The notion didn’t need validation, but when Jeff Reinebold was asked a question that is certain to start a debate around the B.C. Lions in a day or two their special teams coordinator gave an answer, then added a verbal exclamation mark.
Reinebold was asked if there’s a rising appreciation for kickers in the CFL if Ty Long is named the Lions’ outstanding player nominee this year, which would make him only the second player to be so recognized in the history of a franchise that had Lui Passaglia on the roster for a quarter-century.
As he often is with his players at practice, Reinebold was blunt.
“Anybody who would question Ty or any kicker in this league doesn’t know anything about football,” he said. “No, let me say it more strongly… doesn’t know a damn thing about football.”
The ongoing quest for a home playoff game has its rightful place on the marquee when the Lions travel to face the Saskatchewan Roughriders Saturday (4 p.m., TSN, 2 p.m. pre-game, TSN 1040). But the spotlight is about to be shared by a 25-year-old sophomore who was considered an afterthought upon arriving with the Lions last spring.
Voting members of the Football Reporters of Canada received their ballots this week, and an early straw poll suggests Long will join Paul McCallum as the only kicker in Lions history to qualify for the second round of voting.
McCallum was nominated in 2010, a season of indifference, injuries and inconsistent quarterbacking which have been no stranger to the Lions this season.
But with as many as three teams perhaps toying with the idea of putting forward a kicker this year, there’s a voice or two around the league trying to make the case that kickers are people too. That notion has been a stranger for decades in football, with some kickers often only accepted after making a game-winning field goal, relegated to an outsider’s existence where one of their few friends is the long-snapper.
You might not be surprised to learn Reinebold is one of those voices.
“We had 41 special teams plays (last week) against Edmonton; 41. We had 45 offensive plays,” the Lions coach pointed out. “Now, 41 is a higher than normal number but it’s an indication of how important these guys have become.
“The fact Ty could be nominated is proof or validation of the year he’s had. Look at our team and what category, whether it’s individual or team, have we been number one at all year? It’s punting.”
The native Georgian with the big leg has been indeed the league’s top punter for a second straight season, currently sitting with a 49.2-yard average and for awhile flirting with Jon Ryan’s league mark.
Long arrived last season with the Lions initially thinking he’d merely give Swayze Waters little more than a rest at camp but used the perceived slight not only as motivation to win the job but to make a large leap in directional kicking.
He’s still taking names and numbers now, and will probably take the chip on his shoulder to the NFL next season if the right offer comes along.
“People can try to be cool to me. I’ll never forget the people who called me an insurance policy,” Long said. “I have that mindset every day. That’s what keeps me going. I’m a very motivated guy. My goal is to get a ring and show this team I can do everything they need me to do when they need me to do it.”
Coach Wally Buono was among the skeptics at first, unwilling to let Long kick field goals outside 50 yards last year only for the kicker to win most everyone over this season, hitting all six of his tries in that range so far.
Long will undoubtedly draw motivation Saturday from the fact one of only two in the league ahead of him on field goal percentage will line up trying to maintain Saskatchewan’s post-Duron Carter momentum, Riders kicker Brett Lauther.
At 90.6 per-cent this year, Lauther is just ahead of Long (89.6) and might be in the running for a serious hardware haul were it not for the uncanny rookie heroics of Ottawa’s Lewis Ward (98.0).
Long nor Ward will win the award outright of course, owing to the league’s predisposition to quarterbacks, and the debate will soon cease. Either way, Long won’t accept the premise that kickers are a lower form of athlete, a motivation that also fuelled McCallum through the course of his 23-year CFL career.
“Would Wally say anything if I didn’t run the sprints? Probably not. But I do. It’s important to me,” said Long, a four-year captain in college at Alabama-Birmingham. “The reason I do it is because you want the team to know you’re doing everything. Kicking is a sport inside a sport.”
And Saturday, a battle for home field in the playoffs is also a final chance to turn heads of voters who don’t have perennial candidates on the Lions like Solomon Elimimian and Manny Arceneaux to consider this year.
Currently, the TSN1040.ca ballot shapes up as follows:
Most outstanding/special teams player: Long.
Outstanding defensive player: DT Davon Coleman. There’s a case to be made for several players who have better numbers, like T.J. Lee or Shawn Lemon, but nobody has provided more true grit all season than Hamilton’s gift to the Lions.
Outstanding Canadian: LB Bo Lokombo. Anthony Thompson has made strides. Lokombo has made more.
Outstanding offensive lineman: LT Joel Figueroa. Any questions? You take them up with him. Best OL addition since Rob Murphy.
Outstanding rookie: DT Claudell Louis. Nine players are eligible. Only one has been a rotational starter the last nine games.
LIONS TALES: B.C. needs to win by at least four points Saturday to maintain home playoff hopes. But a road contest for a 2-6 team away from home is also a good thing right now, according to Buono. “I’ve already sold this game as a dress rehearsal for the playoffs. (It’s) a game on the road against a very good team in a very hostile place,” Buono said. Unwilling to use any player who is less than the perfect picture of health, the Lions will keep Micah Awe (knee) and Elimimian (wrist) out. Chris Rainey (ankle) will give way to returner Shakeir Ryan, which may also mean fellow rookie Wayne Moore could spell off Tyrell Sutton in the backfield. … Buono had tongue in cheek when asked about his final regular season trip as a visiting coach in front of a fan base that hasn’t taken kindly to him since his days running the Calgary Stampeders. “I take exception to that (characterization),” said Buono, who expects to hear his first name chanted derisively early and often Saturday. “Where else could you go where they salute and welcome you? I just take it as a place I’m loved.”
