, so bringing me back was a huge part of that and we came to a deal.”
Spencer loves it in Ottawa, but also likes the idea of the flexibility that his one-year deal gives him.
“I’m only 25 years old. I had some workouts in the NFL and I definitely don’t want to close that window with me being so young,” he said.
“I feel like if I came back up (to the REDBLACKS) and had a MVP-type season and (league-leading) numbers that I can get what I want down south. I think it can all play out the way I want it to. I just have to keep working hard and keep grinding.”
While REDBLACKS fans are holding on to longer-term dreams for the dynamic receiver/returner, if he meets his short-term goals, team success likely isn’t very far behind. While his numbers were impressive enough — 922 receiving yards and 1,796 combined return yards — last year to earn him East nominee honours for Most Outstanding Special Teams Player, he still thinks about what he left on the table last year.
“I know what I can do, I know what type of player I am. But what it came down to, when I look back at it,” he explained, “man I missed 5-10 games where I didn’t get to do kickoff return or I wasn’t back there doing punt return.
“Early on in the season I was playing a position that I had never played before and transitioned over to the X position. That’s where I started taking off. There were a lot of yards that I left out throughout the season.
“I think a full season, knowing that Ottawa knows my strengths and what I can do with the ball in my hands, I think there’s no reason why I shouldn’t be out there as one of the best in the game.”
That goes for the rest of the offence, too. Trevor Harris, also back on a one-year deal, will run offensive coordinator Jaime Elizondo’s system with a year’s experience as a starter under his belt. With Brad Sinopoli, Greg Ellingson and Kenny Shaw, to name a few, all coming back, they provide high-level targets for an elite QB in a very productive offence.
“That was a big part of me coming back,” Spencer said. “I wanted to be comfortable wherever I was going. To get another year in that system, I think that was just a glimpse of what we can do, not just me, but as an offence it’ll be pretty good.”
Spencer spent the first two years of his career in Toronto, where the Argos were 10-8 his first year and 5-13 the next. In Ottawa, the REDBLACKS went 8-9-1 last year. Watching the transactions already made around the league this offseason, Spencer is anticipating a more competitive East Division this year.
“Everyone wants to get the jump this year,” he said. “I feel like if we put everything together we’ll be a team that’ll be right up there in the East and probably one of the best teams in the whole CFL.”
