Game is not always about the numbers for Ticats’ Fantuz
But big contract brings big expectations
‘WIN, IT’S ALL GOOD’
HAMILTON • Wherever he has played, Andy Fantuz has always been the big story.
The 2005 Hec Crighton Trophy winner was beloved at the University of Western Ontario. He had his boyish smile on cereal boxes in Saskatchewan, with that bent nose trying to curve around his left cheek. And no other Canadian at an NFL training camp was ever followed as much as Fantuz when he was with the Chicago Bears last summer.
Even when he was half a world away, in northern Tanzania, his move to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats was the most interesting of February’s free agency period.
So though the 28-year-old said after practice Thursday it was simply time to move on from Saskatchewan, and then nervously giggled off any notion his former teammates might target him, Fantuz said it is “great” to open the 2012 season against the Roughriders Friday night at Ivor Wynne Stadium.
“Maybe for the other guys it is not relevant for them,” Fantuz said, standing in the end zone, “but I’ ll have a lot of family here, and my following is really excited about this game. It makes it a lot more fun.”
Hamilton’s home opener should be about so much more than Fantuz’s first game in black and gold, and first since an ankle injury ended his 2011 season last October, after he was cut by Chicago. New starting quarterback Henry Burris and new head coach George Cortez also make their regular season debuts Friday, along with new defensive coordinator Casey Creehan’s energetic defence.
But most of the expected near sellout crowd — particularly 150 of Fantuz’s closest friends and family — will have their eyes on No. 83. Not only is the 2010 outstanding Canadian from Chatham, Ont., two hours away, he is a big receiver with big hands and a big contract, reportedly worth $190,000 a season. The 6-foot-4 Fantuz represents Hamilton’s championship desires, despite making one catch in the pre-season.
“I hope everyone gets a chance to make plays, and we spread the ball around,” Fantuz said predictably. “[Cortez] designs plays, and creates motions so even if we’re running the same play, different guys can be doing different routes through the plays. We can do the same things three different times in the game, but have a different guy catch the exact same pattern.”
And even if his coaches and teammates shrug off statistical projections in late June — “We don’t know who the No. 1 [receiver] is until the end of the year,” receivers coach Jeremaine Copeland said — Fantuz still has a label.
“The one area I’ve definitely seen a lot of growth [from Fantuz] is the leadership,” Burris said. “A lot of the guys, from [veteran non-import receiver Dave] Stala all the way to [young import receivers] Bakari Grant and Chris Williams, those guys rallied around a guy like Andy, because he has that presence about himself when he steps into the locker room, and on the field. When he is put into a position to make plays, he is going to do whatever he can to make plays.”
In Hamilton’s primarily passing offence, designed by Cortez and powered by Burris’s right arm, the bar for Fantuz will be high. His league-leading 1,380 yards from 2010 is a benchmark he thinks, not a peak.
“[Fantuz] has got a good eye for the ball,” Copeland said, “so if you’re throwing him the deep ball, and he’s covered one-on-one, eight out of 10 times he is still going to make the play because he is going to have a better judgment of the ball in the air than the defensive back.”
The expectations begin to bubble Friday, although Fantuz wants everyone to believe his number of catches do not matter.
“Win,” he said with a mischievous grin. “If we win it’s