Taylor Renaud at Blue Bomber training camp
I was at Investors Group Field recently during the Winnipeg Blue Bombers training camp and met with rookie wide receiver Taylor Renaud.
Dubbed a “national” by the CFL (which used to call Canadian players “non-imports”), Renaud grew up on Ash Street in River Heights and attended Robert H. Smith School and River Heights Junior High before going on to St. Paul’s High School, noted for their excellent football program.
From there, he went to Acadia University in Nova Scotia where he was one of the leading receivers for the Acadia Axemen, while studying for his Bachelor of Education degree.
During his spell there, the Axemen were two-time Atlantic University Sport (AUS) champions and Renaud was named as an AUS all-star in both of those seasons as he helped his team win the Jewett Trophy.
In 2012, he was one of only five players in the country to average over 100 yards receiving per game. His 51 receptions for 749 yards in 7 regular season games was the third highest in AUS history.
With such an impressive resume, this CFL rookie came highly recommended and he did not disappoint. Renaud played in the Bombers’ two pre-season games, making a fumble recovery against Toronto and a key reception in Calgary. But, unfortunately he was cut by the Bombers just prior to the announcement of the team’s final roster.
This camp was not Renaud’s first shot at the CFL. He was here for last year’s training camp and despite impressing the coaching staff he was forced to withdraw due to a hamstring injury. That could have been a blessing in disguise for him though, considering the team’s dismal performance last season.
The family is no stranger to the Winnipeg football community; his grandfather Mo Renaud was a long time public address announcer for the Bombers.
Taylor Renaud is also no stranger to fame, or infamy, as Jimmy Kimmel featured a short video of him last year in a training routine that went wrong. Working out in a university gym, Renaud was concentrating on a footwork drill when an unexpected football was delivered early and caught him square in the face.
He was left with a small bruise and maybe a larger dent in his pride. The incident was being filmed and the subsequent upload to YouTube was picked up by Kimmel and featured on his late night TV talk show.
See the video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6-mYDQJ5Ao
An all-round athlete and a former player for the Winnipeg Rifles junior football team, Renaud is also known to be a keen basketball player and has also worked as a guest receiver coach with the Axemen while injured last year.
Nicknamed the “Ren Dog”, he’s 6′-2″ tall and weighs 200 lbs and despite being cut adrift by the Big Blue, he could still be picked up by another team and may well come back and haunt the Bombers one day.
