A Buck for your thoughts, Wally

B.C. coach says Pierce might play too hard for Blue Bombers' good

By: Paul Wiecek Posted: 1:00 AM CDT Saturday, Aug. 13, 2011

VANCOUVER -- There is no one in Canadian football who can better understand the rollercoaster ride Winnipeg Blue Bombers fans and their starting quarterback, Buck Pierce, have been on the past two seasons than B.C. Lions boss Wally Buono.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/08/2011 (5199 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

VANCOUVER — There is no one in Canadian football who can better understand the rollercoaster ride Winnipeg Blue Bombers fans and their starting quarterback, Buck Pierce, have been on the past two seasons than B.C. Lions boss Wally Buono.

Pierce spent five tumultuous seasons, 2005-2009, here in a Lions uniform doing precisely for Buono what he has done for Winnipeg.

Which is to say that when he was healthy in B.C., Pierce was brilliant — boasting, for instance, the second-highest QB efficiency rating in the CFL in 2006. But the brilliance was always tempered in B.C., just as in Winnipeg, by a seemingly endless string of injuries. In 2007 alone, Pierce was felled by injuries to his ribs, foot, hand and shoulder. More shoulder injuries would follow in the ensuing seasons. And then finally the concussions started.

Lions GM and head coach Wally Buono (top) has the greatest respect for Buck Pierce. But does he regret letting him leave B.C.? No.

Each injury seemed unrelated to the last and yet there was no ignoring what seemed to be a larger pattern. Pierce had come to be regarded in B.C. as a quarterback who was high-risk high-reward and Buono was simply no longer willing to take the risk, releasing Pierce following the 2009 season and ushering in what has been an equally tumultuous Pierce-era in Winnipeg.

There have been deep and dark valleys for Pierce in Winnipeg too, of course — most notably a dislocated elbow last September that ended his 2010 season. But as Pierce makes his first return to B.C. tonight as the Bombers quarterback, he does so at the very top of his game and at the helm of the hottest team in the CFL.

It has been a very different story for the Lions this summer. Mired in a 1-5 start, there have been some tough questions being asked of Buono — and the winningest coach in the CFL has struggled for answers.

But there is one answer Buono didn’t struggle with when he met with reporters during his pre-game news conference Friday.

“I have no regrets about letting Buck go,” Buono said.

And then he explained why, describing a situation that had become untenable for both Pierce and the Lions as the dominant storyline in Vancouver in Pierce’s final season became all the injuries.

“That becomes a difficult mantra to deal with,” said Buono. “So when Buck was hurt — and it seemed to be too often — you had to try and stabilize the organization and the perception of the organization. And so by releasing him, it gave him a fresh start…And even though the dirty laundry comes with you, it’s not quite as dirty, right?…

“Buck’s a good man, see? It had nothing to do with Buck as a quarterback or a person. And I think Buck knows that.”

He does, with Pierce saying nothing but complimentary things earlier this week about Buono. The problem, as Buono describes it, is not that Pierce doesn’t try hard enough, but rather that he may actually try too hard.

“He’s going to play hard for you and at times I think he puts himself in jeopardy physically to play. You know when you say (players) put their life on the line for the team? Well Buck does that — to a fault almost, right?”

And the result, as Buono sees it, created an environment of uncertainty — one Winnipeg football fans know well — that Buono simply was no longer willing to accept. “There’s always an uncertainty,” said Buono. “It just causes too much stress on your team. It’s like, ‘Now he can’t run, now he can’t do this, now why aren’t you protecting him.’ Everything is accentuated. Everything.”

It’s a script Bomber fans know well. But even as the injuries have continued to pile up on Pierce this season — he’s left games early twice with injuries already in 2011 — the wins have also continued to pile up, making it easier for fans to overlook all the ongoing drama.

For all the baggage, Buono says he remains a fan of Pierce and was cheering right alongside Bomber fans last week as Pierce ran for a 48-yard touchdown.

“A player that helped you win — there’s always a respect. Was I happy to see Buck take off and run for (48) yards? (Yes), for two reasons. One — because he beat the Eskimos. And two — because you like to see those guys have success.

“Not against you, though.”

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca