Paul McCallum released

[CardiacKid]

I am already hoping the Lions have some extra cap room from the restructuring of Lulay's contract to bring Sean Whyte back west at the end of the year. Wally says he isn't big on the free agent market but a quality national kicker is worth the extra $.

[Rammer]

I think the words are important.

McCallum says he was asked to retire or he would be released.

McCallum has committed to the Lions for this season and was looking forward to the season. When Leone and Fera became available the situation changed.

I think what upset McCallum was Wally's statement that he had asked to be released. McCallum says that is b.s. McCallum didn't want to retire so the Lions released him. Wally can be very good at spin and manipulating the media.

I think its important to tell the truth to the media when you are making decisions with a player who has been a very important long time contributor to your team. McCallum is a future Hall of Famer and perhaps the best clutch field goal kicker in CFL history along with Dave Cutler.

The Lions wanted McCallum to retire, to ease the p.r. aspect of the Leos deciding to go in a different direction. They released McCallum, plain and simple when he didn't want to retire. McCallum believed he deserved the dignity of the truth.

I don't think its simple semantics. If any one of us was brought in by the boss and informed that we were going to be let go but we could retire instead (for either the organization's or our own personal optics) and then the boss said we were the one who asked to be let go, we wouldn't appreciate it.

I trust McCallum's words. He's always been a straight shooter. He told TSN Radio it was B.S. that he asked to be released and I believe him. Wally's record of releasing vets with all kinds of clouds and rainy skies hanging all over the process is well documented over a long period of time.

Its never an easy thing but its been very rare that a long serving Leo has not left bitter because of the way things were handled by Wally. I have no problem with Wally letting go of players when he determines their time has arrived...usually he has got it right, on a few occasions he was too early, but often teams hang onto a vet for too long.

But somehow, when releasing a vet, instead of the straight forward way, Wally usually has to manipulate it in some way or another. Wally always likes to look good to the media and press as his priority. It's his MO and the player is usually the one who pays the price for that.

I wish Paul McCallum well. I hope he gets picked up by a team later in the season if he still wants to keep kicking. There is also a good chance he has kicked his last field goal.


Either way, thanks for the memories Paul. I will always remember McCallum completely ignoring Wally, (who wanted to punt )running out on the field to kick that very long field goal that kept our winning streak alive in 2011. Its amazing that McCallum, at his age, was able to perform as he did and he gave our Leos the best performance of his very successful career.

I would agree with most players being Wallyeyed through the media. However, knowing Paul's rather cut and dry responses from the past when things didn't go right, you know that he is going to read it to the letter on the release. Then he is going to make it sound the way he wants it to sound. I wasn't surprised by his comments afterwards, and in the end it doesn't really matter, he made his choice in the direction he thinks is best for himself and the best of luck too him.

For those of you who think that the missed 17 yard FG helped the Lions, IMO it almost cost the Lions the WDF. Think about the way Wally approached that OT drive afterwards, running the ball to count on a 38 yard FG for the win. Had McCallum hit the FG, the Lions go for the TD and they way they were moving the ball at that point of the game it may have proved to be the safest route. Miss the 38 yard FG, just long enough to allow the Riders to run/punt it out and the Riders win by 1 point. Wally played it conservatively which is expected given his history, and counted on Duncan O'Mahony to get them to the GC. It all worked out in the end, but the pressure was placed squarely on the shoulders of O'Mahony, a feat he couldn't do the next season.

[Toppy Vann]

I am already hoping the Lions have some extra cap room from the restructuring of Lulay's contract to bring Sean Whyte back west at the end of the year. Wally says he isn't big on the free agent market but a quality national kicker is worth the extra $.

If the Lions get a kicker in regular season like these guys are doing in TC, then they won't need Sean Whyte and I doubt Popp would let him go. The Lions wouldn't overbid.

[Sir Purrcival]

The man has been a great player and athlete. I haven't read every post in this thread but while I have mixed feelings about anyone having to leave their preferred vocation, I am having some challenges feeling sorry for Paul. If he has been asked to retire or told he wasn't making the team or whatever, that it came to this is not a surprise. Leaving on your own terms means leaving before someone makes the decision for you. As a professional athlete, that usually comes long before the age of 45. How should it come as a surprise when he has been in the league as long as he has and has been with this team as long as he has? How many players has he seen over the years who were removed from the game by means other than choice. I know things like this are never easy especially when it applies to yourself but it has been apparent to just about everyone who watches this team that the sands were running low on Paul's career. I don't know if Paul saw things in the same way but by hanging on as long as he did, he increased the risk of this happening. He isn't the first athlete to do find himself in this situation, Carl Kidd comes to mind. It can be hard to let go but all of us find ourselves in that situation one way or another as time, age and use take from us the abilities we once had. Paul has had an incredible run, better that most when it comes to that and has created an outstanding legacy. I do hope that he reflects long and hard before making his decision. Better to go out gracefully after a long and distinguished career than to try and hang on despite the obvious facts of the situation. I would much rather remember his as the great player he was rather than the guy who hung on to long and too tightly.

I do wish that somehow the Lions could find some more polish on how these situations unfold. He is told to retire, is he released? I for one am tired of the mixed messages and bad feelings that seem to come up when we get to this point in a players career. Dave Dickenson, Jason Clermont, Barrin Simpson, Korey Banks, Carl Kidd to name a few. Seems to me that there is a lot of good mentoring that we lose out on everytime we p'off a great former player by the way we handle the end of their time with the team.

[sj-roc]

The man has been a great player and athlete. I haven't read every post in this thread but while I have mixed feelings about anyone having to leave their preferred vocation, I am having some challenges feeling sorry for Paul. If he has been asked to retire or told he wasn't making the team or whatever, that it came to this is not a surprise. Leaving on your own terms means leaving before someone makes the decision for you. As a professional athlete, that usually comes long before the age of 45. How should it come as a surprise when he has been in the league as long as he has and has been with this team as long as he has? How many players has he seen over the years who were removed from the game by means other than choice. I know things like this are never easy especially when it applies to yourself but it has been apparent to just about everyone who watches this team that the sands were running low on Paul's career. I don't know if Paul saw things in the same way but by hanging on as long as he did, he increased the risk of this happening. He isn't the first athlete to do find himself in this situation, Carl Kidd comes to mind. It can be hard to let go but all of us find ourselves in that situation one way or another as time, age and use take from us the abilities we once had. Paul has had an incredible run, better that most when it comes to that and has created an outstanding legacy. I do hope that he reflects long and hard before making his decision. Better to go out gracefully after a long and distinguished career than to try and hang on despite the obvious facts of the situation. I would much rather remember his as the great player he was rather than the guy who hung on to long and too tightly.

Agreed. Does he not recall that it was he who figured largely 20 years ago in bringing to an unceremonious end the career of Dave Ridgway, who was only 36 at the time? What comes around goes around.

[Big Time]

I just don't see how this situation could have been handled with more "polish". Here's how I see the scenario unfolded:

Paul comes to camp. Tedford quickly decides PM is not going to be his kicker. Rather than let the situation drag out, Wally approaches Paul and basically gives him a chance to decide his fate. He can either choose to retire, or he will be released. Paul's chances of catching on elsewhere are probably slim, so Wally is giving Paul a choice. He tells Paul to go home, talk it over with his family, and let him know in a couple of days.

When the media asks why Paul isn't at camp, Tedford and Wally both say Paul is at home for "personal reasons". To me, this is showing respect and sensitivity to the situation. They are not letting people know about the details of the situation, although many are speculating.

Paul is rightfully upset and feels like he's been given an ultimatum: retire or you'll be cut. While that's essentially the case, I can see how Wally basically told the vet he's not in the team's plans and is giving him a chance to decide what he wants to do. If Paul refuses to retire, then he is effectively choosing to be cut. That's just business.

While I can't speak to how Paul performed at training camp, it's the coach and GM's choice on which players they want to continue with. My guess is that Paul is pissed because he trained all off season and came into camp expecting to have a shot and the new coach decided he'd rather go with someone younger. This can be a big blow to a person's self-esteem, and Paul is likely upset about not being cut in the off-season rather than now when he has less chance to catch on elsewhere.

Either way, I don't fault the Lions here one bit. They probably wanted to give Paul a shot, and when they realized he's not what they want, they acted quickly. Paul comes across looking pretty poorly in all of this by the way he's handled it. As a veteran, he knows how this story plays out. There was no reason for him to think things would be different for him. The Lions need to get younger, cheaper, and better at this position. Paul is not likely to be able to do any of those things. This decision was a no brainer.

[sj-roc]

For those of you who think that the missed 17 yard FG helped the Lions, IMO it almost cost the Lions the WDF. Think about the way Wally approached that OT drive afterwards, running the ball to count on a 38 yard FG for the win. Had McCallum hit the FG, the Lions go for the TD and they way they were moving the ball at that point of the game it may have proved to be the safest route. Miss the 38 yard FG, just long enough to allow the Riders to run/punt it out and the Riders win by 1 point. Wally played it conservatively which is expected given his history, and counted on Duncan O'Mahony to get them to the GC. It all worked out in the end, but the pressure was placed squarely on the shoulders of O'Mahony, a feat he couldn't do the next season.

I think WB was buoyed in that decision by O'Mahony's FG to force OT, which IIRC was the longest one he'd made all year. Of course had we continued on offence we could have turned the ball without scoring to lose the game that way as well, which I think also weighed into the decision. Conservative coaching calls were something of a trademark for him. A couple years later in a game in Ssk with PMcC as our kicker he opted to attempt a punt single in OT FTW, from the 35, without even handing the ball to our O. Which didn't work and we ended up losing that game on the following series of possessions.

[Hambone]

I am already hoping the Lions have some extra cap room from the restructuring of Lulay's contract to bring Sean Whyte back west at the end of the year. Wally says he isn't big on the free agent market but a quality national kicker is worth the extra $.

If the Lions get a kicker in regular season like these guys are doing in TC, then they won't need Sean Whyte and I doubt Popp would let him go. The Lions wouldn't overbid.

Whyte hasn't exactly been Mr. Reliable in the past couple of seasons. Last year was a bit of a bounce back season. There were times in 2013 where he really struggled.

After practice yesterday David was asking what positives stood out. Consensus between him, myself and Bosco was kicking, and all aspects of it. It really got to the point during the controlled scrimmage whenever they switched to run a special teams play, be it KO, FG or punt everybody in the house stopped to watch. They did those things in pairs. Be it KO, FG or punt both kickers got a rep then they'd move on to another series of offence. On FGs each tried from distances ranging from 42 to 50. Collectively they were 7 for 8. The only miss was Fera pulling one a bit wide left from 50 and that ball sailed past the uprights about 3/4 of the way up. All 8 attempts landed 10 yards deep in the endzone or deeper. On KOs Leone had one come down around the 20. That was the only "short" one. Every other KO was fielded down at the 5. On punts Fera shanked one. Everything else was anywheres from good to great. Leone really tagged one that went about 60+ that Caravatta speculated came down with snow on it in the +33 temps. Normally if one was to come away from camp most excited about the kickers that would not be a good sign but they just stood out so much that it's impossible not to get excited about the potential upgrade to all aspects of the kicking game.

[Big Time]

For those of you who think that the missed 17 yard FG helped the Lions, IMO it almost cost the Lions the WDF. Think about the way Wally approached that OT drive afterwards, running the ball to count on a 38 yard FG for the win. Had McCallum hit the FG, the Lions go for the TD and they way they were moving the ball at that point of the game it may have proved to be the safest route. Miss the 38 yard FG, just long enough to allow the Riders to run/punt it out and the Riders win by 1 point. Wally played it conservatively which is expected given his history, and counted on Duncan O'Mahony to get them to the GC. It all worked out in the end, but the pressure was placed squarely on the shoulders of O'Mahony, a feat he couldn't do the next season.

I think WB was buoyed in that decision by O'Mahony's FG to force OT, which IIRC was the longest one he'd made all year. Of course had we continued on offence we could have turned the ball without scoring to lose the game that way as well, which I think also weighed into the decision. Conservative coaching calls were something of a trademark for him. A couple years later in a game in Ssk with PMcC as our kicker he opted to attempt a punt single in OT FTW, from the 35, without even handing the ball to our O. Which didn't work and we ended up losing that game on the following series of possessions.

Conservative is right. You may not recall this but that field goal to tie it was nearly never attempted. Wally was set to go for it on 3rd and 6 with I believe around 6 seconds on the clock. O'Mahony had to plead with Wally to let him take a shot, which you are correct, was the longest he had made all year. O'Mahony had been incredibly inconsistent that year and making it from 40+ was often an adventure. Luckily, Wally changed his mind, and Duncan made the kick of his life when it mattered. IIRC, something strange also happened with the timecount not starting and the Riders were furious that a timecount violation was not called. Lions essentially got a free time out to get the kick off.

I also found that OT a bit odd. As others have pointed out, most Riders fans seem to forget that the Riders had the ball first. So the MFG did not cost them the game. The Lions still would have had a possession afterwards. Second, after the MFG, the Lions seemed determined to kick no matter what the outcome of the first play. They ran a draw right up the middle to try and position the ball and then brought Duncan out to kick the 40 yarder. Again, this was far from automatic but Duncan came through.

Funniest part for me was that because of the stress and intensity of the game, I had not realized that Paul's miss resulted in a single point. So I didn't even realize that if Duncan had missed, the Lions would have likely lost the game. So I was considerably less stressed about the Duncan kick in OT because I thought at worst the game is just tied and they play another round of possessions. Whoops!

[MacNews]

PM has issued a statement via Twitter:

Paul McCallum ‏@PaulMcCallum4 · 2h2 hours ago
I don't usually do this but I want it to be very clear! I did not ask to be released! I was told to retire or I would be cut.

DH

Unfortunate the Lions didn't do this in the off-season, to get the headlines out of the way and avoid some training camp drama.

[KnowItAll]

was Lui told that he "needed" to retire???

[Sir Purrcival]

I just don't see how this situation could have been handled with more "polish".

I was in part working on a post in this thread that suggested that the Lions media release might have been misleading in regards to why Paul was no longer on the team. Don't know if that is factual or not but certainly it seems par for this team. If it is the case, there is a purrfect example of polish. If you are going to make an announcement, be prepared to tell whole story, not just the version that puts you in a more flattering light.

Did the Lions do what they needed to do? Absolutely. You can't deny however that when it comes time for a player to move on, too often it seems to come with some kind of drama. Once in awhile ok, but this seems to be a regular occurrence with this team. As I recall, it was also an issue when Wally was in Calgary too. What it suggests to me is that there is little preparation being given to players in the way of suggestions or words of wisdom. Did Wally say to Paul at any point in the off season that his odds might be long in making the team this year? Don't know. We know that Geroy left in a huff, Korey Banks, Jason Clermont, Carl Kidd, Dante Marsh, Barrin Simpson, and the list goes on. There are lots of ways to give bad news to players so that the blow comes a little softer. It's a tough business and these things do have to be done but look at the way the Riders handled Geroy last season. Pretty classy if you ask me for a 1 year player. Any thought to asking Paul for help to coach or train a new kicker? Any thought of a role for him if he retired? I don't have the answer to these questions but all these vets represent a pool of knowledge and experience. Having them gone on bad terms may not be unavoidable but sure should be minimized for the future well being of the team. Maybe if the Dave Dickenson scenario had been handled differently, he wouldn't have been lost to this organization. Competition for good personnel is tough enough, the Lions don't need bad endings compounding the issue. No team would.

Is it just an issue of dealing with Prima Donna's? In the end, I don't think it matters. It is the responsibility of the management to try and take care of players and the fans who support them. No one feels good when a long time player leaves the team in a bad state having negative things to say about the team and the management. Who likes it when family is fighting? Just brings everyone down.

[The_Pauser]

was Lui told that he "needed" to retire???

Does it matter?

Paul was offered the opportunity to go out on his own terms and announce his retirement as a Lion. The Lions did not need to do that for him, as they could have simply just cut him. I don't think this was handled poorly by the Lions at all (though, as mentioned earlier it does rub me the wrong way whenever anyone asks someone to retire). It's professional sports, and as we saw yesterday we have two great kicking prospects who look like they will give us an advantage in the kicking game for once.

I have felt in recent years that our kicking was a weak spot on this team. Finally it seems like this is being rectified.

[Hambone]

was Lui told that he "needed" to retire???

Lui knew it was time. It was well known before the season was over that it would be his final season. There was a huge (for 2000) crowd of over 33000 for the final regular season game because it would be Lui's final game at BCP. If I recall they honoured him with a post-game celebration on the field.

[Robbie]

For those of you who think that the missed 17 yard FG helped the Lions, IMO it almost cost the Lions the WDF. Think about the way Wally approached that OT drive afterwards, running the ball to count on a 38 yard FG for the win. Had McCallum hit the FG, the Lions go for the TD and they way they were moving the ball at that point of the game it may have proved to be the safest route. Miss the 38 yard FG, just long enough to allow the Riders to run/punt it out and the Riders win by 1 point. Wally played it conservatively which is expected given his history, and counted on Duncan O'Mahony to get them to the GC. It all worked out in the end, but the pressure was placed squarely on the shoulders of O'Mahony, a feat he couldn't do the next season.

40 yard field goal attempt as indicated in the second video.
[video][/video]
[video][/video]

I think WB was buoyed in that decision by O'Mahony's FG to force OT, which IIRC was the longest one he'd made all year. Of course had we continued on offence we could have turned the ball without scoring to lose the game that way as well, which I think also weighed into the decision. Conservative coaching calls were something of a trademark for him. A couple years later in a game in Ssk with PMcC as our kicker he opted to attempt a punt single in OT FTW, from the 35, without even handing the ball to our O. Which didn't work and we ended up losing that game on the following series of possessions.

That said, was there ever a time that a kicker intentionally kicked for the rouge to win the game? I remember at least once incident. Right before Lui's attempt in to win the 1994 Grey Cup, the commentators brought up the possibility of punting through the end zone for a single point to win, but obviously Lui did not do that especially since his second to last attempt failed and was brought out. Anyways, the intentional rouge occurred in the Lions third to last regular season game in the 1991 season at Commonwealth Stadium. The Lions went to overtime six times that regular season, winning three and losing three and those were the days when two 5-minute halves were played. The game was tied up at 38 after regulation and the Lions took possession at the start of the first overtime and neither team scored. At the second half Edmonton opted to kickoff with the belief that they could stop the Lions with a quick 2 and out and gain possession themselves to put time off the clock and make a late score. However, this time Flutie and the Lions offence managed to drive down the field and with just enough time for one last play, Passaglia was brought in for a chip shot field goal from the left hashmark. However, Passaglia intentionally kicked to the left presumably to avoid Eskimos jumping up to block the attempt, and the ball obviously missed but went through the end zone for a Lions 39-38 win.

That win gave the Lions a 2-1 season series win over the Eskimos and would have given the Lions 1st place tiebreaker had the teams finished tied.....but alas the ill-fated regular season loss over the lowly Tiger-Cats resulted in the Lions 3rd place.

Funniest part for me was that because of the stress and intensity of the game, I had not realized that Paul's miss resulted in a single point. So I didn't even realize that if Duncan had missed, the Lions would have likely lost the game. So I was considerably less stressed about the Duncan kick in OT because I thought at worst the game is just tied and they play another round of possessions. Whoops!

Yeah, and you almost suffered a heart attack as you stated a few times before in the past. Did you bother to stay around to see the newly designed trophy presentation?
So....how about talking about the 2006 and 2011 WDF instead in which McCallum did his job and you and all Lions fans were not even close to getting a heart attack with the blowout wins? What was your best memory for those two blowout WDF wins other than not getting a heart attack?