Demons motivate Henry Burris
REGINA — For Henry Burris, the original game plan called for finishing out his playing days as the starting quarterback for the Calgary Stampeders, for settling down in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.
The Stampeders thought otherwise and instigated divorce proceedings in January of 2012 by shipping the gap-toothed face of the franchise to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, along with offensive lineman Mark Dewit, for quarterback Kevin Glenn.
At the time, the man they call Smilin’ Hank kept smiling, kept grinning through his inner anguish.
Those buried emotions bubbled to the surface Tuesday night upon touching down at the Regina International Airport as the starting quarterback for Hamilton in the 101st Grey Cup against the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
“Somebody slap me, because I feel like I’m dreaming still,” the 38-year-old said in a break between posing for pictures and signing autographs for Rider fans who love to hate him.
“To be here playing in the Grey Cup, you couldn’t write a better script.”
Truthfully, Burris wanted Calgary to beat Saskatchewan and advance out of the Western Final to Sunday’s Grey Cup. That way, he could pen a fairy-tale ending to the ultimate rejection of a trade he originally wanted no part of.
“I just had so much frustration from when I was sent packing by Calgary, with all these people saying I couldn’t do it anymore — and being told that by the organization,” he said. “So for me to be able to come out here and show that I can still do it — that kind of allows me to let all those demons go.
“Those demons, they haunt you. They inspire you. To be able to get all that off my shoulders, it feels good.”
In spite of working for six months a year in Hamilton, Burris and his wife Nicole still live in the Northwest Calgary community of Tuscany (Prime Minister Stephen Harper is a not-sodistant neighbour.) In fact, Burris has an ownership stake in The Rock, Wood Fired Pizza & Spirits in Royal Oak. He trains in the off-season at WinSport under the watchful eye of James Gattinger.
Armand Burris, 7, is a growing concern playing hockey in Bowness, although he’ll have to miss his game this weekend for a family obligation.
Barron Burris, 4, is set to witness his first Grey Cup spectacle in what only feels like the coldest place on Earth.
“Daddy’s playing for the Grey Cup,” Henry said. “First things first.”
The Stampeders gave up on Burris due in no small part to the promise shown by Drew Tate in the 2011 season. And while Burris continued to put up huge numbers over the years, his tendency to make a bad throw at the worst time marred an otherwise stellar resume.
When on, people called him Good Hank. When off, Bad Hank was his name.
“Everybody’s writing me off saying I can’t do this and I can’t do that and Good Hank and Bad Hank,” said Burris, who eclipsed 50,000 career passing yards back in September during a road game at McMahon Stadium. “But the last time I checked, it’s still the same Henry Burris that’s helping his teams win and be successful.”
Try explaining the distinction to a kid in kindergarten.
“That’s why my emotions are where they are,” he said. “Just with everything that my family has to put up with — hearing that daddy’s not this, daddy can’t do that, daddy’s bad at this, daddy’s bad at that.
“There are some positives of course, and that’s the circle of people we try to stay close to.”
Upon taking over as head coach and general manager of the Tiger-Cats last winter, Kent Austin could have sent Burris packing just like the Stamps.
Instead, he looked at the positives and built a young team around an aging quarterback with a rocket arm and physical tools that still make the next generation of signal callers drool with envy.
“He wiped the slate clean this year in learning a new offence and learning a different way of looking at the game,” Austin said. “Not everyone at his age, with his experience would do that. But he did.
“He’s very, very coachable. He’s a total team guy. He’s great with the guys. He never complains, never gets on his guys about poor blocking should that ever happen. He’s got all those qualities.”
In spite of a shaky first half, Burris outgunned Ricky Ray in last Sunday’s 36-24 East Division Final victory over Toronto, going 27-for-40, 371 yards and three touchdowns against the defending Grey Cup champs.
At 38, he’s destined for free agency this winter and another possible change of area code, although a return to Calgary is more unlikely than a warm welcome for No. 1 on Sunday at Mosaic Stadium.
Burris, of course, is still reviled in Regina for choosing Calgary over his old team in Saskatchewan upon his return from the NFL in 2005.
Time has a way of smoothing over old resentments. To Burris, the bitterness on both sides of the Saskatchewan parting is a thing of the distant pass.
The split with Calgary, however, still cuts deep.
“I’m coming into the hornet’s nest, here in Regina,” Burris said, breaking into his trademark grin. “But off the field, the fans are amazing. Here in the airport, it’s been nothing but smiles, handshakes and hugs, and posing for pictures and stuff like that.
“But I know on game day, they’re going to be saying, ‘Henree, Hen-ree’ and all that. They’re going to be booing me on game day, but I’d feel uncomfortable if they didn’t.”