Lions part ways with Casey Printers

[zark]

My final word on Casey is this:

Closure.


Time to move

my last words...
Casey was on "Double Secret Probation" Sanchez wasn't...It's time for a TOGA party...

[Belize City Lion]

My final word on Casey is this:

Closure.

Time to move

[/quote]

oh there is no moving on for some when it comes to CP. No doubt by the time 2010 is done some will suggest that the Lions would have won the Grey Cup this year if WB had not released CP. Of course if we do actually manage to win the Grey Cup without him those same people will point at CP's 4 regular season wins as the reason for the team's success.

[truth-hurts]

So why aren't JJ and Lulay cut too? They can't get it done with what they have either. Everyone keeps going on about how great JJ did in 07. Well, his numbers weren't THAT great, but his win percentage was. If you put CP on that team, I bet you he looks that much better as well. Since 07, JJ hasn't done much to show that he's a top notch QB in this league hence the reason he's been number 3 on the depth chart this year. And Lulay hasn't looked better than Casey at all this season.

Oh, Pauser, how you love you some Casey! Nothing can damper your support for him, even though he's a *mod edit-name calling*. How can you still be oblivious to his poor execution, disrespectful behaviour, and cry-baby attitude? Even Wally, the Lions nation, (with the exception of some of your followers) the players, and coaches have given up on him and are putting there pride aside knowing that they put a lot of money and trust into this guy and have decided to let him go. Your unconditional love for him is amazing!


By the way, JJ and Lulay are NOT cut because they have the RESPECT of their peers and they're good QBs. Football is not a sport soley on performance and stats. It's a TEAM sport that is built on relationships, trust and respect. When JJ and Lulay are on the field the team plays as a UNIT. They play to win, or lose for that matter, as a UNIT. Casey's antics and attitude has shown that he plays to win for HIMSELF and when he loses he likes to blame and point the finger at his teammates. Is that what you call the makings of a great starting QB? Such immaturity, lack of leadership, and unprofessional. Wally had to do what was best for his team...to get rid of the bad apple.

Unlike Casey, JJ and Lulay do not have an attitude and they certainly don't have big egos. They CAN get it done with what they have, especially when they are given the opportunity. Yah, people keep going on about how great JJ did in 07. So, what? People are giving credit to where credit is due. You always talk about Casey's 04 season, heck, let's be honest, you talk about how much you support Casey ALL the time no matter what season he played. LOL! The point is, he had 2010 to redeem himself, ok he had a few wins under his belt and games where he had outta this world stats, but as soon as Casey was doing well, his ego got the best of him. His mental attitude gets in the way of his performance. He has been "benched" for the last 4 games and in Winnipeg he lost it at the end of the game. It's pretty evident that Casey CUT HIMSELF, not Wally. Wally was just the announcer!

So, with all that said, your poor Casey is gone and it seems you'll start bad mouthing the 2 QBs we have now. I really hope that Lulay and JJ can turn this ball club around and give the Lions a winning season just to shut you up.

[WestCoastJoe]

A player doesn't put on the #1 jersey thinking like a second stringer, and if that is where he was going to be placed, he may as well part ways. I wonder which reporter gets to CP first, that would be an interesting conversation.

WCBF spotted Casey's van in the parking lot as we left the field.

Interesting. It would be most interesting if the media waited until he came out.

Meanwhile Wally B-Lined it into the dressing room after practice. One would think it was to what ... tell Casey not to talk to the media? Get out of Dodge before sundown? Perhaps Wally just had to go to the bathroom prior to meeting the large press contingent. I wonder why they were all there.

[tigerrr22]

I think Travis Lulay is the guy to turn this team around. he's got a great attitude and work ethic. He's a team player. He's got the mechanics to become a very efficient QB. Lulay is going to be the better for this Printers mess when 2011 training camp is upon us. (I think Lulay might have it in him to succeed in the playoffs this season.) Got to support this guy with one or two backs in the backfield on every play. Keep him healthy. Make sure every resource is in place to give Travis the "learning curve" foundation he needs to up his "game to game" level of play from a worthy back up to a top notch starter.

I remember yelling at Lulay, after the Toronto game during the exit of the stadium and the players walking to their dressing room close by: "Atta boy Travis! You've just gotta keep on ticking buddy!" That's what he's been doing. Working hard. Being patient. A professional. Doing all that is asked of him to help this team get better. Time is on his side. He played like a winner against Winnipeg. Seemed that the game collapsed when he was pulled too.

A new era has begun today in BC Lions football. The fans need to encourage this guy and his desire to succeed. I see him attaining a level of play similar to both Buck Pierce and Dave Dickenson. He's an agile QB that has the ability to throw on the run and his handling of the football is very solid in shot gun, direct snap and in his hand off exchanges and lateral pitches to the backs. He's got the competitive fire of Pierce and the smarts and scrambling abilities of Dickenson too. Good days are ahead for this offence. Time has to keep on ticking and a new OC in 2011 would be wise. New blood for the new blood on O!

Dominic In Vancouver

P.S. BAD NEWS FOR THE ESKIMOS! ALL THE BEST TO CASEY PRINTERS TOO.

[bbking]

I predicted Casey would not be on the team next year.

It was a surprise that he was exited before the year was over.

Many are not sorry to see him go.

I wish him luck in his future endevors, of which I am sure will not be in the CFL.

He will get paid for the rest of the year so I can only guess Wally had no choice regarding the circumstances.

I just hope the remaining QBs, dont get themselves injured like all of chaps QBs.

Which seems to be the real crux of the problem.

Chap gets paid till the end of his contract as well, and I guess Wally still thinks he has a choice.

[WestCoastJoe]

Lowell Ullrich ...

http://www.theprovince.com/sports/comes ... story.html

Ed Willes ...

http://www.theprovince.com/sports/Lions ... story.html

Cam Cole ...

http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/Lion ... story.html

No doubt Mike Beamish will write about this too. I'll add the url at that time.

[WestCoastJoe]

Lowell Ullrich ...

"At this time, we believe it’s in the best interest of our club to part ways and move forward," Lions GM and head coach Wally Buono said in a statement. "We wish Casey the very best."

Printers was hampered mightily with a knee injury at the start of the season and ran only 13 times this year. He had 19 snaps against Winnipeg and completed only four of seven passes for 38 yards, with an interception and two sacks. It may have been his final act in the CFL. More later.

........................

Ed Willes ...

“I was lucky enough to play with Dave Dickenson here and I'd never dream of something like that happening with him,” said Leos centre Angus Reid.

“He was our leader. Leaders shoulder blame. Leaders shoulder problems. Leaders protect everyone else around them.

“(Public spats) happen to people but it should never happen to your top guy and when it does you've got to go, 'We can't have this guy as our top guy anymore.' “

Reid: “Sometimes people pretend. Sometimes they play the role and fool people.” - which is too bad if you remember the young thoroughbred who excited this city in 2004.

“We were so indecisive this year about who our guy was,” said Reid.

“One of the guys in the battle was Casey and he acts like this. I think it clarifies we're going to put the onus on (Lulay). This guy comes to work and he works hard. People are going to follow him. Let's rally around this guy.”

One Lion veteran was asked when the quarterback had lost the locker room.

“He never had it in the first place,” was the terse reply.

“What occurred in the fourth quarter was embarrassing to all of us,” Buono said. “The B.C. Lions as an organization doesn't condone that kind of behaviour. We've worked hard for many, many years to build our reputation as an organization that has some dignity, has some class and has some discipline. In the fourth quarter, there was none of that.”

“I struggled with this decision but when is enough, enough?” he said, before adding. “Yes, I'm throwing Casey under the bus but I don't know I have much choice.”

I don't really like to hear Reid trash his ex-teammate. I don't think it does the organization any good. It just drags everyone down into the mud.
........................

Cam Cole ...

“There's two different issues I had to deal with. One was the disrespect and the ignorance that was shown by certain players,” Buono said, meaning cornerback Davis Sanchez and returner Yonus Davis and defensive lineman Khalif Mitchell, “and then this incident, that's totally different.

“You've got to try to separate the two, but you have to deal with both of them.

"What happened in the fourth quarter was an embarrassment to all of us. The B.C. Lions as an organization don't condone that type of behaviour. We've worked hard for many, many years to build the reputation of an organization that has dignity and has class and has discipline, and in the fourth quarter there was none of that."

Printers, however, evidently crossed a line that may be visible only to football players and coaches.

So the other major contributors to the Monday meltdown just got a talking-to, maybe a small fine. Boys will be boys, and all that.

The quarterback got the guillotine.

You and I may have difficulty seeing how the punishment fits the crime, but evidently it goes with the territory – and the salary.

IMO ... scapegoat. His behaviour was unacceptable, but so was the behaviour of a number of other players. And who is responsible for the behaviour of the entire team? Oh, that is on the players too.

"There's a code that you have to respect. The locker room is a very volatile place. As soon as it occurred, when I walked out of that locker room, I knew that I was in a no-win situation,” Buono said. “There were only two alternatives, and one wasn't do-able.

“This was an incident that, in my mind, put the whole team in a very tough situation and had to be addressed. When you are a leader, you have to really respect the position that you have, and unfortunately that wasn't the case.”

“This is not something that's occurred just today. This is not a one-time thing. We lost confidence in Casey,” Buono said.

“I think if we're honest, I don't know how much confidence Casey had in us, or in himself. It didn't end the way we'd hoped and anticipated. I think all of us wanted Casey to be the quarterback of our future, and I don't believe there was any lack of effort on either side.

“Sometimes, you make a decision, at a certain point you have to admit it wasn't necessarily the right one.”

Angus Reid again ...

“I don't know what they're saying, or what they'd say behind a different door,” Reid said. “But I think the real issue is when you have a guy that's paid to be your leader, and he's the one who ends up causing post-game problems – and I'm putting the performance aside – I think that's when you have to say, well, we can't have this guy as our leader any more.

“And when you've been the leader, there's nowhere else for you to go. It's not, 'Well, let's find another role for him on the team.' You're at the top. You have to stay at the top or go out – and it was time to get rid of him, I think, because the way he dealt with frustration causes too many problems for the rest of this team.

“And you can't have that, with such a fragile team right now, when we're looking to find out which way we're really headed.”

“I've been lucky enough to play with a guy named Dave Dickenson. Not in a million years would that have ever happened with him,” Reid said.

“He was a leader. Leaders shoulder blame. Leaders protect those around them, leaders take on a bigger burden, because more is asked of them. That's why they get paid more than everybody else.

“People who have certain personalities want that, and people who don't have that kind of personality shouldn't pretend to want it. Because true colours always come through. You see who people really are when all the chips are on the table.

“When you can't do it, or you refuse to do it, or you don't do it very well, you've got to go.”

And the floundering ship struggles on ...

And not one time does the heat get directed at Wally Buono for the misbehaviour of his team. Teflon Wally found a scapegoat.

This is all about the evil Casey Printers. He must have lost the game on his own. And he must have been the only one to misbehave.

[Tighthead]

I don't see Reid's comments serving much of a purpose, I'd prefer those stay in the room and off the record.

[notahomer]

I don't see Reid's comments serving much of a purpose, I'd prefer those stay in the room and off the record.

Very common stuff unfortunately, IMO. Kind of heard this type of stuff after CP's last exit from the team but then other players said "no that was never said".

[David]

I don't see Reid's comments serving much of a purpose, I'd prefer those stay in the room and off the record.

Couldn't agree more Tighthead. One thing I'm discovering this year is that Angus Reid has a big mouth. A media darling and a great "go to" quote? Sure. He gives the media the sound byte they want and he'll probably make a very good analyst some day. But revealing the gory details to the scribes and breaking down the four walls of the locker room I find a little unsavory.

Best just to say, "Wally did what he felt was necessary. We accept that and wish Casey the best of luck" and move on. No need to throw the guy under the bus when he's already been released. Sometimes I think Reid just likes to hear the sound of his own voice.

I can think of three newspaper writers in this market (Mike Beamish, Iain MacIntyre, and Cam Cole) who weren't Printers fans and probably have their poison pens ready. No need to pile on.

DH

[cromartie]

This is all about the evil Casey Printers. He must have lost the game on his own. And he must have been the only one to misbehave.

I am curious to see who sits on Saturday.

[WestCoastJoe]

http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/Trav ... story.html

From the article by Mike Beamish ...

“I don’t think it would be all weighed on one game,” Wilson suggests. “I don’t think it would be weighed on one little argument. If it was just one thing, I don’t think Wally would do that.”

Buono, however, says yes. It was Printers’ singular act of over-the-top frustration – one that Buono did not witness firsthand or was even aware of Tuesday morning when questioned by reporters -- that ended his second-go round in B.C.

“The locker room is a very, very, very volatile place,” Buono maintains. “Unfortunately, what occurs, does have a trickle-down effect. You might not get along with everyone at your office. Not everybody in our locker room loves me or loves each other. But we tolerate each other because we all have a job to do.”

The strange thing is that Printers and Wilson -- the Canadian wide receiver dressed down by Printers after he threw a game-ending interception against the Blue Bombers – were and are close.

“Casey’s a tremendous athlete,” Wilson says. “He knows his duty and his job. I was really surprised by his release, just like the rest of our teammates. When I saw him drive off this morning, I thought he was just going for breakfast.”

“Casey’s reaction is probably not the way you should react after a loss like that,” Wilson agrees.

“But I understand. We’re family. And we’re already over it. Casey is not just a co-worker to me. He’s a friend. We message each other throughout the offseason. If I’m going out in off-football hours, I’m calling him. ‘Let’s go, man.’ It’s not just a teammate I’m losing, I’m losing a friend.”

But if your name is Khalil Wilson – ONeil’s son, and an 11-year-old quarterback who plays peewee football in North York, Ont. – apparently Printers has time for you.

“People have their own perceptions of Casey, and you can’t change that,” Wilson says. “But the Casey I know is not like that. He’ll call my son and give him some quarterbacking tips. It’s a shock to hear that he’s gone, but we’re used to it in this business.”

Whatever, Buono has tossed aside a veteran quarterback with an efficiency rating of 81.4 and left his quarterbacking troika in the hands of Lulay (72.5), Jackson (46.6) and Mike Reilly (00.0).

[WestCoastJoe]

http://communities.canada.com/theprovin ... table.aspx

Lowell Ullrich ...

Simon, of course, lobbied hard for Printers to return last year when Buck Pierce went down, maybe even sooner. He had a chemistry with the quarterback before and hoped it would happen again. But it wasn't even that relationship which drew intrigue, because Simon began his day not with the news he had just lost his former starting pivot but learned there's a strong chance he'll wind up facing one of the receivers the Lions counted on at the start of the year.

Derick Armstrong was claimed by the Edmonton Eskimos off the practice roster of the Saskatchewan Roughriders Tuesday in a move that once again shows why Eric Tillman is one of the best general managers in the CFL.

You can just see Armstrong sticking it to the Lions Saturday at Empire Field. First Jason Jimenez, then Ricky Foley; what do they say about things happening in threes?

Armstrong. I liked him. It seems like he was an earlier sacrificial victim, of Wally's communication method to his team.

"I was surprised but these things happen," Simon said when asked about both Printers and Armstrong. "It's been the type of season where guys come and go and we're really not sued to that. I was an advocate of Casey coming back, but in this business you got to expect anything."

His facial expressions, if they count for anything, said something completely different, however.

But Wally Buono made a move with Printers he almost assuredly was going to do at the end of the season anyway, and paid the quarterback out for the season with nothing to show for his final four games, or as some might suggest, the 14 which preceded them.

It just seemed odd that he was cut for arguing with O'Neil Wilson on the field when Printers often had similar looks of anguish throughout the season, unless Buono simply had a sudden opportunity to go with a motive.

But whether it was the knee injury which hampered his mobility, or the fact he couldn't adapt to the offensive philosophy he was asked to execute, it never worked other than a couple of games this year.

A rambling, scrambling QB stuck in the pocket, trying to be a pocket passer. Not a formula for success. Rather, it is formula for failure.

Players adapt to the scheme in B.C., not the other way around.

[sj-roc]

I have it on reliable info from a BC Lion player that Printers was not popular in the room. This is not hearsay, this was told to me directly.

Where do you get your information from? Perhaps you could PM me if you don't want it getting out? I've spoken with several of the Lions players (mostly on offense) who are actually friends with Casey and train with him even in the offseason. I haven't heard that he is unliked in the lockerroom.

http://www.theprovince.com/sports/Sense ... story.html

...it seems [Lions' players] are divided into two camps -- those who think Printers should have been released immediately after Monday's shocking loss to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and those who think he should have been released a month ago.
...
One Lion veteran was asked when the quarterback had lost the locker-room.

"He never had it in the first place," was the terse reply.