Bazzie all about putting on the hits

Alex Bazzie is not going to lie. He’s seen the video. More than once. “Over a thousand,” Bazzie admits. “Easily, too. “I watch that a lot.” No, he’s not binge-watching episodes of Dancing With The Stars.

It’s a clip of game footage from his college days that the B.C. Lions defensive end can’t seem to get enough of. And you can hardly blame him. Bazzie, playing for the Marshall Thundering Herd, laid out fleetfooted kick returner T.Y. Hilton during the 2011 Beef O’Bradys Bowl and the highlight hit became a YouTube smash.

“It kinda started off my college career,” Bazzie said of the de-cleater. “It allowed me to get noticed in college. It was big for me.

“Football is football and to have a hit like that, that’s what everybody looks for. Everybody in the stands, that’s what they want to see.

“For me to give that excitement to a whole stadium, it felt great.”

It didn’t hurt that the big blast came against the current Indianapolis Colts receiver, who, before he became Andrew Luck’s favourite target, played college ball for Florida International.

“Very talented and athletic guy,” Bazzie said. “He had a big name and was about to leave college and enter the NFL, and he’s made a name for himself in the NFL world.”

It was the kind of hit every defensive player dreams of. The wideopen shot against a ball carrier that has no place to go.

“For all that to happen and to know that he was able to just get up, and I was able to get up, everybody was safe, that’s what you want to do,” Bazzie said. “You want to be able to play rough like that between the lines and be in one piece.

“It was great to know that I just laid a big hit. It wasn’t a flag or anything. It was legal.”

The 25-year-old Bazzie has been terrorizing CFL quarterbacks for the past two-plus seasons.

He put up 10 sacks in his rookie campaign, dipped slightly to eight last season and is leading the way with four quarterback spikes in the early going of 2016.

Bazzie, who will try to bring down Stamps pivot Bo Levi Mitchell on Friday (8 p.m. at McMahon Stadium, TSN, News Talk 770) is in disbelief he’s atop the sack standings. “I’m surprised and shocked that I’m leading, to be honest,” Bazzie said. “My goal isn’t focused on leading the league.

“My goal is just to make plays that are going to help my team win games.”