Ex-Mainland star has returned to form in Canada


Former Mainland star and Edmonton linebacker Maurice Lloyd puts a hit on British Columbia wide receiver Paris Jackson in a game July 4. Photo | Edmonton Eskimos

Lloyd
The Maurice Lloyd File
AGE: 27
HEIGHT/WEIGHT: 5-foot-11, 235 pounds
HIGH SCHOOL: Mainland (2001)
COLLEGE: Connecticut
POSITION: Linebacker
CFL CAREER (5 YEARS): 2006-08 — Saskatchewan; 2009-10 — Edmonton
SIGNED: To a one-year deal as a free agent before season
2010 STATISTICS: 29 tackles (fourth in the league), three sacks (tied for third in the league)

Double the Ex-Mainland Stars in CFL Tonight (Kinda)
WHAT: Maurice Lloyd’s Edmonton Eskimos host the Toronto Argonauts, who have fellow 2001 Mainland grad E.J. Kuale on the roster
E.J. KUALE FILE: In his first CFL season, Kuale has played in all five games mostly on special teams, with one tackle, a team-high seven special teams tackles and earned a point when he returned a kickoff 2 yards before punting the ball 64 yards into Winnipeg’s end zone in Week 2 for a “single.”
BAD NEWS: Kuale suffered an unspecified injury and will miss tonight’s game

It may be the first time the comparison has ever been made like this.
So for that, Maurice Lloyd is an original.
The former Mainland football star was asked about life in Edmonton, Alberta, where he has played the past two seasons with the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League.
Lloyd thought for a moment.
“Edmonton, you know, it’s like a little Orlando,” he replied. “Edmonton is just a smaller version. There’s a lot of similarities.”
What those similarities are might elude you and me, but nevertheless, Lloyd had found a home and is enjoying a terrific season.
Playing linebacker on an Eskimos team that has won only one of its first five games, he’s still managed to stand out. Lloyd has 29 tackles through five games, good for fourth-best in the league, and his three sacks are tied for third-best in the CFL.
Coming off a disappointing 2009 season, the 27-year-old Lloyd said he’s finally rediscovered his form.
“Last year I just wasn’t myself at all,” Lloyd said. “I was missing tackles, blowing assignments and my head just wasn’t in the game. I came in really content, like I was someone better or different and didn’t have to work. Now, I’m much more comfortable and back to being the old Mo Lloyd.”
Eskimos coach Richie Hall, who also coached Lloyd when he was with the Saskatchewan from 2006-08, said he sees a big improvement in Lloyd as well.
“He’s a really smart player, and a really aggressive player, and he’s becoming a team leader,” Hall said. “He’s got a real good understanding of the Canadian game now, and it’s really showing.”
Lloyd said that after five years, he’s come to love and embrace the Canadian game, even with it having some different rules from American football — CFL teams have 12 men on the field at once, multiple players can move on offense before the snap and the field is 110 yards long and 65 yards wide compared to 100 yards and about 53 yards in the NFL.
“It’s really like the Arena game mixed with the NFL game,” Lloyd said. “It’s faster than the NFL, and with the field being wider you have to think quicker.”
Lloyd said he is having the most fun he has had in the CFL this season. As the middle linebacker in the Edmonton defense, he helps call the signals and knows every other player’s responsibilities.
“He can write the defensive playbook for me if he had to,” Hall said, laughing. “He knows exactly what everyone’s doing, and who’s doing what wrong and who’s doing something right.”
Having played in the CFL for a while, Lloyd has been able to share his knowledge with another former Mainland defensive standout, E.J. Kuale. Both are 2001 Mainland graduates, and Kuale entered the CFL this year as a member of the Toronto Argonauts.
The Argonauts and Eskimos play in Edmonton tonight, though Kuale will miss the game with an undisclosed injury.
“We don’t see each other much, but we’ve talked, and he’s doing great over there,” Lloyd said. “He’s picking up the Canadian game real fast.”
For Lloyd, turning around Edmonton’s losing season is his biggest priority. He said the culture of Edmonton’s sports fans is to expect winning, whereas when he played in Sasketchewan, he said the expecation of the fans was lower.
“These people expect the team to win, that’s what they’ve come to expect over the years,” Lloyd said, alluding to the Eskimos winning two Grey Cup championships in the past eight seasons. “That’s what they should expect, and we just have to play better for them.”

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