Paul McCallum to sign with Lions

[Robbie]

Nice article but when mentioning Passaglia kicking the winning points in our Grey Cup win over Montreal, is that Passaaglia missed a 47 yd. field goal attempt and a 33 yd. field goal attempt in that game. Passaglia's winning field goal was from 29 yds.

It's good that you remember that. Passaglia was only 2 out of 5 in field goals in that important game and fortunately it didn't come back and haunt the Lions. The successful field goals were from 23 and 29 yards. He and the Lions were not so fortunately in the 1988 Grey Cup in which he went 1 out of 3 in field goals and that proved a difference in that one point loss.

And the term winning field goal is a slight misnomer as it implies that the Lions were trailing or at least tied in the game and Lui's FG immediately won the game just like the 1994 Grey Cup. Lui's FG in the late stages of the 2000 Grey Cup simply gave the Lions some more breathing room as it extended the lead form 25-20 to 28-20. After that, the Lions secondary really messed up and allowed the Alouettes to allow a late TD to make it 28-26 but the Lions managed to stop the 2-point conversion attempt and then recovered the onside kick. So the article is more accurate in that they eventually turned out to be the winning points, but the term winning field goal is a misnomer. I'm sure you all agree that Lui's last FG in the 2000 Grey Cup doesn't nearly fall in the same category as Lui's final FG in the 1994 Grey Cup, and for the two championships for that matter.

Its amazing Robbie, how, with the passage of time, how reporters can distort or rewrite history, often by omission.

Another example is the 1994 Grey Cup. We see or read about Passaglia kicking the game winning field goal, with no time left on the clock to beat Baltimore. But Passaglia had an opportunity to kick a 37-yard field goal with 1:02 left in regulation and missed. We were very lucky that Baltimore went two and out and Passaglia was given another opportunity from 38 yds. and he is named the Most Outstanding Canadian in the game.

Yes, that's very true. As soon as you mentioned Most Outstanding Canadian, I can't help but comment once again about the huge CBC blunder when they originally announced that he was Most Valuable Player instead of Baltimore's Karl Anthony who won it in a losing cause. It's good that the Lions defence forced Baltimore to do a two and out - on first down the stopped Mike Pringle with only a small gain on a rushing play, and then most importantly forced an incomplete pass when Tracy Ham attempted a passing play on 2nd down. Now suppose.....Lui managed to score with 37-yards left. With 1:02 remaining there was still enough time for Baltimore to go downfield to tie the game with a FG of their own or even with with a TD.

Ten years ago on this thread http://lionbackers.com/bc_lions/viewtop ... 1&start=75 I mentioned that in a CBC article about the best Grey Cup games it made an extremely inaccurate statement about the 2000 Grey Cup when it stated that the Lions trailed Montreal 26-25 late in the game and then Lui came in and kicked the Grey Cup winning field goal for the 28-26 win.

Speaking of field goals in a Grey Cup - Passaglia went 5 out of 6 in the 1985 Grey Cup and that gave the Lions some breathing room in their 37-24 win. We all know that McCallum went 6 for 6 to complement the only single converted TD in the 25-14 2006 Grey Cup. And McCallum went 4 for 5 in the eventual 34-23 win in the 2011 Grey Cup, including the last FG after Winnipeg scored two late TD's to make it a two score lead. In the 1983 Grey Cup, the Argonauts with Hank Ilesic only went 1-4 in FG's and may have gotten the lead earlier had he converted them. And in the 1988 Grey Cup, Winnipeg only scored one TD as opposed to BC's two TD's but the difference was that Trevor Kennerd went 4 for 5 in field goals and Bob Cameron punted very well into the strong wind resulting in a pair of singles in the eventual one point win.

[Hambone]

Its amazing Robbie, how, with the passage of time, how reporters can distort or rewrite history, often by omission.

Probably not unlike hockey. The guy who scores the 3rd goal in a 4-2 game is credited with the game winner regardless of whether the game was tied at 2 at the time or if the team had a 4-0 lead and coasted to the win.

[maxlion]

WHYTE, S EDM 93.5%
HAJRULLAHU, L TOR 87.8%
MEDLOCK, J WPG 87.5%
PAREDES, R CGY 87.5%
CRAPIGNA, T SSK 87.5%
MILO, C OTT 81.0%
MAHER, B HAM 80.9%
FERA, A MTL 80.0%
LEONE, R. B.C. 68.5%

Not sure why the Lions weren't interested in Sean Whyte who was working for a cable company in White Rock when the Esks signed him last year?

Seems a lot of comments are being made with purrfect 20/20 hindsight. The only thing that surprised me about Whyte being on the market for 4 weeks was that the Riders didn't gobble him up. With McCallum and INT Ray Early using up 2 roster spots to share duties they should've been all over Whyte like SolE on a ball carrier. At the time of Whyte's release by Montreal in early August Leone was good on 92% of his kicks going 13 of 14 on FGs (92.8%) and 10 of 11 on converts (90.9%). He also was the newly minted holder of the record for longest FG in team history with a 56 yarder which also was a game winner. Tack on a punting average in the high 40s and what wasn't there to like about their kicking game at that point? Tedford and Buono had to believe they had something special in the 23 year old while at the same time recognizing that as a young kicker there would still be rough patches along the way. As it turned out he did in the 4 weeks Whyte was available. In that period he'd go 3 of 6 in FGs with 1 miss from 40 and two long range attempts of 49 & 50. He went 5 of 6 on converts. IMO that was nothing to raise alarm bells and send them scurrying to the phone for immediate help. You have to give a kicker a chance to work out of things and airlifting someone else in every time a kicker misses a couple won't help.

This is true. I remember well attending the Lions 2nd game of the 2015 season (I remember it particularly well as it is the only live game I've attended in the past 5 years, don't get into the city much!). Anyways, Lulay threw for over 400 yards and the Lions won in overtime after Leone kicked a 56 yard field in the last seconds to tie the game. Walking back over Burrard Bridge in the crowd, everyone was talking about the return of Lulay and this wonderful new kicker we had. Hard to believe that this was only last year!

Of course, by the end of the season, I was as disillusioned about both Lulay and Leone as everyone else. Here is what I wrote on the free agent thread in the off season:

WPG has announced that Lirim Hajrullahu won't be returning. He had an outstanding rookie season two years ago, then struggled mightily at field goals last year while still being an effective punter. This could be a great opportunity to lock up a longterm solution for our kicking situation. He's not as good a punter as Leone, and there are no guarantees his placekicking would bounce back, but he is Canadian and could come relatively cheap. He also has a very good head on his shoulders and likely has a very bright post playing future. More worth the gamble than Leone in my opinion.

Too bad Wally wasn't reading Lionbackers that day!

[Robbie]

Its amazing Robbie, how, with the passage of time, how reporters can distort or rewrite history, often by omission.

Probably not unlike hockey. The guy who scores the 3rd goal in a 4-2 game is credited with the game winner regardless of whether the game was tied at 2 at the time or if the team had a 4-0 lead and coasted to the win.

Hmmmm........now it gets really complicated.

In hockey, what if it's a shootout win? Is the last player who scored a goal in the shootout section considered the game winner? Even though that player is not really credited with a goal? I can open up another can of worms with soccer as well as sometimes extra time ties are settled by penalty kicks.

It can get complicated in football as well. Let's take the 2011 Grey Cup. Late in the 3rd quarter the Lions were clinging on to a 17-9 lead when Kierrie Johnson gave the Lions some breathing room by doing a 66-yard catch and run TD to make it 23-9 and Paul McCallum added the convert to make it 24-9. The eventual score was 34-23 for the Lions. I suppose McCallum can be credited for being the official game winning scorer by putting on the 24 point. But can Kierrie Johnson also be credited for the game winning touchdown as without TD, McCallum wouldn't have been able to make the conversion?

All right, no need to be nitpick so much and we can end this now. Good luck McCallum in his fourth stint in the CFL and may he win a third Grey Cup ring.

[Blitz]

Of course, by the end of the season, I was as disillusioned about both Lulay and Leone as everyone else. Here is what I wrote on the free agent thread in the off season:

maxlion wrote:
WPG has announced that Lirim Hajrullahu won't be returning. He had an outstanding rookie season two years ago, then struggled mightily at field goals last year while still being an effective punter. This could be a great opportunity to lock up a longterm solution for our kicking situation. He's not as good a punter as Leone, and there are no guarantees his placekicking would bounce back, but he is Canadian and could come relatively cheap. He also has a very good head on his shoulders and likely has a very bright post playing future. More worth the gamble than Leone in my opinion.

Too bad Wally wasn't reading Lionbackers that day!

It is very too bad, maxlion. Good choice. You were wise!!!

[DanoT]

The thing that concerns me about McCallum coming out of retirement is that due to age and lack of conditioning he is extra susceptible to a muscle pull.

[Blitz]

The thing that concerns me about McCallum coming out of retirement is that due to age and lack of conditioning he is extra susceptible to a muscle pull.

Well Dano T - its back to Leone then. Nothing lost. The only other option is to have Wally activated to kick field goals. He was a punter at one time in Montreal as well as played linebacker.

Since Buono believes that punters can be converted into field goal kickers - I know he could do it in a pinch!! (at least inside the 25 yd. line)

[DanoT]

The thing that concerns me about McCallum coming out of retirement is that due to age and lack of conditioning he is extra susceptible to a muscle pull.

Well Dano T - its back to Leone then. Nothing lost. The only other option is to have Wally activated to kick field goals. He was a punter at one time in Montreal as well as played linebacker.

Since Buono believes that punters can be converted into field goal kickers - I know he could do it in a pinch!! (at least inside the 25 yd. line)

I knew Wally had been a kicker but I couldn't recall if it was punter or FG, however I do remember Wally as a very, hard hitting physical linebacker that was not real fast but had an understanding of the game that would often allow him to know the receivers pass pattern before the ball left the QBs hand, and Wally would arrive and unload on the WR a split second after the ball would arrive.

[TheLionKing]

Buono was a punter.

[CardiacKid]

68 posts! This is one busy topic. I bet Paulie didn't think his return would generate so much discussion. I guess it just validates how important the kicking game is in the CFL.

[mountaincat]

1. wally is lucky, based on the way he tries to axe many of his vets that Paul is humble enuf to come back under these circumstances

2. in the first interview with Paul on 1040 when the news broke, they asked him if he'd been doing any kicking lately and he said.... only at my daughters soccer practice. didn't sound like he had much faith in his leg at that point but seemed optimistic about getting it going.

[Blitz]

1. wally is lucky, based on the way he tries to axe many of his vets that Paul is humble enuf to come back under these circumstances

2. in the first interview with Paul on 1040 when the news broke, they asked him if he'd been doing any kicking lately and he said.... only at my daughters soccer practice. didn't sound like he had much faith in his leg at that point but seemed optimistic about getting it going.

Very lucky! Paul McCalllum believed that Wally had every intention of trying to force him to retire. McCallum believed that Wally waited until 5 days into training camp so that there would be no other teams interested in him and with his age he would go quietly into the sunset. Wally would then have both avoid the negative publicity of not have signed him during the off-season as well as the negative publicity of releasing him. In other words, Wally didn't want to 'look bad'.

Wally had taken some hits for getting rid of Clermont and the Geroy Simon trade had not gone down well either. Simon also believed that Buono had offered less money and a reduced role in order to get him to retire.

McCallum had signed a new contract in the off-season, the Lions already knew what Leone could do, as he had been brought in the previous season. McCallum believed he had been set up by Wally and was angry that Wally told him to retire or he would be cut. He believed that was Buono's plan all along. McCallum was told to take a few days away from training camp and did, but he refused to retire.

Instead he was signed by the Saskatchewan Rough Riders, who deactivated Chris Milo, to make room for McCcallum. McCallum played in 14 games for the Riders, making 29 of 36 field goal attempts for the Riders in 2015. (81%).

Its interesting that all three, Clermont, Simon, and McCallum ended up going to the Riders. Clermont and Simon both came back to hurt us in a playoff game.

How important are field goals in the CFL? The last time I checked, roughly 40% of all game this season were decided by 4 points or less. If that is not accurate anymore, at least a lot of them are decided by 4 points or less. That is why I believe that a good field goal kicker is worth more than the 3 yds. per net punt benefit we get from Leone.

However, the ideal scenario is Leone punting and going for long field goals, while McCallum kicks inside of 40 (or whatever his leg can do). Its what we should have done last year, is go with both, if Buono wanted the advantages of Leone's punting. It would have cost us a National roster spot but that was not a big deal. Leone could have then been developed as a field goal kicker.

Instead he was rushed as a field goal kicker and when the pressure mounted, the more field goals he missed. Leone started off well last season and as the pressure mounted he got worse. He is worse this year than last year (68.6%) and has missed a number of easy ones. I don't blame Leone. I blame Wally.

McCallum left pissed, after a long and illustrious career as our Leos best field goal kicker ever and Leone has not had a happy experience as a Leo field goal kicker. It was handled wrong but what's new? Wally mishandled the quarterback situation here over the years (Dickenson/Printers), (Pierce/Jackson) (Lulay, Printers) as well as the release of vets over the years.

Wally had tried converting a punter into a field goal kicker before, with O'Mahoney, for almost two seasons before having to beg Mark McLoughlin out of retirement just before the playoffs. This situation is very similar. At that time, Leo fans were frustrated with O'Mahoney when it really wasn't his fault, just as the situation we have now is not Leone's fault.

Wally's greatest strength is also his greatest liability. Wally has almost no empathy. You can read it in his comments time after time. He's cold and callous. He is able to make decisions without emotion. At times that is a real benefit. But at other times, thought and emotion are important for decision making. Its been proven, time after time, that complex decisions are better made, when both rational and emotional processes are involved.

Wally doesn't seem to have the ability to do that and therefore he gets himself into situations that he could have avoided with a different approach. Wally seems to understand that himself - he said if there was something he could change about himself its that he wishes he wasn't "so cold".

McCallum has placed himself at risk. He is rusty as hell. As a Leo we have fond memories of McCallum being a very clutch playoff field goal kicker with an incredible record in the playoffs. McCallum has put that all on the line. I respect him for coming back and trying this for our Leos. Plus McCallum would have enjoyed pinching Wally's wallet and having Wally ask him back because he needed him.

[DanoT]

Once training camp starts it is usually the HC that makes decisions on who gets cut, so McCallum's release, 5 days into the 2015 TC could have been a Tedford decision or at the very least Tedford could have prevented McCallum's release if he wasn't sold on Leone.

[Hambone]

Once training camp starts it is usually the HC that makes decisions on who gets cut, so McCallum's release, 5 days into the 2015 TC could have been a Tedford decision or at the very least Tedford could have prevented McCallum's release if he wasn't sold on Leone.

Tedford also had Fera as a Plan B. It wasn't like when he cut McCallum the job was handed uncontested to Leone. It was still a competition.


Player personnel decisions are coaching decisions.

Signed
Bob Ackles

[Blitz]

Once training camp starts it is usually the HC that makes decisions on who gets cut, so McCallum's release, 5 days into the 2015 TC could have been a Tedford decision or at the very least Tedford could have prevented McCallum's release if he wasn't sold on Leone.

True...but I'm not buying it and neither did McCallum. Certainly Tedford and Wally had to sit down in the off-season and talk about the kicker and punter duties for 2015. Certainly its more than possible that Tedford himself wanted to go with a younger kicker/punter.

But why was McCallum signed in the off-season then? Why was he brought to training camp. And even more, why was McCallum cut only 5 days in? I believe it was pre-arranged to sign McCallum, bring him to training camp, and then try to get him to retire. Don't forget McCallum was a highly paid kicker.

Wally doesn't have to deal with the fallout of not signing him in the off-season and both Tedford and Wally get him to retire. If Tedford didn't want him, he could have said he wanted to go with a younger kicker before training camp and have McCallum released. I highly doubt that Tedford made the decision after only 5 days of camp. They don't even get much done on the first couple of days.

I believe the decision was made before training camp and likely before even signing McCallum. That's what Paul thinks and looking back at the Geroy Simon scenario, Simon also believed that Wally had tried to get him to retire and was having none of it. There was bad blood for Simon, before fences were mended and Simon was hired back here.

A big part of that was the reaction of fans, media, and community who were not happy that one of our greatest Lions ever had not only been traded to the Riders, rather than end his career as a Leo, but was also offered a job in their organization. Pressure was brought to bear, a job was offered to Simon here, and Simon laid down his axe.

Things are not always as straight forward as they seem. Its a nicer way to think that Tedford just came in here and decided that McCallum did not have the leg anymore. I wish I could believe it just happened that way but I don't.