Bombers, Argos sympathetic to Pierce’s setback

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This article was published 17/07/2012 (4993 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TORONTO — Reaction was swift and sympathetic from all sides here Tuesday afternoon to the news that hardluck Winnipeg Blue Bombers quarterback Buck Pierce is out for the next month or so with torn ligaments in his left foot.

Here’s a sampling of what players from both the Toronto Argonauts and the Blue Bombers — who will face each other here Wednesday evening — had to say about the news about Pierce:

Paul LaPolice, Bombers head coach: “It’s unfortunate for Buck. Injuries are a part of the game. I know he’ll do his utmost to get back as soon as he can and we’ll see when that is… Could be four weeks to, you know — we’re thinking at least four weeks and we’ll see where it is after that. But again, the foot. Tim Brown had a foot injury — a kid we had last year — and it took a long time. We’ve had other guys take two weeks. We’ll just get him as much treatment as we can and get him back when we can… Ligament damage down in that area? Yeah, that happens.”

Glenn January, Bombers offensive lineman: “Buck has a lot of ups and he’s a great teammate and we obviously love him. And personally, I love playing for the guy because he puts his body on the line every play every game. And he’s a contender. This is just another setback. He hasn’t had the luckiest breaks throughout his career and I think it’s unfair sometimes the stereotype put on him. But he definitely plays the game the way it’s meant to be played and he puts his body out there the whole time. And as an offensive lineman you have to respect that… He’s a hard football player. He plays the game the way it’s meant to be played. He plays the game the way it was originally played 20 or 30 years ago. He has that Matt Dunigan mentality, I guess you could say. And that’s not always a bad thing.”

Alex Brink, Bombers quarterback: “It’s frustrating as a friend and a teammate when you see a guy get hit with such bad luck. Because you watch him prepare every day, you watch him off the field and the things he does in the community and so for me, it’s hard. In between the lines, you compete. But when you leave the field and you’re in the locker room, you truly work together.”

Ricky Foley, Argos defensive end: “It’s tough to see. It just seems like he has that unlucky streak in him. I have no idea, man. It seems like he can’t catch a break. There’s always something going wrong with that guy… I’ve never seen anything like it, where a guy’s that unfortunate, almost cursed… Every team wants to get the backup quarterback, but not like that. That’s a tough break. That’s unfortunate.”

Ricky Ray, Argos quarterback: “Throughout his career, he’s dealt with a lot of different things. And he’s been able to battle back and still go out there and perform at a high level. It’s tough to see one of your counterparts get banged up and injured and stuff.”