For Jesse Mills, the road to the 2014 Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) football regular season will be filled with milestones.
The first of these accolades is the 12th annual East-West Bowl on May 10 hosted by the Western Mustangs at TD Waterhouse Stadium in London, Ont. The game featured some of the best university-level football players in the country.
As the only Carleton player in the game, Mills is also the first player in Ravens history to be named to the East roster.
“Being the only guy there representing your school, you have to represent them well. So that meant working out all week and showing everyone that even though Carleton is a new team, there are guys that can compete at a high level,” he said.
Even though he was the only Raven, he said he developed chemistry with the rest of the East squad. He even said there were still some familiar faces around him, as he had played with some teammates at Saint Mary’s University.
The East team defeated the West by a score of 19-12, mostly on the back of three field goals and a rouge from Acadia Axemen kicker Ryan Begin.
Mills attempted five passes in the game, completing two of them for a total of 34 yards.
One of them was a 31-yard touchdown pass to receiver Jamal Henry of Concordia University, making Mills the only quarterback on either team to throw for a major score.
Outside of the game, there were a number of events set up for the players to make it a week-long occasion. Canadian Football League (CFL) coaches were present for these events, including practices, a scouting combine, and a coaching clinic.
Mills said the presence of the professional coaches was exciting, and his performance in front of them at the combine was solid.
“Overall it was a great experience, just to have the CFL coaches there, and just being with other players from across the country,” he said.
Ravens head coach Steve Sumarah said he was pleased to see one of his players travel to London, Ont. for the game, hoping it would set a good example for the rest of his young team.
“It’s an important step for our program. It shows everybody else in our program that that’s an attainable goal for us,” he said. “We’re moving in the right direction.”
Mills’ second milestone came in the form of an invitation to practice with the Ottawa Redblacks as a non-roster invite, alongside University of Ottawa Gee-Gees quarterback Derek Wendel, at the Redblacks’ inaugural training camp.
The Redblacks’ main training camp is scheduled for June 1 at Keith Harris Stadium on Carleton’s campus.
“I’m pretty excited for it,” Mills said. “Just being able to play with guys at that level, seeing how much different it is, learning things to bring back to Carleton.”
Sumarah said this added exposure for him will be a great benefit to Mills’ growth as a player.
“It’s huge, in terms of the coaching and experience he’s going to get on top of what he gets here. It gives him a different perspective on how things are done, and gets to see what it’s like in the pros,” he said.
Mills and Wendel will practice with the Redblacks until their first exhibition game in Saskatchewan on June 13, according to a CFL press release.
Sumarah said Mills will be on the market for next year’s CFL draft, and the timing of both the East-West Bowl and practicing with the Redblacks worked out perfectly for him for his future prospects.
“Next year was going to be his potential draft year, which kind of gave him an advantage this off-season,” he said.
