By Elliotte Freidman,
CBC Sports
After it was over, after Calgary failed to end B.C.’s unbeaten streak – now at nine games – you couldn’t help but look at Nik Lewis and think about Henry Burris.
Whatever the Stampeders want to call it, fact is they made an example out of Lewis. And I’m not saying it was wrong. The team was awful. Rotating six or seven receivers was overly idealistic from the start. After forcing Jeremaine Copeland to limit his talking to the field, it was Lewis’ turn.
(Don’t be surprised if Marc Boerigter gets it next. Ryan Thelwell had the cleanest uniform on the field Saturday and is hurt, but he’s Canadian. Taking him off the roster doesn’t help ratio concerns with import tackle Garrick Jones ready to return.)
Anyway, Lewis deserves some real praise. No one would have been surprised to see the mouthy receiver pop off and rip everyone from Tom Higgins to the nice man who checks parking passes at McMahon Stadium. Instead, he showed class and maturity by refusing to run from interview requests, and then giving all of the right answers to questions. You could tell he was hurt. You could tell he was mad. But he didn’t erupt.
He took it like a man.
Truth is, you could have made a real convincing argument for keeping him out of the line-up again. Teams don’t often make changes when they win 33-10, as Calgary did last week.
But Jones’ injury allowed Higgins that opportunity, since one import could be inserted for another. Lewis got his chance, and he took advantage.
He was the Stampeders’ best player, with six catches for 128 yards. He was dangerous, getting open and grabbing balls with what Higgins calls the best hands he’s ever seen.
Keep up the good attitude, Nik, and you will never watch another game in street clothes. (Unless, of course, it’s for health reasons.)
This brings us to Burris.
Not surprisingly, he was savaged on the radio call-in shows. If we were living in medieval times, Burris would need a pretty good moat around his castle to save it from being burned down by an angry mob.
This is an important time for the Stampeders. It’s been two seasons since Higgins arrived and revived a flatlining patient. But last year’s home playoff failure tasted worse than Buckley’s Mixture and the pressure is on. This team needs at least one post-season victory, and as great a guy as Henry Burris is, the honest truth is that he’s as wild and unpredictable as ever.
You like that in your high school girlfriend/boyfriend. Not your 32-year-old quarterback.
After the 48-15 debacle in Toronto, Burris looked so good in the rematch. Only one questionable throw. Taking sacks instead of forcing high-risk balls. No turnovers. Big Calgary victory.
Friday, Wally Buono talked about how you can’t win in this league unless you can be patient offensively. The deep pass is taken away, forcing you to move slowly. Even against a defensive backfield so battered that only one man was playing his regular position, Burris rushed himself into defeat.
The criticism is getting to him. After the brutal loss in Regina, he pointed out others’ mistakes. After the win over Toronto, he said on the CBC post-game interview that he sometimes gets blamed when tackles get missed. This time, at least, he told reporters, “I take sole responsibility.”
That’s important.
But Higgins is fed up. It’s rare he allows his angry side to show in public. Asked about Burris after Saturday’s game, he told reporters: “The ups and downs seem to be so extreme. You’d like to have that little bit of consistency…I guess that’s why I’m losing this hair and it’s turning grey.”
It was not a joke.
The Stampeders have some serious issues. Guard Jay McNeil may have a long-term injury. The Lions ran all over their three-man defensive front. But when there’s a problem at quarterback, it supersedes everything else.
They have a full week before going to play an Eskimos team that was demolished in Regina. This may be Higgins’ best chance to pull a Nik Lewis with Burris. Personally, I haven’t been too impressed with Akili Smith. He looked absolutely overwhelmed against both Saskatchewan and Toronto, tossing balloons off his back foot under pressure.
But give him a start. Give him a regular week of first-teams reps in practice. Toronto, Montreal and Hamilton are so ragged that all four in the West can make the playoffs.
That’s why you take your chance with Smith now. If it doesn’t work, you’re only six games in.
You put the fear of God into Nik Lewis. Now do it with Henry Burris. And Henry, follow Nik’s example. Don’t like it. But learn from it. And don’t give Tom Higgins – or anyone else – any reason to do it again.
Elliotte Friedman is the host of the CFL on CBC.
(The opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily of the Canadian Football League)
