Riderville.com
What’s old is new again for the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2015. Perhaps literally.
When the Roughriders announced they had signed free agent quarterback Kevin Glenn in late February, it came as a welcome relief for this broadcaster who recalls Glenn’s rookie season in the CFL way back in 2001 when he showed up at Rider camp as a fresh-faced kid right out of Illinois State.
We’ll get into what’s happened in between in a minute, but for now, as Glenn toils in his 15th pro camp, he’s taking it all in stride.
“It’s been pretty good,” Glenn said as he flashed his trademark smile between two-a-day workouts. “Getting more comfortable with Jacques’ offence and I think from a total team standpoint, you can see the guys learning. We’re gradually getting better every day.”
Kevin’s referring to new offensive coordinator Jacques Chapdelaine who has ties to the B.C. Lions but there were no traces of this playbook in B.C. last year when Kevin was the Lions’ starting quarterback.
“Not really,” Glenn warned. “I can compare this more to Calgary when I was with Dave Dickenson. It’s a very similar type offence. It could be because they’ve crossed paths before but this is totally different from what I had in B.C. And it’s a good offence too. It does a lot of things to get guys open. Jacques doesn’t say let’s just line up. He’s trying to get an advantage over the defense knowing the defense has athletes over there too.”
So back to where it all began. Glenn was a 21-year old raw rookie from Detroit when he showed up for 2001 Rider training camp in Saskatoon. His size (he’s listed at 5’10” but maybe that’s on tiptoes) betrayed the cannon of an arm he possessed. Back then, he was just trying to figure things out in a brand new country.
“The first camp was right here and I still remember it,” Glenn recalled. “That Dairy Queen is still right across the street from the field! A lot of things have changed around Saskatoon. I haven’t been that far away from the university but the dorms have changed and the stadium and everything. But for the most part the atmosphere is still the same and we love the fans coming out to support us at practice. It’s been a good deal.”
Glenn made the Roughriders because of his smarts more than anything, quickly able to scan a defense and find the open receiver. But he struggled to find playing time between Henry Burris and Nealon Greene and was eventually shipped off to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in 2003. From there, he began his assault on the CFL’s passing record book, working his way into the Top 10 of all-time passing leaders while toiling with the Bombers, and later the Stampeders, Tiger-Cats and Lions. He’s no longer the fresh-faced kid.
“Oh wow,” Glenn said regarding how much he’s changed since 2001. “Just the stress level and the confidence. I mean when you’re a rookie in your first professional football camp, you have a lot of things running through your mind. You’re trying to make a team, impress coaches, create relationships with other players on the team. It’s just a little different, being fresh out of college especially. It’s different now because I know the players and coaches and some of those coaches I played with! It was a very good feeling to come back this time around.”
He came in as a kid, but now he’s a grizzled veteran. And he’s become a man as well.
“A lot has changed,” Glenn took time to reflect. “The biggest thing is me getting married, having kids, because back in 2001 it was just me I had to worry about but now I got a whole family. That’s changed and what’s exciting about that is now my family will have the chance to experience Regina and how special it is to be with the Roughriders. I’m excited for them to see that because if you’ve never experienced what it’s like to play for Saskatchewan, you’d never understand it.”
So much does it mean to Glenn, who’s wearing the same #5 he was assigned back in 2001, to have become the eighth all-time leading passer in CFL history?
“It means big things,” Glenn admitted. “I’m very humbled about it but it took a lot to get there. I don’t take it for granted and I thank everybody who played a part in getting me there. And I want to continue to climb that ladder.”
It has certainly come with its share of pain, both physical and emotional. He led the Calgary Stampeders to the 2012 Grey Cup against the hometown Argonauts but he struggled in an eventual loss. And of course he led the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to the 2007 Grey Cup but couldn’t play after breaking his arm late in the East Final at Montreal. The Riders of course won the 2007 CFL championship 23-19 over the Bombers while Glenn watched from the sidelines in a sling.
“It doesn’t haunt me,” Kevin revealed. “I think it’s a good conversation in professional sports. Everybody always talks about it. We won’t ever get a chance to see it but you have to give the Roughriders credit for winning it. It was unfortunate that I couldn’t play. Kerry Joseph and me have an ongoing thing about it because I tell him if I’d played, he wouldn’t have got that Grey Cup or maybe even MOP!”
And how does the always-proud Kerry Joseph respond to the ribbing?
“He just laughs. We laugh it off,” Glenn said. “Ultimately you guys did win. It’s not a negative point in my life. It was a learning experience. It took me a couple years to learn that because I took it really hard at that particular time because you live in the moment.”
The loss is brought up mostly in Winnipeg where the Blue Bombers’ Grey Cup drought is going on 25 years. But Glenn doesn’t worry about that.
“It’s probably haunting them and I’m sorry that it happened,” Glenn continued. “But things happen and they had another shot after I left (a 2011 Grey Cup loss to B.C.) and they didn’t win it. I don’t know. It’s one of those things. It doesn’t haunt me anymore. I’ve learned to understand why things happen some times and that was one of them.”
Glenn has also become a businessman away from the field, owning a Tim Hortons location in the Detroit suburb of Warren, MI and he keeps a close eye on that while also concentrating on football.
“It’s not easy,” Glenn shrugged. “It’s tough sometimes when you’re away but I’ve got a good partner in it. The operations part is being handled but it is tough. It’s tough to manage all of that sometimes but when you’ve got good family support and the organization you’re playing with understands you have other responsibilities, you tend to have help.”
So for now it’s back to studying the playbook and playing the support role behind established franchise star Darian Durant, who admits he didn’t have a familiar relationship with Glenn before 2015 but they’ve quickly become friends. Kevin’s excited what the Chapdelaine offence has in store.
“He gives the quarterbacks freedom and it’s all within the ramifications of the offence,” Glenn reported. “It’s not like you’re out there just free-willying it and going every which way. It’s all in the structure of the offence but he does give the quarterback the opportunity to call a play that he likes when Jacques sends out a play that doesn’t work with the defense they’re showing.”
And now with Glenn back in Green & White, we’re pulling for him every step of the way. He’s a true class act.
