Any doubters left?

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This article was published 11/10/2011 (5277 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s a team revival and a player redemption, all wrapped up into one.

Buck Pierce typically doesn’t show any satisfaction in front of the notepads and cameras — if he does the focus automatically corrects to look forward to the next task — but the Winnipeg Blue Bombers quarterback has a lot to smile about as he returns to practice at Canad Inns Stadium this morning.

His club wrapped up a post-season berth with a 33-17 dismantling of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats the last time out, securing a playoff spot for a franchise that had missed the post-season party the last two years. Celebrate good times on that front, yes, but Pierce’s role in returning Winnipeg to the playoffs holds a significance on a personal level, one that cools the conversation about his real value heading into the current season.

Open with the dislocated elbow injury 13 months ago — once thought to be a career-ender — and how he would be able to come back from that. This concern arrived under the shadow of a well-documented history of bouncing in and out of both the Winnipeg and B.C. lineups in his seven-year CFL career — causing many to link the fortunes of the Blue and Gold to the number of games No. 4 puts in.

So far, the math works out: Thirteen starts for Pierce, nine wins for the Bombers and a playoff berth.

The organization would have signed off on that resurgence back in June, no questions asked.

The quarterback probably would have, too.

“Making the playoffs for me, it’s big — I don’t want to enjoy things too much — but it is big,” said Pierce, who started just five games in 2010. “Last year, for me, was a hard year with all the injuries and all the doubts. There were a lot of doubts… from a lot of people.”

Has he answered those doubts? With every game, he says.

The biggest compliment for Pierce shouldn’t circulate around that 2010 Labour Day Classic injury recovery or being able to turn in a career-high 13 starts, though. It’s what he’s doing now for the Bombers that matters — how he gets up off the turf after each big hit and how he continues to prove, despite the occasional hurt that has forced him out of a handful of games, that he can answer the bell as the weekend approaches.

At this point, feel free to knock on wood, Bomber fans.

Is Pierce among the CFL’s elite quarterbacks? Ranked seventh among quarterbacks in passing yards (2,919) and having just as many TD passes as interceptions (13) suggests no, but he’s tied with Montreal’s Anthony Calvillo in wins (nine) this season.

Respect

Pierce, 29, also holds the respect of his teammates. Don’t discount what that means, some veterans on the club offer. Players can’t be fooled in the huddle or in the room, they say, and those in leadership positions can’t fake it. They either have it or they don’t, and when it’s time to put your shoulder down and get that extra yard, those willing to pay the extra price demand a little more attention.

The always loquacious Doug Brown sums up Pierce in three words:

“He’s a gamer.”

That endorsement came after Friday’s win in Hamilton, an effort which — numbers be damned — was easily Pierce’s best outing of the year. Coming into the game, his struggles (and sore ribs) translated into the club losing four of the last five and watching its lofty record sink back to the break-even mark. Winnipeg needed a win more for confidence reasons than anything else; a situation that called for a steady leader to deliver a calming effort at Ivor Wynne Stadium.

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Pierce answered the challenge with no turnovers and several key throws in the second half.

“He does things very well in this league; as good as anybody else,” head coach Paul LaPolice said.

Funny, that’s what the club thought of Pierce when they took a chance on the free agent before last season. With a playoff berth locked up now, after a 2010 campaign of incredible patience, that faith — which includes Pierce’s redemption and the revival of the franchise — is just starting to shine.

adam.wazny@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @wazoowazny