Merely ‘scratching the surface’
Lions’ Lemon says performer of the week Posey’s best is yet to come after three-TD effort
DeVier Posey has some comfy laurels but rest isn’t apparently in his repertoire.
The B.C. Lions wide receiver was named CFL performer of the week Tuesday, thanks to his three-touchdown performance in last Friday’s 42-32 win over the Edmonton Eskimos.
On Wednesday, Posey was the last player off the practice field. Staff was starting to clean up and the 28-year-old was still snagging footballs rocketed at him from a pitching machine.
“I’m always working on things after practice, constantly working on my body and constantly working on my game. I’m never satisfied with where I am. I’m always trying to work hard,” Posey, an Ohio State product who was a third-round pick of the Houston Texans in the 2012 NFL draft, said.
“I’ve never been afraid to work hard and work for what I want. And I’ve always been humble enough to admit that I have to be better.
“I feel like it feeds off onto my teammates, too, because if I’m one of the starters and I’m working hard then hopefully it helps get other guys to work hard. This is what I’m trying to do. I’m trying to be a great teammate. That’s the definition of a great teammate: can you make people around you better?”
This isn’t a new phenomenon with Posey, it would seem. Defensive end Shawn Lemon and Posey were teammates the past two seasons with the Toronto Argonauts and Lemon raves about Posey’s work ethic.
Posey admitted Lemon teases him for what he does in his free time: biking, hiking, swimming, massage, acupuncture, reflexology.
“I know that when he leaves work after the 4½ hours here that’s not it for him,” Lemon said, pointing to the mandated practice day period in the CFL. “He helps me improve my body just by hearing how he operates his body.”
The win against the Eskimos, which was the Lions’ sixth triumph in the last seven games and clinched a playoff berth, marked Posey’s sixth appearance with the club after signing as a free agent on Sept. 10.
Posey was the most valuable player of last year’s Grey Cup in Ottawa, a 100-yard touchdown reception leading him to 175 yards receiving on seven catches in a 27-24 Toronto triumph over the favoured Calgary Stampeders.
Posey ended up signing a futures contract with the Baltimore Ravens in February and appeared in five pre-season games before being released.
B.C. needed receiving help with Manny Arceneaux sidelined, Posey liked the potential with the roster and also had some friendly faces already in B.C. with the likes of Lemon.
And Lemon insisted Posey is only just “scratching the surface of what he can do,” so far with the Lions.
“I promise you that. You haven’t seen his best yet,” Lemon said of Posey, whose five catches for 113 yards against the Eskimos pushed him to 22 catches and 302 yards in his short time with the Lions.
“With receivers, it’s all about timing and he is just getting comfortable with the offence. I think he’s one of the best receivers, if not the best, in the league.”
We’ll see if Lemon is right about how much more Posey can show this season. The Lions have two more regular-season games, starting with Saturday’s tilt in Regina against the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Posey sounds like a guy, at the very least, who craves some sort of post-season run.
“There’s nothing better than a winning locker-room,” said Posey, whose wife and fouryear-old son are staying at the family home in the Detroit area. “You get to see men’s real, true emotions when you win games and I love that part about football. I love how raw it is after wins and how good that feeling is.
“Honestly, it’s an out-ofbody experience and I believe I’m addicted to those. I’ll do whatever I need to do to get that out-of-body experience that sports gives me.
“Winning a Grey Cup is a great feeling. You’ll share a bond with those people forever. You can always look at that person and have a side smile be like, ‘Yeah, we did that.’ That’s a good feeling.”