The Tribune

by RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

The next step on the path to professional football for one Bahamian gridiron star will now take him to Canada.

Enrico Forbes signed a free agent contract with the British Columbia Lions of the Canadian Football League on May 31, and has joined the team in training camp.

Forbes was invited to rookie camp with the NFL’s Green Bay Packers, prior to signing with the Lions.

A 6’6” 305 pound offensive lineman, found his way back to NCAA Division I football when he enrolled at Washington State in 2011.

He participated in spring drills during his redshirt season and eventually missed the entire year with a leg injury suffered during fall camp.

In his senior season, he earned a varsity letter after he appeared in all 13 games, earning five starts at right tackle.

Forbes’ pro day performance at Washington State placed him on the radar of several franchises headed into April’s NFL Draft.

He ran a 4.97s 40-yard dash, performed 31 repetitions on the bench press, recorded a 7.71s in the three-cone drill, 4.66s in the 20-yard shuttle and a broad jump of 8’05.”

The Lions finished the 2013 season 11-7, good for third in the West division.

They clinched a playoff spot for the 17th straight season, the third longest playoff streak by any franchise in CFL history.

They eventually lost to Saskatchewan Roughriders in the Western Semi-Final.

The Lions will open the regular season schedule, June 28 at home against the Edmonton Eskimos.

He will become the second Bahamian player on a CFL roster for the 2014 season, joining linebacker Karl McCartney of the Calgary Stampeders.

Forbes played high school football at St Pius X in Houston, Texas, where he earned a varsity letter as a junior as he helped the team to an 11-2 record and captured Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools (TAPPS) D1 state title.

In his senior season he was unable to play, suffering the first in a series of injuries and graduated from Christian Life Center Academy in Houston.

Despite the injury he was ranked No. 61 nationally among defensive ends by Scout.com and signed a letter of intent to join the Baylor Bears in 2009.

He was not cleared by the NCAA Clearing House and played two seasons at Navarro College in Corsicana, Texas.

As a sophomore he helped Navarro to an 11-1 record and the National Junior College Athletic Association national championship.

Forbes was a member of the Frank Rutherford Elite Development Programme.

“Going through the disappointments made me appreciate where I am right now a whole lot more. Me just being here means the world. To make it back to DI at Washington State, even though I was only able to play for a year it had a great impact on myself and my career,” Forbes said, “I really did not have an outlet for it back in the Bahamas but football was something that I have always wanted to do. The opportunity was not there so I was very appreciative of Mr Rutherford for guiding me through the process all these years. From the moment he saw me and brought me into the programme he instilled the confidence in me that I would be able to get here one day. I feel like we need more people with that belief and ability to make it a reality for a lot of other Bahamian kids out there.”