Champ is here: Larry Dean joins Roughriders

There’s a new beverage on the menu in Rider Nation: Champ Juice.

Champ Juice is the style of newly signed Saskatchewan Roughriders linebacker Larry Dean, one of the many signings the team announced on Tuesday’s opening day of CFL free agency.

“One of my nicknames is Champ and a lot of these players that I played with, they are like, ‘You gonna bring that juice today?’ which is a.k.a. energy,” Dean said Wednesday. “I’m energetic. I’m flying around sideline to sideline.

“I like playing the linebacker position because you get the best of both worlds — you get to mix it up with the bigs down in the trenches (and) you get to drop back with the defensive backs and hang out sometimes. You’re the meat of the sandwich if you look at it that way.”

The nickname Champ came from when he and former Minnesota Vikings teammate Joe Webb were visiting Dean’s home city of Tifton, Ga.

“There’s not really much to do for kids or anything. When you drive around and see some of the living conditions, you would probably be in tears or in awe,” Dean said. “I have a foundation and we were doing a back-to-school rally and I was just driving him around and showing him the city.

“He was like, ‘You came out of this? You made it out of here? You ain’t Larry no more, you’re the champ.’ And it just stuck.”

Dean said the city has signs up that read “Home of Larry Dean.”

“It’s a small city where no one really that we know made it that you can reach out and touch or call up,” Dean said. “(The sign) was a blessing but I feel like it was more so for the younger generation or just for motivational purposes. Kids ride by there every day.

“Whenever I leave, I represent my city well and I wear that on my shoulders.”

Dean’s football career saw him spend five seasons in the NFL (three with the Vikings, one with the Buffalo Bills and one on the practice roster of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers) before making the jump to the CFL with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 2016.

He played with the Edmonton Football Team in 2019 and was named the team’s most outstanding defensive player. He rejoined Hamilton during the 2020 off-season but didn’t play a down for the Tiger-Cats after COVID forced the cancellation of the season.

But while Dean didn’t get to play football in 2020, he did enjoy spending time with his family.

“I have a lot of nieces and nephews that I’ve been able to spend a lot of time with, a lot of quality time that I’m normally not here for playing football, especially in Canada,” Dean said. “I’ve missed birthdays, weddings, all types of events so (it was great) to have this year to brush up on it and get caught up.”

And now he’s excited to join Rider Nation.

“Saskatchewan is a place that I had on the radar and all the pieces match and we were able to come to a deal and get it done,” Dean said. “I know (Saskatchewan) is a great football atmosphere.

“I’m from a small city myself where on a Friday night we shut the town down for a football game. I’m excited about that atmosphere. (I) don’t really know how it’s going to play out with all the restrictions that are going to be put in place with the COVID-19 and everything.”

Dean will join what could be a completely different starting group of linebackers from 2019. Solomon Elimimian announced his retirement on Tuesday, Derrick Moncrief signed a futures/reserves contract with the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams and Cam Judge remains a free agent and is chasing NFL opportunities.

Judge was named the West Division’s most outstanding Canadian in 2019.