Emry's going into his 8th season as a middle linebacker and he's had pretty significant brain trauma.  Wouldn't call that prime.

 

Significant brain trauma? 

 

 

Concussions.

@mattsekeres: #BCLions kicker Paul McCallum, the oldest player in the #CFL, has left camp to deal with a personal matter. No set timeline on a return.

@mattsekeres: #BCLions kicker Paul McCallum, the oldest player in the #CFL, has left camp to deal with a personal matter. No set timeline on a return.

 

Paul McCallum's "personal matter" is an aversion to running.

 

@mattsekeres: #BCLions kicker Paul McCallum, the oldest player in the #CFL, has left camp to deal with a personal matter. No set timeline on a return.

 

Paul McCallum's "personal matter" is an aversion to running.

 

 

No, it was the HC's aversion to Canadian kickers:

 

From Lowell Ulrich's blog:

 

The oldest player in the CFL was asked in the afternoon by general manager Wally Buono to retire when coach Jeff Tedford made the determination that the Lions kicking needs can be handled by the American tandem of Richie Leone and Anthony Fera.

 

Nobody was saying much about what took place, but McCallum’s locker stall had been cleared out and the 23-year veteran had headed home to the Lower Mainland. He’ll be given a few days to determine if he would like the Lions to release him so he can try to latch on with another team, or retire.

 

http://blogs.theprovince.com/2015/06/04/lions-ask-mccallum-to-retire/

@mattsekeres: #BCLions kicker Paul McCallum, the oldest player in the #CFL, has left camp to deal with a personal matter. No set timeline on a return.

Paul McCallum's "personal matter" is an aversion to running.

No, it was the HC's aversion to Canadian kickers:

From Lowell Ulrich's blog:

The oldest player in the CFL was asked in the afternoon by general manager Wally Buono to retire when coach Jeff Tedford made the determination that the Lions kicking needs can be handled by the American tandem of Richie Leone and Anthony Fera.

Nobody was saying much about what took place, but McCallum’s locker stall had been cleared out and the 23-year veteran had headed home to the Lower Mainland. He’ll be given a few days to determine if he would like the Lions to release him so he can try to latch on with another team, or retire.

http://blogs.theprovince.com/2015/06/04/lions-ask-mccallum-to-retire/

Good job, lions. I love that they are replacing one 'quality Canadian' with 2 unproven Americans.

I hope we are looking back on 23 years of Lirim one day.

That's cold. I hope both kickers suck. Poor ratio management too. Lose a NI and add two Is.

Not going to get into the whole ratio and roster management angle of this. I will just say this. Wally can be a pretty classless guy when it comes to parting ways with veteran multi-year Lions.

Might wanna see a game before cutting a HOF kicker who has seen every kind of weather imaginable.

So they're planning on using 2 DI spots on kickers?... that doesn't make much sense to me... if they had one guy who could do both that would be understandable...

It makes sense if you have a Swayze Waters, this not so much.

Everything that's been going on in BC screams out that they are going to have a terrible year. But it's still hard to write off a Buono team.

Finally a job opens up for Westwood.  He's been staring at his phone, cursing the 2 hour time difference all morning.  It's going to ring!

 

I don't think McCallum should expect to play forever, but this just seems bizarre.  If you wanted to push him out, why not use a late draft pick on a Canadian punter and see if you get lucky?  It seems like they forgot to plan for their kicking game in the offseason.

Could Wally be entering his dotage?

I don't see 2 imports being used as kickers in BC.  It just doesn't make any sense to me ratio wise.  

 

I don't have a problem with giving McCallum a choice of retiring or being cut.  Kinda a vet advantage. If McCallum's time has come, cut him behind closed doors like every other player.  

Wally is a genius he can do no wrong

If Tedford will use 2 DI spot for import kickers, then he's worse than Bart Andrus who used a DI on a OL.

I feel like the article is poorly worded, I got the impression that he's going to let the winner of the battle between Leone and Fera do the job. But I think that's mostly just because I'm hoping for Tedford's sake that he's not stupid enough to use 2 DI spots on the kicking game.

Maybe McCallum is considering catching on with the riders....that oughta be good....heh heh..

From the Argos, TC Family Guy style:

 

https://youtu.be/AN_bvyqsK-8

If Tedford will use 2 DI spot for import kickers, then he's worse than Bart Andrus who used a DI on a OL.

 

That's what I was thinking too.  Count Chocula 2.0.

Wally can be a pretty classless guy when it comes to parting ways with veteran multi-year Lions.

 

yeah no one does it like Wally does.  Even when he was with Calgary.  Allen Pitts, Geroy, Barrin Simpson, and now McCallum. 

 

Maybe McCallum is considering catching on with the riders....that oughta be good....heh heh..

 

Lol, that'd be interesting, but I really hope it doesn't happen. The last thing the Riders need is an old kicker. We need a young kicker that's dependable for more than one or two seasons.

 

Everything that's been going on in BC screams out that they are going to have a terrible year. But it's still hard to write off a Buono team.

 

Yup, they can be an unpredictable bunch. No one thought after they started off 0-5 in 2011 that they'd end up winning the cup! They're still the most logical choice of team to miss the playoffs in the West though, so I won't hold my breath.

Yup, they can be an unpredictable bunch. No one thought after they started off 0-5 in 2011 that they'd end up winning the cup! They're still the most logical choice of team to miss the playoffs in the West though, so I won't hold my breath.

 

 

This, they are putting their season on a damaged shoulder. One hit is all it takes and Lulay is done again.

Arash Madani @ArashMadani

On new Stamps LB Brandon Harper: Widener alum, where Mike Kelly is head coach. Pipeline to John Murphy, once his right-hand man in WPG. #CFL

 

Good to see the database is still humming...
 

I think it's worth noting that Kelly guided Widener to a 12-1 record last season.