Tim Johnson

USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

EDGAR - Aaron Karlen was mowing his lawn late last week when he felt his cellphone begin to vibrate with an incoming call that ended up changing more than just his day.

"I looked down and saw it was a number from Ottawa, Canada, and I just thought, 'Hey, I better answer this one,'" the Edgar native and former University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point football player said.

The call was from the Ottawa Redbacks, a Canadian Football League team, expressing interest in adding him to the team's roster. Ottawa is off to a 3-1-1 start and hosts Toronto on Sunday. The Redbacks also have Brock Jensen, a Waupaca native and former North Dakota State University standout, on the roster.

RELATED: Karlen hoping for an NFL call

RELATED:UWSP player gets opportunity with Seahawks

"They said they were interested in bringing me up but didn't tell me too much. Then they called me back (Monday) and talked about the contract and everything."

Karlen will be joining the Redbacks practice squad this week and is being added to the roster to provide depth at the quick end — a defensive end whose primary job is to pressure the quarterback.

"Their starting quick went down (with an injury)," Karlen said.

Karlen was a two-time NCAA Division III All-American as a defensive end with the Pointers football team and had 11 sacks last season as a senior.

Karlen was with the Montreal Alouettes for part of the team's CFL training camp in late May and figures that is where the Redbacks' interest in him started.

"I put on my best camp up there out of this whole journey," said Karlen, who attended the Seattle Seahawks rookie minicamp after not being selected in the NFL Draft in late April. "I won a conditioning contest (in Montreal) and was on all the special teams. But the film I had up there I guess is what drew the interest for Ottawa to call me. They're putting me on the practice squad and teach me the system. Hopefully I will advance to a starting role."

Karlen had been working out back home since returning from Montreal with the hopes of getting another opportunity.

"You never know what each day will bring," Karlen said. "You're just in complete darkness and then one day the light turns on."

Tim Johnson: 715-845-0731, or timothy.johnson@gannettwisconsin.com; on Twitter@timmyjo11