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Vancouver, B.C. • John Beck was once a hot NFL prospect.

Now, the former BYU star is the oldest rookie quarterback in the Canadian Football League, serving as a backup with the B.C. Lions.

Beck, 33, signed with the Lions, who play their home games in Vancouver, in the spring after being without an NFL team for a season and a half between 2012 and 2013.

"It's hard to be sitting at home watching a football season happen," he said following a recent Lions workout at their practice facility in the Vancouver suburb of Surrey, B.C. "You're watching it on TV and, usually, you're on a team. I missed it. And when that [2013] season passed, I wasn't ready to say I was done."

Beck easily could have taken the reported millions he earned in the NFL and moved on to a new career with 3DQB in Los Angeles, which tutors pro signal-callers on proper biomechanics. He is a partner in the company with its founder Tom House, a former Major League pitcher. However, Beck chose to risk injury while earning considerably less money with B.C.

"To me, being able to do what I love to do has a lot of value to it, regardless of the money that's coming in," he said.

In 2006, the Hayward, Calif., native became a valuable future NFL commodity, gaining mention as a potential Heisman Trophy winner while guiding BYU to its first bowl victory since 1996, over Oregon in the Las Vegas Bowl. But after being drafted by Miami in the second round in 2007, he played in only nine games over six seasons with the Dolphins, Washington and Houston Texans, who cut him midway through the 2012 season. From 2008 to 2010, he did not take a single snap in a game.

When no teams signed him following the 2013 season, he sought advice on the CFL from former BYU receiver Ben Cahoon, who had enjoyed a standout career with the Montreal Alouettes while catching passes from now retired former Utah State alumnus Anthony Calvillo, the CFL's ­— and pro football's — all-time leading passer.

"I still had a lot of motivation to work hard and chase a dream," said Beck.

After he contacted B.C. upon advice from Cahoon, the Lions (7-7) signed him in the spring. B.C. needed quarterbacks with pro experience because No. 1 Travis Lulay's recovery from off-season shoulder surgery was taking longer than expected and veteran Buck Pierce had retired. With Lulay sidelined most of the season, Beck has backed up Kevin Glenn, a 14-year CFL veteran who was originally acquired in a trade from Ottawa in May to be the No. 2 pivot.

Beck has been used primarily in short-yardage situations and as a holder on field goals while completing 11 of 23 passes for 154 yards. He has passed for one touchdown and rushed for two more TDs — but has no complaints about his limited playing time.

"I'm grateful every day that I can come here and I get to be in the lockerroom and put my pads on," he said.

The move to the nine-team CFL has forced him to adapt to a pass-oriented Canadian game that has three downs instead of four, 12 players instead of 11, a larger field, and some distinctly different rules.

"It has been strange at times to have been a professional football player for six years and then to come here to a league and feel like you're learning a new game," he said. "I'm a rookie."

Beck is also trying to adapt off the field as he and wife Barbara try to provide unique life experiences for their young sons, Ty, 7, Preston, 5, and Grady, 3.

"There is a different feel from the north [Canada] to the south [U.S.], so you lose your comfort zone," said Beck. "You have different money. You have different everything. You're looking for certain things in the grocery store and they're not there."

Beck also had to familiarize himself with such CFL cities as Winnipeg, Edmonton, Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto, where he suited up for two NFL regular-season games, with Miami and Washington, against the Buffalo Bills.

"It's been an experience to learn all these things," he said. "But it's been a great experience for my family to be exposed to."

Beck's future is again far from certain, but he hopes to have as many more experiences as possible in Canada before his career ends.

"I don't know how much longer it's going to be able to go for," he said. "But as long as I can ride it out, I'm going to work as hard as I can."