FINES WAKE-UP CALL FOR ROOKIE LEO AWE
Linebacker rebuked for pair of head hits on Saturday
The school of hard knocks was in session Wednesday.
The professor was coach Wally Buono. The student was linebacker Micah Awe.
When the B.C. Lions rookie was fined the maximum amount by the Canadian Football League for Saturday’s head hits on Calgary Stampeders running backs Jerome Messam and Roy Finch — half a game cheque that amounts to $2,100 — it did more than hit him in the wallet.
It was a wake-up call. The very nature of the way the game is being played has to change because of the ongoing risks of serious and career-threatening injuries.
The six-foot, 220-pound Awe led with the crown of his helmet to deliver a blow to the back of Messam’s head as the league’s leading rusher was falling to the ground in the third quarter of a 27-13 Stampeders triumph. There was no flag on the play and Messam left the game and did not return.
“It’s like a car going faster — you’ve got to take a right like in car racing and sometimes you have to make split-second decisions and sometimes you make the wrong decisions,” said the 23-year-old Awe, a product of the Texas Tech program who was born in Lagos, Nigeria.
“It’s something I need to work on — the technique. Ironically, after the game I had a lot of players come up to me and say: ‘Good job, you’re a physical player.’ I know if I was really dirty, nobody would have come up to me. If anyone is dirty, everybody knows. My intent was not bad.
“I’m on the bottom of the pay scale and everybody knows that. It hurts. It’s not like I’m saying this is nothing. It’s not like I feel so good about it and I’m going to do it
again. Solly (Solomon Elimimian) adjusted and I’ve got to.”
Among Elimimian’s missteps was a fine for a June 16 low hit on Saskatchewan Roughriders receiver Jenson Stoshak. And in 2010, he was fined for what the league deemed an illegal helmetto-helmet hit on then-Edmonton Eskimos quarterback Ricky Ray, while the Lions contended it was shoulder to shoulder.
The Awe fine comes a week after the CFL eliminated full-contact padded practices. The intent is to reduce the possibility of injury, but Awe argued it’s a double-edged sword because you play like you practise. And if you’re not practising proper hitting techniques, the trickle-down effect in a game could result in fines and injuries.
“Actually, it (full-contact practice) helps you in a sense,” added Awe. “You don’t go full pads and all of a sudden it’s game day and it’s pads and you’ve got to flip the switch. It’s a very physical game and if you’re not ready mentally, it will catch you by surprise. And that’s why I feel like you’ve got to do it.”
Previously, CFL teams could hold 17 padded practices during a season following training camp.
Meanwhile, Buono emphasized what’s really at stake here. The onus is on the player to play properly and it’s not about the elimination of full-contact padded practices.
“It’s tough on the players,” admitted Buono. “The way they’ve been playing — and the way they’ve been brought up to play — now all of a sudden it’s starting to be a contradiction and a little confusing for them.
“What was legal when you were in high school and college is now deemed illegal. Old habits are hard to break. A perfect example is Solomon when he first came into the league. He was flagged for what I thought were really good football hits.
“He plays as physical as anyone in the league and is a great tackler and a great hitter. But he has learned to adjust.”
When Buono played linebacker for the Montreal Alouettes between 1972-1983, players were taught to stick their mask in the opposition player’s numbers, wrap him up and tackle him to the ground. Now, anything involving the head — especially in teaching fundamentals — is avoided because of the possibility of injury and legal implications. It’s now chest to chest and then wrap up the opposing player.
“I played at the professional level and when I drop my head, I know I’m dropping my head,” said Buono. “I have an intent.
“It’s why the league is so black and white on it. It’s not that you don’t know what you’re doing — you know exactly what you’re doing. You drop your head and target somebody, you have the ability to do that or not do that.”
EXTRA POINTS
The league also fined Lions running back Chris Rainey for grabbing the face mask of Stampeders linebacker Wynton McManis in a reckless manner. Lions defensive lineman David Menard was fined for a hit on Stampeders defensive lineman Reuben Frank and Hamilton Tiger-Cats defensive back Demond Washington was fined for spitting on an opponent.