Getting called out by former NFL star receiver Chad Johnson was a welcome break from the monotony of training camp for Tyron Brackenridge. Johnson, now with the Montreal Alouettes, took aim at the Saskatchewan Roughriders safety Tuesday on Twitter. Brackenridge was still chuckling about it Wednesday. "Was it entertaining?" Brackenridge asked with a laugh during a telephone interview. "I had fun with it. "When youre dealing with the pressure of training camp, these two-a-days and meetings, its good to have a little laugh here and there. He felt like I was the one he wanted to call out, I just entertained his antics." It began innocently enough on Twitter when a fan asked Johnson, a popular social media figure with 3.6 million followers, which team was he most looking forward to facing this season. "#41 from the Rough Riders," Johnson tweeted, referencing Brackenridge. After Brackenridge said, "Cant wait!" Johnson turned up the heat, tweeting: "I will run through you or around you, whichever you prefer." Brackenridge responded: "your cfl career will be short messing with me! You better ask your teammates or better yet find out for yourself." Johnson countered: "They speak highly of you but youll be dealt with." Added Brackenridge, "they speak highly of me for a reason. Its a thin line between tough & stupid. If your not looking for #41 youll regret it.." The colourful Johnson, in his first CFL season following a two-year hiatus from football, certainly didnt select a shrinking violet. The six-foot, 190-pound Brackenridge was a league all-star last year and voted the CFLs hardest hitter by his peers. Johnson referenced that when a fan asked who Brackenridge was. "The person wholl force me to keep my head on a swivel August 16," Johnson tweeted. Johnson ended the lively banter asking his supporters to follow Brackenridge. "I need at least 2 million of you to follow the homie @Tbrack41 please," Johnson tweeted. Brackenridge, 29, who has over 7,000 Twitter followers, said Johnsons comments were unsolicited although the two have a history. Theyve faced each other in the NFL and worked out together during the off-season with the same trainer. "We dont really know each other personally, like buddy buddy," Brackenridge said. "But at the end of the day, things like this make it fun to play the game and look forward to . . . its all fun and games." That is until June 29, when Saskatchewan opens its season hosting the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in a Grey Cup rematch. Brackenridge hasnt circled Aug. 16 on his calendar — when Montreal visits Regina — because as defending champions the Riders are expecting the best from every opponent this season. "Yes, we have a target on our back but we must defend the title week in and week out and just continue to be consistent and play like pros," he said. "Thats what keeps me on my toes . . . knowing I must continue to elevate my game." However, Brackenridge appreciates the recognition he received from Johnson. "It feels good to know you have respect around the league but you have to continue to earn that every week," he said. "Each year is a new year, you constantly have to get better otherwise somebody will come in and try to take your job or expose you." As for facing Johnson, Brackenridge will worry about that in August. The two teams will meet again in October in Montreal. "I approach every game the same . . . like its a championship game," Brackenridge said. "Im a competitor and I want to win each game, I want to win every play. "When we play them, Ill have the same mentality as I do when we play Hamilton in Week 1." Johnsons tweets did prompt one Riders fan to offer on Twitter a $100 donation to charity if Brackenridge legally hits Johnson hard enough to separate him from the football. The Riders team that will defend the Grey Cup title will differ vastly from the one that won it. Among those departing are running back Kory Sheets (Oakland, NFL), receivers Weston Dressler (Kansas City, NFL) and Geroy Simon (retired), linebackers Rey Williams (retired) and Craig Butler (Hamilton, free agent) and defensive tackle Keith Shologan (Ottawa expansion draft). "Unfortunately, its the nature of the game," Brackenridge said. "Each year youre going to have new personnel, youve just got to make it work. "Training camp is about building the chemistry to goes on throughout the season." Brackenridge was a key contributor last year with 48 tackles, a league-high five forced fumbles and three interceptions. He was a league all-star and voted the Riders top defensive player. Brackenridge spent time in the NFL with Kansas City (07-08), the New York Jets (09) and Jacksonville (09-10). Entering his fourth CFL campaign, Brackenridge says hes very comfortable with the nuances of Canadian football. "Ive learned a lot in this league," he said. "I was a little raw when I first came in but now the game is normal again . . . Id say Im pretty comfortable right now." And that includes life off the field as Brackenridge was married this off-season. "Everything is complete," he said. "They (wife, Christine, and three-year-old daughter Brooklyn) make it fun for me every day. "Im very blessed and thankful and enjoy this game with a smile on my face." Hes also thankful to be playing in Saskatchewan, home to the CFLs most passionate fans. Last November, a loud, predominantly green gathering of 44,710 watched the Riders defeat Hamilton 45-23 for just their fourth CFL title and first at Mosaic Stadium. "Ill tell you what, they make it extremely fun to play this game," Brackenridge said of Rider Nation. "They make it easier for guys like me who are away from home and our families. "Everything we do is dedicated to them as well as our families. It (13 Grey Cup) is very special to people born and raised in this province . . . that moment will live on forever." Trent Murphy Bills Jersey . Sweeting scored two in the first and three in the second before Strong (4-4) got two back in the fourth. Sweeting then scored three in the fifth, two in the sixth and one in the seventh to grab a commanding 9-2 lead. Marshall Newhouse Bills Jersey . Today, well look at five frontcourt players today, here from the Bay Area. 1. AMIR JOHNSON (Raptors): I cant figure out what the issue or problem is, but based upon what Im seeing, hes not right. http://www.billsnflgears.com/Black-Chris...ey.html?cat=950. Sterling was banned for life and fined US$2.5 million by the NBA on Tuesday for racist comments the league says he made in a recorded conversation. Nash, who plays for the rival L.A. Lakers, spoke as a representative of current NBA players at a press conference assembled by Sacramento mayor and National Basketball Players Association adviser Kevin Johnson. Tremaine Edmunds Bills Jersey . Eller scored the midway through the third period after Dallas scored twice to tie it, leading Canadiens to a 6-4 win over the Stars on Thursday night. Harrison Phillips Bills Jersey .C. United on Wednesday night. Forward Bright Dike scored the games only goal in the 85th minute on a foggy night in Bradenton, Fla.TAMPA, Fla. -- A month after being inducted into pro footballs Hall of Fame, Derrick Brooks will become the newest member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Ring of Honor. The team formally announced Tuesday that the nine-time All-Pro linebacker who led the Bucs to their only Super Bowl title 11 seasons ago will also have his No. 55 jersey retired during a ceremony at halftime of a home game against the St. Louis Rams on Sept. 14. Brooks was the 28th player selected in the 1995 NFL draft and teamed with Tampa Bays other first-round pick that year -- Hall of Famer Warren Sapp -- to form the foundation of a dominant defence that helped transform a struggling franchise once jokingly called the "Yucs" into a perennial playoff contender. "If Warren was the heart of our defence, then todays inductee, Derrick Brooks, was the soul that propelled us to our world championship in 2002," Bucs co-chairman Bryan Glazer said. "On any given Sunday, Derrick easily was the best athlete on the field," Glazer added. "There was no tight end he could not cover, no quarterback he could not chase down for a sack and no running back he could not tackle in the open field." Brooks, wholl enter the pro football Hall of Fame in August, joins Lee Roy Selmon, John McKay, Jimmie Giles, Paul Gruber and Sapp in having his name displayed in the Ring of Honor, which was created in 2009 at Raymond James Stadium.dddddddddddd Selmon, elected to the Hall of Fame in 1995, and Sapp, enshrined in Canton a year ago, are the only other players to have their jerseys retired by the Buccaneers. The 11-time Pro Bowl selection recalled Tuesday how when Tony Dungy arrived in Tampa in 1996 -- Brooks second pro season -- the former Bucs coach challenged him and Sapp to become the best players they could be by striving to do for Tampa Bay what eventual Hall of Famers Joe Greene and Jack Ham did for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1970s. "We took it to heart," Brooks said, adding that someone had suggested to him that the Bucs decision to induct him into the Ring of Honor was one of "worst-kept" secrets in town because it comes the same year he joined Sapp as a first-ballot Hall of Famer. "I dont look at it that way. As I told Mr. Glazer, you dont take anything for granted. You dont make any assumptions," Brooks said. "Today is a very important day in my life. To have my number retired is extremely special, too." Brooks didnt miss a game in 14 pro seasons, ending his career with a stretch of 208 consecutive regular-season starts, tied for the 10th-longest streak in NFL history, His 10 consecutive Pro Bowl berths from 1997 to 2007 tied for the second-longest by a linebacker in league history. Cheap NFL Jerseys Throwback Cheap Jerseys Discount NFL Jerseys Wholesale Authentic Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Discount Jerseys Wholesale Stitched Jerseys ' ' '