TAKING THE NFL BY STORM
Canada's Claypool off to historic start after scoring four TDs against Eagles
“How long has it been?” Rueben Mayes was asking on the telephone.
This is how long ago it was. Lawrence Taylor was the MVP of the NFL. Dan Marino was setting passing records. Jerry Rice was having his first big season. And a kid from North Battleford, Sask., once home to Joni Mitchell and Emile Francis, was the 1986 rookie of the year, rushing for 1,353 yards with the New Orleans Saints.
No Canadian ever managed anything like that. No Canadian has done anything like it since — at least until Sunday afternoon in Pittsburgh, when Chase Claypool from Abbotsford, B.C., via Notre Dame, born 35 years and two provinces apart from Mayes, scored four touchdowns in his fourth NFL game as a receiver.
Three passes were caught for scores, one was run in on an end around, another was called back on a weak penalty, and overall he has five touchdowns in the first four weeks of his career.
It's something no one, including Mayes, has ever imagined.
“It's amazing when you think about the odds,” said Mayes. “First, as a Canadian just getting to play NCAA football. Then, just getting on the field, the odds are stacked against that. Count the number of players on every roster, on every team. Then making an NFL roster — how many do that? I used to count that out in my head sometimes. What are the odds?”
Mayes has never met Claypool, but since the craziness of Sunday he's certainly heard about him. He has had calls in Pullman, Wash., about his fellow Canadian. He has received emails. He has watched the highlights. He's getting Claypooled.
All kinds of Canadians have played in the NFL over the years — usually about a dozen a year — but normally we don't pay much attention to them unless they happen to be doctors starting in the Super Bowl. Usually, we're talking about a long snapper or a place kicker or a guy who blocks or tackles or runs special teams, just not at the skill positions.
Just not scoring a record number of touchdowns for the 4-0 Pittsburgh Steelers.
“I still remember walking out there on Sundays and you feel the great tradition of the NFL,” said Mayes.
“For me, it was an honour to step on the field and to be in a position to play Monday Night Football or things like that. It was almost surreal. I had that feeling, here I am, I'm going for it. It was so exciting.”
Mayes rushed for more yards as a rookie than Walter Payton or Emmitt Smith, Thurman Thomas, or even the great Jim Brown. That still means something to him after all these years. You can't take those numbers away.
After the Steelers practised last Friday, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger exchanged text messages with Claypool. He sent him plays to work on. It isn't often a veteran QB spends a whole lot of time communicating with a rookie receiver, especially on a team with so many weapons.
“I can't say enough about Chase,” said Roethlisberger, in his 17th season. “He's big, he's talented, he's got God-given ability that not many people have. And he's smart, really smart.”
On the final touchdown scored by Claypool on Sunday, Roethlisberger changed the play at the line of scrimmage. And then he improvised the call and basically made up a play on the spot. And
Claypool was in a position he had never practised, with a play he had never run.
“And he made it happen,” said Roethlisberger. “You can coach him all you want, but then you get on the field and you have to do it.”
The exchange of text messages between rookie and veteran will continue as the weeks of the season move on, with their relationship growing.
A four-touchdown game is freakish in nature for any NFL player: for a Canadian NFL player, it's beyond freakish. Rice and two others once scored five in a game. One of them was former CFL coach Bob Shaw. Four for a rookie, his fourth game, on a team he doesn't start for?
It's enough to make anyone who isn't Mike Tomlin excited.
“Obviously,” said the coach of the Steelers, “Claypool had a big game.”
And then he wanted to change the subject.
“It was his turn today. I don't want to make it more than it is.”
This is Tomlin's way of keeping it all balanced. His way of telling Claypool not to get too excited about one game that would, frankly, excite anyone.
Roethlisberger wasn't given instructions from the coach on how to talk about his new-found weapon, the rookie from Notre Dame. Instead, he gushed.
“I appreciated (coach) trying to keep me grounded,” said Claypool, gushing just a little bit himself on Sunday, and why not? “I'm enjoying the moment. But I'm not letting it get to me.”
But he did score four touchdowns. In his fourth NFL game. He now has five touchdowns in all. Mayes scored 23 touchdowns in his seven NFL seasons. He scored eight as a rookie. The top Canadian receivers before Claypool — Jerome Pathon and Tommy Kane — combined for one touchdown as a rookie.
“It's crazy,” said Claypool, and then he said again and again. “I don't like to think about breaking records or making history.”
And for a moment — but just a moment — he lost himself.
“It's super cool,” said Claypool wearing a giant smile. “I don't go into the game thinking I'm trying to make history today. ... I just want to play.”
He's big, he's talented, he's got God-given ability that not many people have. And he's smart, really smart.