York’s Myles Gibbon invited to CFL Combine

York University Lions quarterback Myles Gibbon is one of the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) players who has been invited to the 2013 Canadian Football League (CFL) Combine presented by Reebok.

The three-day evaluation camp is an opportunity for general managers, coaches and scouts to test, interview and evaluate MylesGibbonprospects who they may select in the 2013 CFL Canadian draft on Monday, May 6. Draft eligible Canadian prospects will be put through a series of speed and strength tests, as well as football drills and interviews with the teams.

Gibbon is one of two quarterbacks to earn an invitation and the only one from a Canadian university (the other quarterback, Cayman Shutter, competes for Hawaii). He is the first Lion under Head Coach Warren Craney to earn an invite to the combine.

“I am very happy for Myles as this is a tremendous opportunity for him. He has worked very hard and this is very well deserved,” said Craney. “This is also huge for our football program here at York. He is the first of many players I know whom will one day be invited to the event.”

Gibbon, a kinesiology and health science graduate student from Montreal, completed his debut season with the Lions in 2012 after transferring to York from the University of South Alabama.

In eight games with the Lions, the 6′ 2″, 220-ob pivot accounted for 2,449 yd of offence and 11 touchdowns. He finished third in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) with 1,992 passing yards, completing 129 of 240 passes (54 per cent) and threw for nine touchdowns, while also adding 457 rushing yards and another two touchdowns on the ground.

“I have always hoped to be able to show my skills at the combine and it is an honour to be invited to an event like this,” said Gibbon. “Hopefully I can impress and show my abilities to the fullest.”

A talented player out of Rosemere High School, Gibbon graduated from South Alabama in 2012 with a degree in psychology. He was the Jaguars’ first-ever starting quarterback in 2009, when the squad joined NCAA football for the first time. He started six of the team’s seven games that year and played in seven games in 2010. For his career, he threw for 865 yd and nine touchdowns and ran for 267 yd and three scores, for a total offence of 1,132 yd.

Prior to playing for the Jags, Gibbon was a quarterback at Vanier College in Montreal, where he guided the Cheetahs to the Bol D’Or title in each of his first two years. He was selected as the league’s most valuable player and added to its all-star team in his third season, when he was also voted the Bol D’Or championship Most Valuable Player. Gibbon set the school record for most touchdowns in a season, scoring 25 in just eight games in 2007.

The combine will take place at Varsity Centre at the University of Toronto, from March 22 to 24.