Burris had tough time turning down Blue

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This article was published 13/06/2016 (3405 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It was February of 2014 and Henry Burris had a decision to make.

Months before, Burris, at the age of 38, had led the Tiger-Cats to the 101st Grey Cup in just his second year in Hamilton — a 45-23 loss to the Saskatchewan Roughriders, who celebrated in front of a roaring home crowd at Mosaic Stadium in Regina.

By January, he was cut, his departure making room for a new budding star in Zach Collaros, someone Hamilton hoped could carry on what Burris had helped build.

The news came as a surprise, if simply just for the timing. But for Burris, the feeling was all too familiar.

After all, it was the second team in five years that had shown him the door. He was released by the Calgary Stampeders following the 2011 season, just a year after being named the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player. He felt burnt, but knew the drill.

“We’ve been through some heartaches and some hardships in places we pretty much planted our hearts and wanted to spend a lot of time there,” Burris said in an interview with the Free Press on Sunday.

Now team-less, and feeling he still had plenty left to give, Burris was ready for his next adventure. It would eventually come down to two options: Ottawa, who at the time was on the eve of returning to the CFL through expansion, or Winnipeg, who with Justin Goltz, Max Hall and Jason Boltus at quarterback had combined to win just three games in 2013.

They both wanted him, offering him big money – upwards of $400,000 – to help guide their teams to glory like he had in Hamilton and Calgary before that. In the end, Burris signed a three-year deal with the Redblacks.

In Winnipeg, a city that loves to put itself down as much as it likes defending its honour, one could easily speculate why Burris chose the nation’s capital over Winnipeg: the winters are too harsh here, there’s not as much to do, and people will often bother you in public with questions about the current status of the team or with a jersey to sign.

But none of that factored into the decision. Burris grew up in Spiro, a small town in Oklahoma that, according to the most recent census, had a population of just over 2,000 people, so he can appreciate the charm of getting to know your neighbours.

“I grew up in the country,” Burris said, flashing his trademark grin that has earned him the nickname Smiling Hank. “I love the prairies, man.”

As for the cold, well, he’d already spent 14 years in the CFL by then, including two stints each with Saskatchewan and Calgary, so he’d already gotten used to adding layers in the winter. The public attention? Not a problem. In Ottawa, he’s enjoys being an ambassador for the team and the city. After the Redblacks’ walk-through practice on Sunday, Burris broke from reporters to say hello to spectators in the stands, only to return to another series of interviews, never once looking disengaged.

As for nothing to do, that’s not how Burris, who last visited Winnipeg in November with the Redblacks for the 103rd Grey Cup game against Edmonton, sees it.

Ask him about the city, and you’d think he was posturing to dethrone Brian Bowman as the city’s next mayor, hitting every right note including a slight at the Winnipeg’s biggest football rival.

“I love Winnipeg,” said Burris. “To me, it is a bigger, and a heck-of-a-lot-much better than Regina.”

Burris added: “Winnipeg is a cultural hub, one of the cultural hubs of all of Canada and there’s so many great people there. The support system there for the team is unlike any other in this league and it was definitely one of the places that I was very excited to have had the opportunity to play.”

Burris called the decision to pick Ottawa over Winnipeg “one of the toughest in his career.” But despite all the advantages Winnipeg did offer, Burris said it was the one thing the city didn’t offer that ultimately led to him to the Redblacks: a chance to play in front of family and friends.

“That’s something I haven’t enjoyed,” said Burris, who added he now gets visitors almost every home game, from family in and around the state of Massachusetts, to old school friends still living in Philadelphia from his days at Temple University. “It’s a luxury to be able to play in front of the people that have helped me grow up and get to the point where I am.”

In the end, it was the right decision, said Burris. Over the last two years he’s fallen in love with his new home; so much so, he’s already made it his permanent home, with plans to stay there once he finally decides to step away from the game. When that will be, no one knows.

At 41, Burris said he still has the body and mind to withstand the speed and physicality of the game, even if he does admit the recovery time has lengthened from when he first entered the league in 1997 with the Calgary Stampeders after going undrafted to the NFL.

“The fact is, my body still feels great,” said Burris, who early in training camp was signed to a one-year extension through the 2017 season. “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.”

Broken he is not. Burris proved as much last season when he led the Redblacks to the top of the East Division with a 12-6 record. In a year where quarterbacks would have benefited from being engulfed in bubble wrap, Burris missed just two plays – yes, you read that correctly – last season due to injury, a year in which he earned his second MOP award, setting two CFL records for pass completions, both in a game, with 45, and in a single season with 481, and throwing for a career-high 5,703 yards.

“He’s one of the best, it’s not even a contest,” said Bombers defensive back Chris Randle. “His legacy; what he’s done day in and day out. At 40-plus, he’s doing even better than what I’ve seen since I’ve been in the league.”

Entering his 18th season in the CFL, there’s not much Burris hasn’t seen, or done, or won in the CFL. He already has two Grey Cup rings – both of which came during his days in Calgary – to go with multiple league awards and All-Star nods. It’s the kind of experience that’s not only earned him respect from around the league, but most importantly from the guys inside his own locker room.

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“Hank’s the guy for us,” said receiver Brad Sinopoli, who with the help of Burris was named the Most Outstanding Canadian in 2015. “His experience in unmatchable by anyone else. He’s been through everything: Grey Cups, wins and losses. He’s seen it all. Every time he speaks, everyone listens.”

True to his teammates, true to himself. That’s how Burris will play out the rest of his days in the CFL. He knows a time will come when he’ll have to step away from the game. But as he did that day in February 2014, he’ll think long and hard before making the right decision.

“If it’s still in you, continue to do it,” he said, “because if you walk away from the game too early you’ll regret that and that’s one thing I didn’t want to experience.”

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

twitter: @jeffkhamilton

Jeff Hamilton
Multimedia producer

Jeff Hamilton is a sports and investigative reporter. Jeff joined the Free Press newsroom in April 2015, and has been covering the local sports scene since graduating from Carleton University’s journalism program in 2012. Read more about Jeff.

Every piece of reporting Jeff produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.