The beard is back, with former Lion Hugh O’Neill signing with the Edmonton Eskimos

Rejoice, ye lovers of outrageous facial hair, for the CFL's oddest beard has returned to the league. Less than a week after the B.C. Lions elected to cut punter/kicker Hugh O'Neill, he of the lionesque mane, the Edmonton Eskimos have snapped him up. The team announced Monday that they've brought O'Neill in, and it's a move that makes sense on a lot of levels. O'Neill likely won't be expected to contribute immediately, as the team seems to be reasonably happy with Grant Shaw handling all three facets of the kicking game (punts, field goals and kickoffs), but Shaw hasn't been so good that he's above challenge. Moreover, O'Neill has strong ties to the area thanks to being born and raised in Edmonton, and even the green-and-gold colour scheme won't be all new to him thanks to his time playing for the University of Alberta Golden Bears. The team can even perhaps start to claim a league-wide facial hair title, as offensive lineman Gord Hinse (who played with O'Neill with the Golden Bears) also has a pretty good beard of his own.

Should Shaw fear for his job with O'Neill coming in? Well, while the Eskimos' incumbent has proven certainly capable of handling all of the kicking responsibilities, he hasn't exactly been dominant. His 82.4 per cent success rate on field goals is fourth-best in the league, but it's a long ways from the league's best numbers for a regular kicker (Calgary's Rene Paredes and Saskatchewan's Chris Milo have each hit every field goal they've attempted, while Montreal's Sean Whyte has made 87 per cent of his attempts). His punting hasn't been dominant either, with his average of 41.8 yards ranking seventh in the league. Shaw did look very good this week against Toronto, hitting all four of his field goal attempts and averaging 42 yards on punts, so it's unlikely he'll be bumped aside just yet. However, his job is far from safe.

O'Neill is an intriguing addition, too. The highly-touted second-round draft pick (B.C. took him 11th overall in the 2011 CFL draft) hasn't exactly had much of an opportunity in B.C. thanks to the consistent presence of veteran Paul McCallum, but it's notable that he was reportedly cut more for turning down an extension (and thus, convincing the Lions he wasn't worth developing further) than he was for poor on-field play. His play this year in relief of McCallum wasn't stunning, of course, as he averaged just 40.2 yards on 21 punts and made just four of five field goal attempts (80 per cent), but both of those cases are pretty small sample sizes. O'Neill has substantial potential, and the Eskimos would seem to be a logical organization for him both thanks to his local connections and to their potential need for someone to back up/challenge Shaw. This also means his beard's back in the CFL, and that's good news for all those who appreciate its craziness.