Scott Keepfer

skeepfer@greenvillenews.com

Tajh Boyd only has a couple of months left before reporting to the Montreal Alouettes’ training camp, which doesn’t leave him much time to hone his French.

But the former Clemson quarterback already is ahead of the game, because he actually knows what an “alouette” is.

“It’s a bird,” Boyd said. “I don’t know what kind of bird, though.”

He is, however, familiar with the famous French children’s song of the same name.

“When you translate it to English – and this is where it gets kind of tricky – it talks about plucking a bird’s feathers and neck and body parts,” Boyd said. “I don’t know what’s going on with that, but pretty much a bird is getting killed.”

Ironically, Montreal could very well prove to be where Boyd’s football career will find new life.

He was signed by the Canadian Football League franchise last November, and Clemson’s all-time passing leader is looking forward to making his mark with the club.

Boyd, 25, will report to an Alouettes mini-camp in West Palm Beach, Florida, April 27-29, then head to Montreal on May 24 for training camp. The team’s season opener is set for June 30.

Boyd has been training diligently with former Clemson player Joe Don Reames for months.

“He’s been getting me ready and I think I’m very well prepared to go up there and make a statement,” Boyd said. “I’m planning on contributing as much as I can.”

Boyd, who was cut in training camp after being selected by the New York Jets in the sixth round of the 2014 NFL Draft, had a brief stint with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2015 before spending about five weeks on the roster of the CFL’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers last year. He was released last October, then signed a contract with the Alouettes in November.

The team has five other quarterbacks on its roster, which is not uncommon in the CFL, including former Duke standout Anthony Boone, Tennessee product Jonathan Crompton, and former Marshall quarterback Rakeem Cato, who was the team’s leading passer in 2015.

But Boyd is confident that he’s in a good place.

“I’m excited about it much more this time around than I was going up there at the beginning, to be honest,” Boyd said.

“He feels good about the situation – he knows the franchise is committed to him,” said Andy Sink, Boyd’s Greenville-based marketing agent. “He’s not worried about who’s there; he’s just focused on performing to the best of his ability.”

Boyd, who was the Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year in 2012, has kept busy with a variety of activities during the offseason. He held his fourth annual Youth Football Fundamentals Camp in Greenville last Sunday and will host a Tajh Boyd Foundation Gala on Fri., April 29 at The Loom in Simpsonville.

Former Tigers Boyd, Watkins team up again

His foundation has a mission of “empowering and enabling youth in South Carolina to overcome adversity through education, mentoring and character development for the long-term betterment of their lives and our communities.”

Boyd also served as a color commentator for Clemson’s Orange & White spring game on April 9.

So could French lessons be in the offing?

“Maybe,” Boyd said. “I need to brush up. Google translate just doesn’t do it for me, so I need to take French 101 or something like that before I head back up there to Montreal.”

If his football career takes flight, it’s highly likely that Alouettes fans won’t care what language Boyd speaks.