After a year when he didn't give up on football so much as football seemed to give up on him, Kyries Hebert finally made a most remarkable phone call.   It could change his life and jumpstart his career.

The former Ottawa Renegade and Winnipeg Blue Bomber had been let go by the NFL's Bengals and everyone else seemed to take a pass on him.  In one respect he was ready to move on to life after football.

But then, there was that number in his phone he'd been given a year before.  It was time to dial up some pressure.  The kind of pressure he craved.  The pressure of competing on the field.

It had been a year since former Alouette Ezra Landry had given the punishing tackler the cell number of Montreal GM Jim Popp.  Hebert found himself calling.  Hebert and Landry had met in Louisiana and talked about their Canadian Football League experiences.

"I reached out to them," Hebert admits.    "Having been out of the game for a year, I can appreciate how much I missed it."

Hebert always seemed to rise to the occasion against the Alouettes.   He once blasted future Hall of Famer Ben Cahoon as hard as the great reciever was ever hit.

"The ball went flying," recalls Hebert with a chuckle.  

"We always had to be aware of where he was," Anthony Calvillo says.  "He has amazing range and can be anywhere on the field."

Hebert starts at safety as the Als face the Argos in their final pre-season test Tuesday at noon live on CJAD 800.  Teammates say he's already started to fill the leadership void the Alouettes risk without the likes of Wilson, Stewart, Guzman, Ferri and Boulay.

But Head Coach Marc Trestman is not ready to "anoint" the heir apparent to Etienne Boulay's job in the heart of the secondary.

Listen to Hebert on resurrecting his pro football career and the reality check from his new boss.