Pierce takes stab at health doubts

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 06/04/2010 (6023 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Buck PIERCE knows it’s not about his heart, his ability to lead men on the football field or his gaudy statistics.

The 28-year-old Canadian Football League free-agent quarterback has won as a starter in this loop and come off the bench to rally the troops to victory, too. Fact is, a guy with the third-best QB rating in B.C. Lions history — behind only Dave Dickenson and Casey Printers — and a 21-12-1 record when taking the first snap would normally be a coveted commodity in any off-season.

But that’s not the issue with Pierce, signed just last year by the Lions to a three-year, $900,000 contract but released last month when the club committed to Printers. No, the issue with Pierce are the concerns about his health, most notably an injury to his non-throwing shoulder and the possible after-effects of the two concussions he reportedly suffered last season, making a total of five in his five years with the Lions.

"I understand that," Pierce said Monday from California. "At this level, with the contracts at the quarterback position, you certainly want to make sure your guy is healthy. But that’s the message I’m trying to get across to the league as well — I am healthy and I am feeling good and I have a lot of football left in me.

"With my experience, the games I’ve won, the way I play and my competitive nature, I think there’s still a lot of upside to me and I hope it’s intriguing to a lot of organizations."

One of those organizations, we all know by now, is the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, who were among the NFL and CFL teams in attendance at a University of Hawaii pro-day camp in California last week. A Bomber official denied speculation the club had its own doctors examine Pierce, but the QB himself confirmed there were more than just spectators at his workout.

"I did speak to some people within the Winnipeg staff last week," he said. "It was me getting in front of them and addressing some of the issues that they were kinda worried about with the injuries and stuff like that. We were able to talk a little bit and that’s where we’re at right now.

"They saw me personally. I was able to throw for them a little bit and, evidently, they liked what they saw. As for the rest of it (a contract offer), you guys probably know more than I do right now."

The Bombers are now believed to be weighing signing Pierce to bolster the promising-but-unproven names on their QB depth chart: Steven Jyles, Stefan LeFors, Ricky Santos and Adam DiMichele. But the issue isn’t about whether Pierce is healthy in April; it’s whether he can still maintain the pounding of an 18-game schedule.

Again, Pierce knows that. All he wants now is a chance to change perceptions.

"I’m just waiting to see right now where the pieces of the puzzle will fall," he said. "I’m confident enough in my ability that I believe there’s going to be an opportunity for me and it’s going to be a good opportunity.

"I just want to have a chance to compete. I’m going to continue to train and get ready and if it’s Winnipeg, great. But wherever I go, they’re going to get a player that is 100 per cent committed to their cause and winning championships."

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca