Chamblin has little option but to change quarterbacks
Kerry Joseph is 41 going on 29. Lately, only the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ fans have shown signs of aging.
Hence the likelihood of Joseph starting at quarterback in Sunday’s CFL game against the visiting Edmonton Eskimos.
In adherence to recent tradition, Roughriders head coach Corey Chamblin would not confirm the identity of the team’s frontline quarterback following Day 1 of practice. Although Joseph took the first-team reps on Thursday, Chamblin said that Friday’s session — which is closed to the media and fans — will include more of a division of labour.
But, really, Chamblin doesn’t have any choice but to go with Joseph on Sunday. Tino Sunseri and Seth Doege, both of whom have seen starting duty in the absence of franchise player Darian Durant, simply are not ready. That has been evident during five full games without Durant.
The Roughriders have lost four times since Durant suffered a torn tendon in his right elbow on Sept. 7. In each of the past five games, the Roughriders have staggered out of the starting gate.
Sunseri has enjoyed a couple of impressive second halves, but 30 minutes of inspired football will not suffice against a revitalized Eskimos team that looks very much like a meat grinder. So hello again, Joseph. When he was last seen behind centre during live combat on Taylor Field, the year was 2007. He was enjoying a storybook season that culminated in a 23-19 Grey Cup victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Three days earlier, he had been named the CFL’s most outstanding player.
At the time, Joseph had just turned 34 — which is rather antiquated for a pro athlete — and he is now the oldest player in Roughriders history.
However, he still looks and sounds the same as he did in 2007. With that in mind, Joseph was jokingly asked if he really is 41 years of age.
“When Corey called me, I was celebrating my 41st birthday, but then when I signed, I went back to 29,” Joseph, who had not played football this season until rejoining the Roughriders last week, said with a laugh. “When I step back off the field, I’ll go back to being 41 again.” Why not, say, 24? “We’ll stay at 29,” he responded. “We’ll stay under 30. In this league, as long as you’re under 30, they’re kind of hesitant to get rid of you, so we’ll stay at 29.”
Joseph was 29 when he made his CFL debut with the Ottawa Renegades in 2003. Now the latest Ottawa franchise, the Redblacks, is closing out its inaugural season. The mere association with Ottawa’s previous franchise is a testament to Joseph’s longevity.
After the Renegades folded, then-Roughriders general manager Roy Shivers traded up to select Joseph first overall in a dispersal draft on April 12, 2006.
That No. 1 selection originally belonged to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, who received tailback/returner Corey Holmes in the swap with Saskatchewan.
As part of that deal, the Roughriders and Tiger-Cats exchanged negotiation-list quarterbacks. Hamilton received the rights to Reggie Ball while a young quarterback named Darian Durant became Roughriders property.
Durant was the thirdstringer behind Joseph and Marcus Crandell when Saskatchewan won the Grey Cup in 2007. During that season, Joseph routinely shrugged off would-be tacklers and, when necessary, ran over them to move the chains.
Joseph’s style makes his extended, atypical shelf life as a CFL quarterback even more remarkable. He absorbed the hits in 2005, becoming one of only three quarterbacks in league history to rush for more than 1,000 yards in a season. Two years later, he rushed for 13 touchdowns for the third championship team in Roughriders history.
“OK, I might not be as fast as I was in ’07, but I think my arm is still just as lively as it was back then,” Joseph said. “When you lose something physically, you gain something mentally.”
The judicious decisions that come with experience have helped Joseph play into his 40s.
“As I got older, I learned how to slide,” he said with a smile. “I learned how to get out of bounds. You just know when to take the hits and when not to. When you know you have to go get a yard, hey, you go play football. But when you don’t have to take it, you get out of bounds or you throw the ball away because you’ve got to be able to survive.”
The Roughriders are also in survival mode while Durant is unavailable.
Quarterbacking-wise, the Roughriders are desperate for a solution. Joseph is apparently poised to become Saskatchewan’s third starting pivot in as many games.
The situation is far from ideal and, in fact, invites questions as to whether the late-season dusting off of a 41-year-old quarterback can possibly be successful.
Keep in mind, though, that Joseph has defied Father Time like few players in CFL history. Perhaps he can defy the skeptics as well.