Gizmo tutors kick-returners
Former star looks like he could still play, 12 years after retiring
The Edmonton Eskimos return game was workmanlike in 2011, but it lacked a little something, that game-breaking play, that explosive quality, that dagger to the opponent’s heart.
It had one spectacular gadget play on Labour Day, but it certainly had no Gizmo, as in Henry Lee Williams, the onetime Eskimos star who lit up CFL cover teams over a 14-year career from 1986-2000.
Of course, since Williams “retired,” if that’s the right word, the Eskimos have gone through a parade of return men, with varying degrees of success.
In the post-gizmo era, Winston October, Tony Thompson, Ezra Landry, Tristan Jackson, Skyler Green and others all have filled the job description that Williams put a unique trademark on for nearly a decade and a half.
Last season alone, Brandon James, rayfisher, brianbonner, Weldon Brown and veteran Jason Armstead all handled return duties. Only Brown returns from that group, and he’s a capable returner, but he’s mostly valued as a defensive back.
A new crop of prospective returners, including speedster Yamon Figurs, Joe Burnett, Pete Ittersagen and others, got their first lessons in its importance to the Canadian game on Sunday at Commonwealth Stadium. Figurs tweaked his right knee somewhat, which is a shame. His speed stood out, for sure.
For that matter, so did Gizmo Williams, who was out on the field on Day 1 of training camp, unmistakable with his V-shaped torso, his marble slab of a back, the sleeves of his yellow Eskimos top bulging with muscles a 50-year-old simply is not supposed to have.
Since he left the game, Williams has continued to keep his pocket-sized body outrageously ripped through daily workouts and his work as a personal trainer. When pro football players stare at a retired player, that says a lot
“The comment is what lab did he come out of,” Eskimos coach Kavis Reed said about the utterances Williams’ presence was eliciting from some of the club’s gobsmacked rookies.
“No, the guy is in phenomenal shape and I think he’s going to probably die that way. He takes care of his body and that’s very important for the young guys to see, as well.”
Reed had Williams instructing the prospective return men in the finer details of a position that requires courage, speed, alertness and a sharp football I.Q., among other things. Who better to teach them?
“He had 28 touchdowns called back and I think he had 26 (punt-return) TDS,” Reed said about Williams’ CFL career totals. “He’s a returner that truly epitomized how to use this field.
“He talks about angles; he talks about cutting off the angles of the defenders by being explosive and hitting the gap; he talks making one guy miss, probably sometimes making two guys miss; the angle of the ball coming off the foot of the punter, how to get a head start on that so when you catch the ball so you’re (running) downhill, not at a standstill.
“Those are technical things that a proven veteran like Gizmo can impart on the young guys.”
Not to mention demonstrating a larger-than-life enthusiasm, and an intense sense of purpose about being a return man.
Reed screened some of Williams’ career highlights for the newcomers on Saturday night, so they could put the hyper, chatterbox fitness fanatic in proper context during the workout.
“I’m obviously new to this organization, so I just realized how legendary Gizmo is,” said Ittersagen, a free-agent kick returner and cornerback from Chicago out of Wheaton College.
“He’s a great teacher and a great coach. We saw highlight tape last night of him doing flips in the end zone, and that was fun.”
At one point after practice, Burnett, a rookie return man/ cornerback, jogged over to Williams to wish him happy birthday, at the urging of some alumni. Williams, who turned 50 on Thursday, ate up all the attention, but he really poured himself into his on-field tutoring work on Sunday.
For Williams, the key to finding a return man who is a reasonable facsimile of himself is identifying an athlete with a passion for the job.
“You got to find a guy who wants to do that,” Williams said. “I wanted to do that.
“It’s not, ‘Can we find somebody to do it?’ You’ve got to find somebody who wants to do it. You’re like the quarterback on offence, you’re like the middle linebacker or the free safety on defence.
“When you’re back there, everything lies in your hands.
“Whether you fumble the ball, whether you bring it out of the end zone, whether you return it for a TD, you are the man taking control of the game now.”
If Reed can find someone with something even close to that mindset and the skills to back it up, he’ll be a happy man.