Posey keen to make impact upon latest return from NFL
Consider, for a moment, all the variables in the equation because DeVier Posey certainly has.
Two weeks ago, on the NFL’s cut-down day, somewhere in the neighbourhood of 850 players were suddenly looking for jobs. That number balloons to more than 1,000 when you factor in the players who were already looking forwork.
That’s the first consideration. As for the second, Posey had been a late cut in Baltimore and could reasonably expect a call from the Ravens at some point. But, as a three-year NFL vet, he’d already used up his practice roster eligibility, which meant any team that signed him had to place him on its 53-man roster.
With younger, cheaper options available, Posey knew that was unlikely.
He could play the waiting game, which his younger self had played earlier in his career, or he could seize the opportunity that presented itself with the B.C. Lions. In that earlier life, Posey and been a starter at Ohio State and a third-round draft pick of the Houston Texans. But in his six years in the unforgiving world of professional football, he’d come to understand a few things and he understood at 28 he needed to be playing now.
“When you turn on the TV or look at the waiver wire, there’s always a part of you who’s saying, ‘I’m better than that guy,’” Posey said Wednesday at the Lions’ practice facility. “But I feel like
I’m a better person when I’m playing and producing instead of sitting around waiting for a chance.
“I’d walked that path before, waiting on the phone call, waiting for an opportunity. But in football, if you’re not getting better, you’re getting worse and there’s no possible way to get better by training. You have to be playing the game.”
Friday night in Montreal he’ll get to play his first regularseason game since winning the 2017 Grey Cup MVP with the Toronto Argos. That, at least, is his story. But it’s also a story that’s repeated, with slight variations, hundreds of times every CFL season.
“To be honest, (the NFL) is probably never out of their blood but most guys want to play,” said Geroy Simon, the Lions’ director of Canadian scouting who went through a similar dance 20 years ago when he first arrived in the CFL.
“We sell it as an opportunity. Yeah, you can be waiting for the NFL, but you can be waiting for a long time and that call might never come.”
Or you can take the call that did come, which was Posey’s choice. Earlier this week, the Lions signed the veteran receiver to a one-year, pro-rated contract that expires at the end of this season. The organization would like to sign him to a longer-term deal and that negotiation will play out over the off-season.
But, in the here and now, Posey’s arrival comes as a godsend for a Lions’ team trying to claw its way back into the CFL playoff picture.
A 6-2, 210-pound deep threat, Posey steps in for an injured Manny Arceneaux on a receiving corps that has disappointed this season. He’ll line up as a wideout against the Als with Ricky Collins moving into the slot for Kevin Elliott, who was released Wednesday.
Last season Posey averaged 70 receiving yards a game for the Argos over 12 outings before his Grey Cup (seven catches, 175 yards, 100-yard touchdown pass) tourde force.
“At this point it’s more about playing the game than trying to be a practice squad guy (in the NFL),” Posey said. “Coming to Canada (in 2016 with the Argos) was great forme.
“I’ll reassess things (in the offseason) and see where I am, but I want to attack it with a businesslike mentality.”
In another life, Lions GM Ed Hervey went through the same NFL tango as Posey. Drafted by Dallas out of USC in ’95, he fractured his fibula in the final week of his first training camp, then bounced from the Raiders to the Broncos and back to the Raiders before landing in Edmonton. That was 20 years ago. “You can never convince someone to give up the NFL dream,” Hervey said. “But those guys (who’ve played in the CFL) are usually easier to convince because they’ve already been up here.
“It’s not about convincing them about our league. It’s about convincing them to come to your organization. I think he’s going to be very productive for us.”
Which would be good business for all concerned.