Hamilton’s ‘Iceman’ hopes to be the hero
Kicker Medlock plans to give Tabbies a leg up on special teams on Sunday
Justin Medlock not only wants to kick-start the Hamilton Tiger-Cats to a Grey Cup victory, he wants his final kick to be the one that finishes off the Calgary Stampeders on Sunday.
Medlock, who grew up in California and was a Lou Groza Award finalist at UCLA, is not only one of the most accurate practitioners of his craft in the Canadian Football League, but he’s mindful of CFL history.
He knows, for instance, that Saskatchewan’s Dave Ridgway booted a field goal with two seconds left in the 1989 Grey Cup to give the Roughriders a 43-40 win over the Tiger-Cats. And he’s watched Lui Passaglia do the same with no time left, a moment frozen in time on YouTube, as the B.C. Lions defeated the Baltimore Stallions 26-23 in the 1994 championship game at BC Place Stadium.
“I’m a big student of the game,” Medlock said after practice Friday. “I like to know what went on before I got here. I want to know about Doug Flutie — greatest player ever to play this game in Canada. I wanted to know about Anthony Calvillo. I just like to know about the players who came before us, who set the records. I’ve seen people like Ridgway and Passaglia hit those game winners.”
At UCLA, Medlock, now 31, looked up to Adam Vinatieri, the NFL veteran kicker known as “Iceman” for his poise under pressure — and two game-winning kicks in the final seconds to ice a pair of Super Bowl victories.
He wants to be the “Iceman” on Sunday.
“I would love for the game to come down to my foot,” Medlock said. “I’m prepared for it, because it would put us in a good situation. I’d just go out and think of it as just another kick.”
If the Tiger-Cats have an edge Sunday, it might be with their special teams. Brandon Banks, the human water bug, ran back two punts for touchdowns in last Sunday’s East Final against Montreal — and then there’s Medlock, who has adjusted well to playing under changeable conditions at three different home fields which the Ticats have used over the past two seasons.
His counterpart with the Stampeders, Rene Paredes, has struggled this season, adjusting to different snappers and holders, while Medlock has cleaved the uprights, indoors or outdoors, with more regularity.
Paredes was only a 70.7 per cent kicker, having made just four of his previous 14 attempts before the Stampeders’ final regular-season game, Nov. 7 at BC Place. But he went four-for-four on that final night and appears to have righted the ship.
“Rene’s a great kicker, I just think he’s had a lot of things thrown in his way this year,” said Medlock, whose 88 per cent average was third in the CFL behind the Lions’ Paul McCallum (90.5) and the Argos’ Swayze Waters (90.4). “Three or four different holders, two different snappers. That’s going to throw off your rhythm.”
Medlock was five-for-five in his only appearance at BC Place earlier this season — Aug. 8, a 36-29 Lions’ victory — and feels he’s capable of executing a 55-yard attempt, if required.
He’s also prepared to be the hero.