Barrin of beef

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/09/2009 (5859 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Barrin Simpson may want a ticket out of town lickety-split, but there was the veteran linebacker at practice — just hours after demanding a trade — playing the interested spectator, kibitzing with his teammates and still wearing the team’s logo and colours.

And if you think that whole scene on Friday could be described as odd, well, clearly you missed the first half of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ 2009 campaign. In fact, given what has happened so far this season, this latest Simpson saga would best be described not as odd, but:

‘Another day in Bomberland.’

"I don’t feel uncomfortable about it at all," Simpson told a media scrum gathered on the turf at Canad Inns Stadium. "Right now I’m still part of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. I don’t have any animosity towards the coaches or anything. To me, it’s just part of the business. You can’t get emotional. I’m not upset about it, I’ll just handle it the way it is.

"Our communication lines… there’s been no fussing, yelling or screaming. We talked like men."

To make a long and somewhat confusing story short, we can sum up the Simpson Saga as such:

"ö The veteran middle linebacker was asked to accept a reduced role, yielding to Joe Lobendahn but still dressing, while allowing his turf toe to heal. Simpson preferred not to step back and asked for a trade. In fact, he went so far as to suggest the move is an indication the club is not trying to win, but instead rebuilding.

"That’s how it comes off to me," he said. "My question was, ‘Can I have an explanation of what’s going on?’ The explanation that was given to me, I was like, ‘Fine, if that’s the route you want to go. I feel that I’m at the top of my game, I’m playing well and you say I’m playing well, so if you want to go with those guys go with those guys.’ And then I asked for them to respectfully trade me."

Not so fast, insists head coach Mike Kelly.

"I’m not going to harbour those thoughts right now," he said, adding the move should not be seen as a demotion. "I think he still has value for us. He’s a good football player. Football players get asked to do a lot of things for the good of the team.

"I’m disappointed any time an individual puts himself ahead of the team, regardless of who that individual is, whether he’s deemed as a leader or not. We’ve spoken quite often about how we’re all equally vested in this, that every single person makes their own sacrifice to be in this profession and to be here and play as hard as we can. This was his decision to make and he’s the only one who can truly answer as to why he decided to take this course of action."

All that said, the bigger questions might be what the 31-year-old veteran might draw on the trade market or whether he’s built up enough goodwill with his teammates and coaches to return to the lineup should this latest situation somehow smooth over.

"We have some guys that can play but, at the same time, there are some intangibles in terms of his leadership and things he brings to the locker-room outside of his play on the field, which are outstanding," said defensive tackle Doug Brown. "He’s been a big part of the success we’ve had here and it would be a shame to let him go. But you can’t have guys that are unhappy, especially if they’re publicly unhappy. In order to keep things right in the locker-room, you have to make a move.

"It depends what you get back from him… I’d want something pretty spectacular in exchange for Barrin Simpson."

Simpson bristled when it was suggested his decision paints him as selfish, indicating that he was more than eager to help Lobendahn and Zeke Moreno when he was injured last season and they were filling in at middle linebacker. Worth noting, however, is that this apparently isn’t the first time Simpson has indicated he wanted a change of scenery.

"He demanded to be traded last year prior to going on the injured list," explained Bombers president and CEO Lyle Bauer. "He was told at that time he was under contract and we weren’t trading him and that’s the situation we’re in now.

"It’s in Barrin’s hands. It’s in every player’s hands. It always has been. Nobody has to be here. If you want to retire, you retire. If you want to quit, you quit. It’s kind of ironic that this flares up after the ninth game of the season when veterans (salaries) are protected."

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ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca

Lyle Bauer says No. 5 also

asked to be traded last

season