FOOT NOTE TO LEOS’ LONG TALE
He embraces Tiger Woods’ competitive mindset and hopes to get his kicks in the NFL after helping the B.C. Lions succeed
Before he punches the time clock, Ty Long is an affable 25-year-old from Georgia engaged to his college sweetheart, bears a passing resemblance to Richie Cunningham and is generally as menacing as Dory from Finding Nemo.
You’d want to have a beer with that guy. But the guy who steps on to the field with the sole intention of kicking the stuffing out of the football? Not so much.
“I turn into a certain person when I get on the field,” says the B.C. Lions’ all-purpose kicker. “Not everyone is going to like me. I get that. But that’s what helps me find my game.
“I’m a perfectionist and I know the mindset I have to get into. I grew up watching Tiger Woods and that’s the mentality I try to find. I told (his fiancée Cara), you don’t want to know the guy who’s on the field.”
But you want him on your team.
“He’s like all the great ones I’ve been around,” says Jeff Reinebold, the Lions’ special teams coach who’s been around the CFL as long as the rouge. “When it gets tough, they don’t shy away from the kick. They want that moment.
“After he hit that 50-yarder (in Saturday’s 35-32 overtime win over Hamilton) I walked over to him and asked, ‘Are you OK.’ He didn’t even look at me. He just said, ‘Yeah, let’s go. Why are you asking me that question?’ That’s the way you want him to be.”
And that’s what he’s been for the Lions this season.
There might be more recognizable names on the Leos and there are certainly more celebrated positions, but Long is quietly having one of the greatest kicking seasons in CFL history. He leads the league with a 50.2-yard punting average and is seeking to both break Jon Ryan’s 50.6-yard league record and become just the third punter in CFL history to average more than 50 yards a punt.
He’s also 30-for-33 in field goals, 21-for-21 in converts and leads the league with a 39.7-yard net punting average.
Add it up and he just might be the Lions’ best player this season — even if the average fan couldn’t pick him out of a police lineup.
Even if those numbers haven’ t engaged a larger audiencein Canada, there is a pool of scouts south of the border who are becoming aware of Long.
“Obviously they can’t talk about him while he’s under contract,” his agent, Chris Turnage, said from his office in Hot Springs, Ark.
“But I can tell you there will be interest from the NFL. He’d loved to get back to there. It’s certainly his long-term aspiration.”
How long term is the next question. While Long has put up gaudy numbers, landing gainful employment in the NFL is a tricky proposition for a free-agent kicker. Two years ago, Richie Leone averaged 49.3-yards per punt with the Lions, signed a futures contract with Arizona with some upfront money and was cut during pre-season. He’s back playing in Ottawa.
Long may also be a victim of his own versatility. He will likely get more attention as a punter but his field goal numbers will draw some interest. In the NFL’s Paleolithic Era, when kickers handled both jobs, that would be a selling point. But about the time George Blanda retired, kickers became specialists.
“If it happens it happens,” Long said of his NFL dream. “I love playing up here. The CFL has been good to me. There are a lot of things that go into it.”
Still, there are those numbers. Last season Long averaged 47.9 yards per punt and made 30 of 34 field goals — but he also shanked a few when he was asked to punt strategically.
At training camp this year, Reinebold went down that same road before realizing he was taking away from Long’s strengths. The new directive, loosely stated, became grip it and rip it for Long, which has brought the record book into play.
“We had to adjust what we do to suit him,” Reinebold said. “He’s going to hit some balls that are going to get returned because he hits them so long. But he’s been able to turn the field for us.”
As for the record book, Long is also chasing a club mark held by another former dualist, one Lui Passaglia. In 1983, the Lions icon averaged 50.2 yards per punt while making 73 per cent of his field goals.
He allows the game has changed since his day.
“I’m impressed by the guys and their distance,” Passaglia said. “(A 55-yard field goal) is like the 45 in my day.
“It’s a different game: the equipment, the field, the body types. But you still have to kick the ball through the uprights.”
Which is something Long will work on until he’s perfect.
“I feel like I’m just moving in silence and I prefer it that way,” Long said. “We’re doing some great things but if no one wants to talk about it, that’s great. We’re going to keep grinding, keep working.”
And maybe one day he’ll be able to smile about it.