Lions try to sort out their kicking situation
Decision might come down to bringing back veteran McCallum
Five months ago, veteran kicker Paul McCallum cleaned out his locker at training camp in Kamloops, never to play for the B. C. Lions again.
Of course, never is an absolute and there are never absolutes in the game of football.
If GM Wally Buono thought McCallum was available and could still be useful to a team struggling with his replacement, would he consider reaching out to him again? Absolutely. “It’s got nothing to do with what’s personal or not personal,” Buono said Tuesday, speaking hypothetically. “If you believe a player can help your team, or win a game for your team, why wouldn’t you do it? You don’t make those choices based on personal feeling. You have to do what’s best for the team.”
McCallum, still being paid by the Saskatchewan Roughriders but inactive ( he’s been placed on the injured list, though he’s healthy and selling real estate in Maple Ridge), could bail the Lions out of the predicament many predicted when the veteran kicker was released in training camp.
Handing the kicking job to a rookie without pro experience, much less one whose forte is punting, not placements, was a great leap of faith that looked good initially — Richie Leone was a perfect 12- for12, including a 56- yarder — to start the season, but a move that seems precipitous now, with Leone having lost confidence in himself as the playoffs approach. He botched two more converts ( he’s missed 11 on the season) in last Friday’s 27- 25 win over the Toronto Argonauts, a game in which he had a punt and a fieldgoal attempt blocked.
Indeed, coach Jeff Tedford appears ready to turn to backup kicker/ punter Anthony Fera, another rookie, for Saturday’s mean- nothing game No. 18 against the Calgary Stampeders at BC Place Stadium.
“If that happens, it would be an opportunity to take a look at him ( Fera) and take it from there,” Tedford said. “If we do that, obviously we would see him get a chance to punt in a game, too.”
Fera, who has yet to play this season, is in a no- lose situation.
If he is activated and kicks well, he perhaps allows the Lions to consider a second option for the Nov. 15 West Division semifinal against the Stamps at McMahon Stadium. If he doesn’t perform, well, it’s back to Leone.
“To me, that’s ( using Fera) not just desperate, it’s asinine,” McCallum said in a telephone interview. “Why not stick Richie in a game where there’s no pressure, where he can just relax, calm down and get out of his funk? I think, this way, you’re just creating more problems. Kicking well in a game with no pressure means nothing. To my way of thinking, it would be smarter to have Richie punt and Anthony do field goals ( Fera is a field- goal specialist), if you could work out the ratio thing ( both players are internationals).”
Since McCallum technically is not a free agent, the Lions would have to appeal to the commissioner’s office for his release, a scenario that seems unlikely, though appealing, given the wobbly state of the team’s kicking game heading into post- season.
“In all fairness, I believe they put Richie in a bad position to start with, with a rookie holder ( Jon Jennings), too,” McCallum said. “If you don’t have the right comfort level with your holder and centre, you’re setting yourself up for failure. It’s not all Richie’s fault.”