JUST FOR KICKS
Leone earns job as B.C. Lions kicker.
His soaring, majestic punts make Richie Leone seem like a guy who could hang with Ray Guy.
At the University of Houston, he was a three-time semifinalist for the Ray Guy Award, named for the fellow Georgian who played for Southern Mississippi, the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders and is considered the greatest punter of all time.
Still, growing up in Georgia, playing collegiate football in Houston and living in Florida doesn’t necessarily prepare an American kicker for a lateseason game on the Canadian prairies.
His booming punts in Friday’s 18-13 pre-season loss to the Edmonton Eskimos demonstrated what a supremely effective weapon he can be.
With the B.C. Lions, however, Leone will be asked to do all three kicking chores — punts, kickoffs and place-kicks. Recruited by Houston as a punter, he has only seven games of collegiate experience as a field goal kicker, taking over that role for the first part of the Cougars’ 2013 season.
Thus, Leone, 23, says he’ll be leaning on Lions’ kicking consultant Don Sweet heavily this season.
“He’ll definitely play a big role,” Leone said Sunday. “The CFL is a bit of a different game. Don not only explains the differences to me, the different situations where you should punt, or not, and why, he’s helped me with some technique things, especially field goals. I’m definitely grateful he’s in the area (Walnut Grove) and only a phone call away.”
Sweet was on the sidelines Friday night as Leone shanked field goal attempts from 37 and 44 yards away. He was successful on a 24-yard attempt and booted a 32-yard convert — the CFL’s new standard for the formerly yawn-inducing extra point. But on a clear, warm night at UBC’s Thunderbird Stadium, with practically no wind, the conditions gave little hint of the lousy weather and vagaries of the environment that come into play in a typical CFL season.
“I was glad to get a couple of misses out of the way,” Leone joked. “It’s a new adventure. Kicking field goals — and punting. I’m really excited.”
Naturally, the Lions are trusting that Leone’s rookie season doesn’t become too much of an adventure.
Without their security blanket — veteran kicker Paul McCallum left Kamloops in the first week of training camp, sensing the team had made up its mind to go with an American punter/kicker — that possibility is out there.
Forced to decide between Leone — a punter who came late to field-goal kicking — and Anthony Fera — a field-goal kicker who came late to punting — the Lions have settled on the high-arcing Leone. “I’m definitely more of a field goal kicker,” admits Fera, also 23.
After transferring to the University of Texas, he kicked and punted for the Longhorns in 2012 and 2013 and was a finalist for the Lou Groza Award, given to the best kicker in NCAA football, in his second year there.
He put his best foot forward at training camp but accepted an assignment to the practice roster on Saturday, having lost out to Leone, his roommate, for an active roster spot, at least to start the season.
One play, or one game away, is the mantra of practice squad players everywhere. They are indeed that close to making the active roster. They also are only one phone call away from joining another team, as Fera is well aware.
“Being able to sign with another team is pretty awesome,” he says. “There are a couple of teams out there, whether CFL or NFL. I’m just talking to my agent, seeing what we can do. For now, I’m here. I signed a practice roster agreement.”
“We’ll be there to push each other,” Leone says. “Anthony knows kicking and punting. He’ll point out something to me, as well as Don. We have a good relationship. I feel like I’m going into the season with two coaches.”
Through all his years in the CFL, McCallum experienced the highs and lows and all the possible in-betweens and little seemed to faze Old Reliable.
No doubt Leone, the young thoroughbred who replaces him, has the leg. But does he have the steely mind and resilient constitution needed for the long run?
END ZONE — Besides Fera, Lions offered practice roster spots to DB Darious Lane, LB Casey Chin, DLs Craig Roh, Maxx Forde and Jamarkus McFarland, WR Terence Jeffers-Harris, RB Keola Antolin and OLs Josh Aladenoye and OL Campbell Allison. To reach the 46-man roster limit, the team released DBs Jordan Rwiyamilira, Josh Brinkworth, Jeremiah Johnson, Myron Lewis, LB Cody Acker, DLs Tim Jackson and Andre Monroe, FB Brandon Deschamps, RBs Rickey Galvin, Damien Thigpen and WRs Tim Vizzi and Whitman Tomusiak.