The Latest Chapter In Tyler Johnstone’s Pro Football Career

He might not have received the national acclaim and media spotlight that many of his teammates enjoyed in recent years, but offensive tackle Tyler Johnstone was one of the cornerstones of the University of Oregon football team during some of the program’s most successful campaigns between 2011 and 2015.

But after suffering two tears to the same ACL in his knee during his time in Eugene, Johnstone went undrafted in the 2016 NFL Draft, and couldn’t catch on with an NFL team as an undrafted free agent.

However, Johnstone’s dream of professional football didn’t end there. The former first team All Pac-12 and second team All American was granted a dual Canadian-U.S. citizenship, making him eligible for the supplemental draft of the Canadian Football League (CFL). Intrigued by his talent and production for one of the best college football programs in the nation, the Montreal Alouettes thought so highly of Johnstone that they selected him in the supplemental draft,  thus forfeiting their first round selection in the 2019 CFL Draft.

Given this new opportunity to continue his days on the gridiron, Johnstone expressed a great deal of excitement about playing football, calling his initial time with the Alouettes “a blast.”

Of course, that’s not the only experience for Johnstone that was a blast. He absolutely looks back at his time in Eugene fondly. While there were many moments during his years there that were some of the best the program has ever seen, he distinctly recalled the 2012 game when the Ducks went into the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, with Oregon fans wearing all-white shirts as part of their efforts to “storm LA,” resulting in the offense setting numerous records in Oregon’s 62-51 defeat of the 18th-ranked Trojans of USC.

Things certainly took a step back for Oregon in the years after Chip Kelly left for the NFL, and after Johnstone himself graduated, culminating in the 4-8 season in 2016 and Mark Helfrich’s dismissal. But Johnstone has been pleased with what he saw from the program in Willie Taggart’s lone year there, and the early returns on the Mario Cristobal era. Unsurprisingly, as an offensive lineman, he’s happy to see a program that’s seemingly re-committed to being a program that “kicks the crap out of other teams” (in his own words).

On a personal level, Johnstone has placed his eponymous “The Tyler Johnstone Podcast” on the back burner, by his own admission, thanks to his efforts being squarely focused on making the most of his chances in Canada, he does have aspirations of picking back up with it after the season is over (if not sooner).

On his podcast, he talks about a variety of topics. To that end, he was recently asked about his thoughts around the comeback aspirations of Hall of Fame wide receiver Terrell Owens. As someone who’s gone trials and tribulations as part of his path to play pro football, Johnstone believes that anyone who has the talent and ability to play professional football, and is in good enough shape to do so, should be given the opportunity to play.

Maybe we’ll get to hear an episode of his podcast one day, where he’ll recall the success he hopes to enjoy in Canada, and maybe even a second chance in the NFL.