#ProTops: Brown, Farris Sign With CFL’s Ottawa REDBLACKS
On Sunday, the Canadian Football League’s Ottawa REDBLACKS signed a pair of former Hilltopper defensive backs in Joe Brown and DeAndre…
On Sunday, the Canadian Football League’s Ottawa REDBLACKS signed a pair of former Hilltopper defensive backs in Joe Brown and DeAndre Farris.
Brown, who last played for the Toppers in 2017, was a 2017 CUSA Honorable Mention after landing on the conference’s preseason team and that year’s Jim Thorpe Award Watch List.
The Louisville native recorded 36 total tackles and led the defense, along with Drell Greene, with two interceptions and had the most fumble recoveries (two) on the team.
Farris, a 2018 WKU captain and a 2017 CUSA Honorable Mention, had the second-most pass breakups (eight) for the Tops and owned the longest interception return last year for WKU with a 47-yard pick return against Marshall. He also ranks fourth in WKU’s FBS history in pass breakups with 23.
The two join a REDBLACKS defense that was the third-worst passing defense in the league, allowing 262.5 passing yards per game (which, I’ll grant, is only slightly worse than the 231.7 yards per game the best passing defense allowed. It’s a passing league, yall).
The two also join just in time for the start of training camp, with the preseason set to start for Ottawa on June 1 against Hamilton (Cameron Echols-Luper’s former squad).
Ottawa opens their regular season on June 15 in Calgary at 7 p.m.
Brown and Farris join Jonathan Dowling (Toronto) as the only active former Hilltoppers in the CFL.