Music: {allcanada} Ex-Lion Young has CFL option with Alouettes

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

{allcanada} Ex-Lion Young has CFL option with Alouettes

There is a Canadian Football League team that is keeping an eye on embattled former NFL receiver Titus Young, who has been arrested three times this month and is in jail awaiting trial on 11 charges.

SPORTSNET.CA has learned that Young, a 2011 draft pick of the Detroit Lions, is on the negotiation list of the CFL's Montreal Alouettes. The Als are a franchise that have welcomed those with troubled pasts before – namely Lawrence Phillips, who was the starting tailback for the 2002 Grey Cup champions.

Young has a long road back from his recent arrests, and, according to his father and former teammates, a reported mental illness. From his three arrests in May alone, Young faces charges of burglary, assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest.

At a pre-trial hearing in a California Superior Court last Friday, judge Andre Manssourian doubled Young's bail amount and said he "poses a danger to the community."

In a court filing, an ex-girlfriend of Young's, Marjani Maldonado, claimed Young told her "I understand why O.J. killed his wife."

Young, only 23, has another pre-trial hearing scheduled for June 4. A preliminary hearing is to occur two days later.

While resuming his pro football career seems like a long shot now, the Alouettes have proven they are patient with players on their negotiation list should Young end up having to resurrect his career in Canada. Former Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith, who has bounced around different NFL rosters, has been Montreal's property since 2005.

Young has been out of football since Feb. 15, following his release by the St. Louis Rams — 11 days after the Lions cut him. But his tenure in Detroit was effectively over last November, when coaches claimed he intentionally lined up in the wrong position twice.

Phillips, meanwhile, was sentenced to more than 31 years in a California prison back in 2009, for attacking his girlfriend and driving his car into three teens.

Titus Young isn't the only prominent name that Montreal has on its radar. The Alouettes also own the negotiation list rights to quarterbacks Vince Young and Tim Tebow, former NFL first-round picks who remain free agents.

Should 2012 Heisman finalist Collin Klein, Case Keenum, Mike Kafka or veteran Seneca Wallace end up in the CFL, they're also Als property. The organization continues to keep Russell Wilson on their negotiation list, with next to no hope he'll ever take a snap in the Canadian league.