Eskimos’ trash talker gets comeuppance

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 09/08/2011 (5556 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Like it or not, sitting on the sideline during a regular-season game provides you with a different perspective, and it can often be a learning experience.

This past Friday night, I was able to revisit and remember a number of lessons I had learned, while not participating in our sixth regular-season contest due to a sore foot.

The first thing I remembered is why I don’t ever run my mouth at the opposition during a game. As far back as high school, if I ever tried to talk trash during a game, it was pretty much a guarantee that I would get it handed to me or be embarrassed. This is apparently not a universal lesson.

At one point in the game Cory Watson was lined up at receiver close to our sideline and was covered by fast-talking Rod Williams, No. 37 of the Edmonton Eskimos. He decided that this was the time to try and rattle our young and conservative Watson by repeatedly yelling at him, “I guarantee you will not catch this ball, I guarantee it. You hear me number 81? I guarantee you will not catch this ball.”

This may be why coach LaPolice preaches to us to do our talking on the field with our pads and not our mouths. I wasn’t sure whether he was trying to get in Watson’s head and psyche him out or simply convince himself that he could cover Cory.

I remember thinking to myself, wouldn’t it be something if Buck threw to Cory on this play and he caught it?

Well, lo and behold, the gods of football smiled on the meek and humble. Cory ran a slant pattern and caught the ball while No. 37 was covering him. Rod missed the tackle and Cory gained about 25 yards on the play. I did not hear Mr. Williams make any more prophetic remarks for the rest of the game.

The other thing that came to me while observing this game from the sideline is a memory of seasons past and how important it is to take advantage of opportunities.

While we still have to play Montreal three times, and Hamilton twice more, amongst others, we are off to the best start in since 1987. That is 24 years. It does not matter if you are the youngest player on the Bombers with an entire career in front of you, or the oldest athlete on the squad with 12 games left in the regular season. The one thing I remembered while watching this game is that you only get so many chances to make your mark during your career.

I have played football for 15 years, and in my mind, I have had three memorable achievements as a player on a team. The first was in 1999 when as a member of the Washington Redskins we won the NFC East title, defeated Detroit during wild-card weekend but lost by two points to Tampa Bay in the NFC semifinals. The second was in 2001 when after starting the season 2-2, we ripped off 12 consecutive wins, which not only set a Bomber record but tied the all-time CFL record. We then went to the Grey Cup and lost. The third season that stands out, of course, was 2007, when in Doug Berry’s second year as head coach he guided us to a 10-7- 1 record and we lost the Grey Cup by four points with a rookie starting his first game at QB. Those are three seasons in my mind that were worthwhile out of 15 I have played. One memorable year for every five years I have played. In the CFL the average career is still less than four years.

We are one third of our way through the 2011 season and we have nothing but opportunity in front of us if we have the maturity and perspective to realize it and take advantage of it. A chance to make the season something special that the players on this team and the fans will never forget.

An opportunity to make a mark in the record books and annals that will always be remembered. You can never be sure in any career whether another opportunity like this will present itself, so it behooves one to do everything in his power to see this opportunity through as far as it can go.

Some might think that at 5-1, it is OK to enjoy the spoils of what you have accomplished thus far, to kick your feet up for a spell, and pat yourself on the back. That may be OK to some extent, but in reality, now is the time to work even harder and take advantage of a rare chance to cement your place as a noteworthy participant in football history.

Doug Brown, always a hard-hitting defensive lineman and frequently a hard-hitting columnist, appears Tuesdays in the Free Press.