Heading into B.C. matchup, Reilly has kind words for Buono
Eskimos QB got his chance to play after Buono and Hervey executed 2013 trade
The B.C. Lions only have themselves to blame for having to face the reigning CFL’s most outstanding player in a game with heavy playoff implications.
After all, Lions head coach Wally Buono and former Eskimos-turned-Lions general manager Ed Hervey were on either end of the deal that sent quarterback Mike Reilly to the Edmonton Eskimos in 2013.
“It’s funny to see them working together now, of course, because they were the two guys who were involved in the deal that sent me to Edmonton,” said Reilly, who leads the league with 4,974 passing yards. “I’ve always been grateful to Wally for, I don’t know if I’d say he gave me the opportunity or if I forced him to give me the opportunity based on how I think he felt about me going into pre-season games in 2011, I guess it would be, but ultimately he’s got a reason behind everything he does and he doesn’t want to have to rely on somebody unless they’ve been tested and proven themselves.
“So I’ve always appreciated Wally giving me the opportunity to have a chance in this league and I’ve always appreciated Ed for taking a chance on me. I hadn’t been a starter in this league outside of a couple of games and making a decision to give up something in a trade to take a chance on me. And that, obviously, has created a six-year career, and counting, in Edmonton. So both of those guys, I owe a lot to. I owe them a beat-down tomorrow.”
Reilly’s deal involved draft picks going to B.C., which turned into Laval receiver Seydou Junior Haidara and Northwestern State offensive lineman Tchissakid Player, neither of whom are playing in the league.
But regardless of who came out on top between Buono and Hervey, they’re both left reaping the benefits of the trade.
“I think they both, obviously, looked at Mike like we do, as a guy that can change the fortunes of your organization, help you win a lot of football games and a championship,” said Eskimos head coach Jason Maas. “All of us saw that quality in Mike and gave him a chance.
“We’re grateful for those guys having found Mike and, obviously, getting him here. We respect that and are thankful that he is here.”
300-PLATEAU FOR WHYTE
Sean Whyte is heading back to where it all began this week, and he’s got 300 field goals under his belt this time.
The Edmonton Eskimos kicker hit the milestone marker on a 40-yard attempt in the fourth quarter of last week’s 34-16 win
I think they both, obviously, looked at Mike like we do, as a guy that can change the fortunes of your organization.
over the Ottawa Redblacks.
“I wasn’t counting, so it’s cool to get to that number,” said Whyte, a 32-year-old native of White Rock, B.C., playing in his 10th CFL season. “That means I’ve been playing for a while, so I’m very lucky to do what I get to do. It was a dream of mine to be a pro athlete and to play as long as I have is a dream come true.”
The five-foot-nine, 175-pound Santa Monica product also played Canadian Junior College Football for the Big Kahuna Rams out of Langley, B.C., before being signed by the Lions as a territorial exemption in 2007.
“I’m going to have a lot of family members there for this game,” said Whyte. “It’s pretty much a playoff game, so it’s cool they get to be a part of it, too.”
Whyte’s first CFL field goal all those years ago happened on the same field he now calls home with the Green and Gold.
“It was 2009 and it was still grass and I remember Wally Buono made me wear a six-stud on one shoe and I wore my normal turf shoe on the other foot and I hated it,” Whyte recalled. “So I came out here and Jarious Jackson actually was my coach when I got here in Edmonton, but he was my holder and it was a 47 (yard attempt), right hash coming this way in the mud, so I was not happy with it at all: ‘I might miss this.’
“I wasn’t confident, and he actually botched the hold and the ball slid out, so I never got to hit it and I was like, ‘Thank God.
“My very first opportunity was on the right hash, 27 (yards out), going that way and I made it.”
FINE TIME
Eskimos receiver Duke Williams was fined an undisclosed amount for delivering a blow to the head of Ottawa Redblacks defensive end A.C. Leonard on Saturday.
The same game also resulted in a similar fine on Redblacks defensive back Corey Tindal for what the league called, “a pair of high hits on Edmonton Eskimos quarterback Mike Reilly.”
IN AND OUT
The lone change to the Eskimos active roster this week sees Canadian receiver Sam Giguere come in for Canadian fullback Pascal Lochard, who is placed on the one-game injured list.