ALWAYS A CLASS ACT
Fond memories here for Burris
Golfers have been known to tee off on Henry Burris — in a congenial manner.
While playing on courses in Saskatchewan, especially, Burris has heard the familiar “Henry!” chant.
“I’ve definitely had that happen, especially when I’m teeing off and guys are maybe driving by on a cart path,” says Burris, who is to be the keynote speaker at Saturday’s Swift Current 57’s Baseball Club Field of Dreams Dinner. “That’s going to be one of the things that I look forward to hearing or not hearing (in Swift Current). I’ve got some good remarks if people are booing or not booing when I’m speaking there.
“I don’t think I’m Public Enemy No. 1 anymore, because a few things have happened with moves this off-season that might have changed that. I’m trying to sneak in there, take advantage of it when they might actually like me, and get out before they realize they don’t again.”
Honestly, how can anyone not like Smilin’ Hank?
The CFL has not had a finer ambassador than Burris, who punctuated a sure-fire Hall of Fame CFL playing career with a Grey Cup victory on Nov. 27.
It was a perfect farewell performance for Burris, who was being named the Grey Cup’s MVP in his final game. He announced his retirement as a player on
Jan. 24, although he is hardly saying goodbye.
On May 4, for example, he is to be the guest speaker at the University of Saskatchewan Huskies football team’s Dogs’ Breakfast. That is in addition to the looming visit to the province in which he enjoyed two stints with the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
“It’s an opportunity for me to come back and say thank you for all the things that Saskatchewan did for me,” Burris says.
“My wife (Nicole) and myself have always felt this way about Regina and all of the province. If there’s one place that we truly felt at home and we felt wanted, it was definitely there in Regina.
“That’s regardless of whatever situation came about with the business standpoint and the politics — which I always say is the worst part about the game.”
Most memorably, Burris signed as a free agent with the Calgary Stampeders in 2005, only a few months after he came agonizingly close to leading Saskatchewan to a Grey Cup berth.
He wanted to stay in Saskatchewan, and repeatedly articulated that heartfelt sentiment, but the Roughriders’ brass was not as determined to consummate a deal.
Consequently, he ended up in Calgary, and the “Henry!” chant was born.
Always a class act, Burris enjoyed his repartee with the Saskatchewan fans. One of them told me a story from Nov. 24, 2013, when the host Roughriders defeated the Burris-quarterbacked Hamilton Tiger-Cats 45-23 in the 101st Grey Cup game.
Several Roughriders fans were in the lobby when the Tiger-Cats returned to their hotel. One of the green-clad hotel guests called out to Burris who, despite being disappointed over the defeat, walked over to the Roughriders’ supporters.
He spent several minutes chatting with them, amicably complimenting the Roughriders on their victorious performance.
“When I came back there as a Hamilton Tiger-Cat to play in the 2013 Grey Cup, we knew we were walking right into a trap,” Burris recalls. “We had guys catching frostbite with their fingers and such during the week of practice.”
Yet, Burris has fond memories of that week in Saskatchewan. He notes that the Roughriders and their loyalists “truly deserved” the home-field victory.
“I enjoy any opportunity I get to come back to Regina and Swift Current … Saskatoon … Yorkton … Melfort … Weyburn .. Estevan … North Battleford ... Leader ... Prince Albert ... wherever it is in Saskatchewan,” he says.
“I’m looking forward to getting out there and helping out whatever the charity or the event is, from the Swift Current 57’s to the University of Saskatchewan to so many different events that will take place. I’m definitely coming back there to be part of the people that I know and be in a place that I call home.”
Home for the Burris family — Henry, Nicole and sons Armand (10) and Barron (7) — is now Ottawa, where the 41-year-old patriarch will continue to be conspicuous on television (as the new weekday co-host of Ottawa’s CTV Morning Live), on the radio and as an ambassador for the Redblacks.
He also plans to establish a quarterback school, which is to be launched in Ottawa before visiting locales such as Regina and Saskatoon, naturally.
“I’m always truly proud to say that I’ll always bleed green,” Burris says.
“And I always look forward to coming back and helping out and giving back to one of the greatest places in the world.”