Montreal Gazette

No storybook ending for classy veteran Bagg

- ROB VANSTONE rvanstone@postmedia.com twitter.com/robvanston­e

Just last November, it sounded like Rob Bagg ’s job security rivalled that of Queen Elizabeth.

In an interview with Rod Pedersen during CKRM’s Sports Cage, Saskatchew­an Roughrider­s assistant vice-president of football operations and player personnel John Murphy said: “Rob Bagg will be a Rider until he decides he won’t play football any longer.” Bagg was released on Saturday. In hindsight, maybe we should have seen it coming. After all, Bagg was coming off a season that wasn’t statistica­lly eye-catching — although his vast contributi­ons have always transcende­d numbers — and he is 33 years old.

Moreover, the Roughrider­s had signed wide receiver Jake Harty (who suffered a season-ending knee injury early in training camp) and re-upped another Canadian pass-catcher, Devon Bailey, before he could test free agency. Plus, homebrew Joshua Stanford did look impressive during the pre-season. The signs were there.

But still ... Rob Bagg released? Really?

That time does arrive for every player. Bagg has seen that misfortune befall teammates and friends such as Darian Durant, Weston Dressler and John Chick, beloved Roughrider­s whose ties to the club were abruptly severed.

In a perfect world, Geroy Simon would have concluded his playing career with the B.C. Lions, and not with the

Roughrider­s. However, this is profession­al sports, and it seems as though the storybook endings are tougher than ever to find.

Nonetheles­s, the news about Bagg was jarring.

The leaguewide respect he engendered as a member of the Roughrider­s was immense. He was, in every way, an admirable member of the team.

Bagg ’s time in Saskatchew­an could have concluded a handful of years ago. Recurrent knee injuries threatened his career, but good luck telling this proud and passionate pro that he cannot do something.

Despite not being drafted after starring at Queen’s University, he became a productive CFLer — an all-star, a Grey Cup champion, and a presence.

Durant often said that Bagg was the Roughrider­s’ “oxygen,” which might explain why the news that was first disseminat­ed Saturday left so many people breathless.

The scenario has been oftreplaye­d in pro sports, especially in the salary cap era. Bagg ’s spot will be filled by someone younger and cheaper. Don’t ever think that he will be replaced.

Perhaps naively, this scribbler was among the people who thought and hoped that Bagg would be the exception — the one throwback to a decade ago who would continue to embody everything that it means to be a Roughrider, and a citizen.

Bagg was the last remaining link to the Roughrider­s’ vaunted Canadian Air Force, and one of the few holdovers from the team that posted a home field Grey Cup victory on Taylor Field in 2013.

Along the way, Bagg became a prominent player, someone to whom the public and the media gravitated in increasing numbers. Even so, it was he who treated the fans like superstars.

Now it is he, like others before him, who is moving on. Anyone who has spent even 10 seconds around him can only wish him the best — with the accompanyi­ng wish that, somehow, the Roughrider­s could have found a way to make the numbers work and retain No. 6.

But it was not to be. and as a result, it feels like a little bit of Rider Pride has died.

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