AGE NOT AN ISSUE FOR QB
Kevin Glenn erasing any doubts
Kevin Glenn’s present-day numbers are unsurpassed when it comes to touchdown passes (seven) and years (38).
Despite being the CFL’s oldest player, the Saskatchewan Roughriders quarterback is enjoying a scorching start to the 2017 season — a well-deserved development for one of the league’s all-time class acts.
After three games, Glenn leads the loop in completions (99) while sporting an accuracy rate of 72.8 per cent. He boasts as many touchdown passes as the Ottawa Redblacks’ Trevor Harris.
With 1,055 aerial yards, Glenn is third in the nine-team circuit, behind 37-year-old Toronto Argonauts pivot Ricky Ray
(1,199) and Harris (1,095), and ahead of Calgary Stampeders star Bo Levi Mitchell (1,003).
Glenn’s efficiency rating: An impressive 100.0.
As for the anticipated deficiency, well, that has yet to become apparent.
The Roughriders entered training camp with questions swirling over the quarterbacks, following the well-documented, widely lamented January departure of Darian Durant.
Much of the chatter in June pertained to Vince Young, a youngster of 34 embarking on a comeback after a three-year hiatus from pro football. The former University of Texas Longhorns and Tennessee Titans star never even made it to the exhibition season before tearing a hamstring.
Once the pre-season arrived, much of the attention shifted to 20-something quarterbacks Brandon Bridge, Bryan Bennett and Marquise Williams.
At times, it was easy to forget the Roughriders’ roster also included one of the leading passers in the history of three-down football.
But now that the stakes are higher, with Young having turned his attention to enterprises such as steak houses, there isn’t any valid reason to beef about the Roughriders’ quarterbacking.
With Glenn at the controls, Saskatchewan has amassed 37 regulation-time points in each of its last two games. The Roughriders have a 1-2 record, but nonetheless have outscored the opposition (93-80).
Most recently, Glenn threw for 380 yards and two touchdowns during Saturday’s 37-20 victory over the visiting Hamilton TigerCats — a game in which he also ran for two scores.
One week earlier, he had 377 aerial yards and four touchdown tosses in a 43-40 double-overtime loss to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at Mosaic Stadium.
Not bad for someone any team in the CFL could have signed in January.
Once again, Glenn is proving people wrong.
South of six feet tall, and with a right arm that will not evoke images of erstwhile flamethrower Joe (747) Adams, Glenn is a classic underdog. Virtually every team in the league has passed judgment on him since he became a CFLer with the 2001 Roughriders, whose opening-day starter was Marvin Graves.
If measurables were the sole barometer, Glenn wouldn’t have even made it to training camp in Year 2 of the Roy Shivers/Danny Barrett regime.
But guess what? Glenn is poised to become the seventh passer in league history to reach the 50,000-yard mark. He is
146 yards shy of that milestone, which should be celebrated July 22 when the Roughriders — currently on a bye week — return to action in Calgary.
In a Glenn-to-Glenn exchange, CBC’s Glenn Reid asked the Riders’ pivot whether he had started to think about 50,000 yards.
“Well, rushing, I don’t think that can be done, even if I tried,” Glenn quipped Saturday after running for two TDs in a game for the first time since 2004.
“The 50,000 mark, it’ll come,” he continued, turning serious. “If we keep continuing to do what we’re supposed to and be successful, then it’ll come.”
The most intriguing figure might not be a nice, round number but, instead, 50,535.
Glenn is only 681 yards away from tying one of the game’s immortals, Ron Lancaster, for sixth on the all-time passing yardage list.
Before too long, a pair of 5-foot-10 quarterbacks will have reached the 50,535 total while wearing green and white.
Glenn could even overtake fifth-seeded Danny McManus (53,255) by season’s end.
The CFL being an unpredictable game — as Glenn can attest — anything could happen. There have been times when the nature of professional sports has worked against him, as has simple rotten luck. But now the pendulum has swung to the point where he can experience a surprising turn of events worth savouring.
Dispense with the notion of Glenn being an insurance policy at quarterback. He has become the indispensable component of the 2017 Roughriders, as a performer and a presence.
There he was after Saturday’s contest, addressing jubilant teammates in the Roughriders’ new and expansive locker-room, and awarding a game ball to receiver Naaman Roosevelt after his 10-catch, 167-yard gem.
Glenn was carrying himself with the exuberance of a rookie.
On the field, his self-described “sweet feet” — that was said jokingly — have helped him ascend to second in the league in rushing touchdowns. The B.C. Lions’ Jeremiah Johnson leads the way with three, followed by Glenn and B.C. quarterback Travis Lulay, both with two.
Even at an early juncture in a long CFL season, the accomplishments to date have to be a sweet feat for Glenn.
He is too modest, of course, to take credit. He will invariably and admirably defer to his teammates, thanking the offensive linemen, the receivers, offensive co-ordinator Stephen McAdoo, quarterbacks coach Jarious Jackson and, presumably, the ball boys, ushers and fine folks who addressed Mosaic Stadium’s first modern-era power outage.
Glenn provided the electrification for McAdoo’s system, which emphasizes ball-control passing and requires (and rewards) a quarterback blessed with a rapid-fire release and an agile mind.
Durant ran the offence in that scheme last year, with ordinary results. However, it is a reach to suggest he would not have thrived during a second year under McAdoo.
What if Durant, who was sacked a league-high 41 times last year, had the benefit of the protection Glenn is now enjoying?
What if Durant’s array of targets in 2016 — when Roosevelt was easily the Roughriders’ leading receiver — had also included Duron Carter, Bakari Grant and a vastly improved Nic Demski?
We will never know, but this much can be written with certainty: Glenn is quickly silencing any doubters who remain.
Yes, there will always be the muttering any time he dares to throw an interception.
“Typical Kevin Glenn” is, well, a typical refrain.
This is also typical Kevin
Glenn: someone who will never make waves or allow his interests to supersede those of the team.
As a backup, he will do his utmost to be of assistance and counsel to the starting quarterback. He is a virtual coach in uniform — not that the wellstaffed Roughriders require any additional assistants, but you get the idea.
As a starter, he will spread around the ball and, as referenced earlier, the praise.
But some commendation should be reserved for, if not sought by, Glenn.
The parlance of the aforementioned steak-house baron applies quite nicely in these circumstances.
Well done.
The 50,000 mark, it’ll come. If we keep continuing to do what we’re supposed to and be successful, then it’ll come.