What do you do with yourself when you physically can still play but have volunteered not to?
That was the conundrum facing Henry Burris this past off-season. Burris chose to end his Hall of Fame career on top, leading the Ottawa Redblacks to a thrilling upset victory over the Calgary Stampeders after battling back from injury to be named the game’s MVP.
With a new CFL season under way, he’s feeling no itch to get back between the white lines; Burris has become a local celebrity in Ottawa, transitioning from the gridiron to become a daytime television host as well as an analyst for Redblacks games.
Burris is attacking his new role as ambassador for the league the same way he did opposing defences. For Canada Day, he brought the Grey Cup to London, England. In his jam-packed itinerary abroad is a trip to Dover, where a memorial service will take place for the 300-plus Canadian soldiers that are buried there. While settling in at The Maple Leaf pub at a Canada Day party for ex-pats and Canadians, Burris explained to me why his transition away from the game has been so seamless and why he decided to lay down roots in Canada.
SN: What’s it like spreading the love of the CFL game in London?
Burris: The CFL has given me so many blessings and allowed me to share my gift of playing football to the world. Now I’m able to bring over one of our prized possessions — the oldest trophy in pro sports — and get to share it with the ex-pats, and service workers, some of the men and women that provide us the freedoms that we have today.
To see the smiles on their faces when I walked in with the Grey Cup and we could share stories about the greatest country in the world, for me this is a dream come true. Next up, I’ll bring the Cup to Trafalgar Square on Canada Day with 80,000 people there. This is bigger than sports. It is pretty special to celebrate Canada’s 150th with men and women from our country.
SN: Is it hard to watch a game knowing you can still play?
Burris: You know what Donnovan, I’ve had a lot of people ask me that and even when I watched Calgary come in to Ottawa and play last week I didn’t have an itch at all. That’s the best way you can walk away from the game. If we had lost that Grey Cup it probably would have been different. I would have been champing at the bit and having that anxiety. I’ve left everything out on the field. There is nothing that can motivate me to come back to the game. I’ve accomplished everything I’ve ever wanted to.
I won the Grey Cup with my two kids being able to experience it. Those are memories that we will have forever. My beautiful wife finally got to drink out of the Cup because she was pregnant last time we won it. I wanted to be a part of the perfect underdog story. I tell people Dodgeball is my favourite movie. Nobody gave them a chance like nobody gave us a chance. Now it’s the perfect segue to move on to my next chapter of life.
SN: When you watch are you rooting for or against Ottawa? Those are your former teammates but as a competitor you can’t want them to do too well without you?
Burris: I’m a fan of Ottawa. I always will be. I do have to be critical because I am a media member now so I have to find that happy medium. I do know this Donnovan, when I walk in the locker-room and guys are laughing and joking they see me and all of a sudden, they get quiet now. So, I am officially a media member. I have to have that talk with them and say “Hey, I’m not going take anything you guys say and tweet it out or take it to other media members.”
SN: You called out former players in the media last year for criticizing and forgetting how hard it is to actually play. Are you cognizant of that experience now that you are the critic?
Burris: You know that old saying, “Never disrespect the game because the game will disrespect you.” I had to make that clear. A lot of things that were being said just wasn’t the truth. I talked to players all over the league that felt that same way and now I want to make sure I learn from that and have it make me a better journalist. And not only with the words I say but back it up with footage. Those are things I’m going to make sure I do.
SN: The league is currently without a commissioner…
Burris: Hey, easy there now! A lot of people have asked if I’m going to do that. I said I have to step away from the game. I’ve been a close part of the game for so long. It’s time for a new adventure.
SN: What advice would you give the new commissioner?
Burris: I know it’s tough for our commissioners because you have to adhere to the demands of the owners who hire the commissioner. I’ve told people this time and time again, nobody comes to see the Toronto Argonauts. Nobody comes to see Montreal. They come to see their favourite players on that team. We need to start to focus in on the players and how great these guys are and work together with our sponsors to work these guys into advertising so we can build repetitions of people seeing these guys, instead of wondering “Who are these guys?”
Marketing is where it’s at and highlighting our most important asset which is the players on the field. In the NFL, they don’t want to go see the New York Giants, they want to see Odell Beckham. Let’s use the athletes to make the game bigger and better.
SN: How has the league changed since you first entered it?
Burris: There is no more four-and-a-half-hour rule. That’s a good thing because if you want to improve the product, it has to be a full-time job. Now the pay needs to adjust with that. The volume of audience both in-stadium and at home has improved. People watch the games here in this pub in London. The stadiums and facilities are much better which makes it easier to go to work and perform. It’s going in the right direction with the investment of owners. I can’t wait to see in another five years how far along this league will be.
SN: What is the perception of the CFL back home in America?
Burris: It’s funny. It seems like more Canadians like the NFL exclusively than Americans do. We just love football. It’s our tradition. We watch football regardless of what surface it is on. Arena football is loved and it is played on a skating rink. Americans love the Canadian Football League because it is football. We have 41 professional football teams that play outdoors (in North America). That’s not a lot of jobs. That’s 1,200-1,400 of the best football players in the world. There are another 20,000 guys graduating every season that are trying to get those jobs. That’s why millions of people in America turned from NFL football to watch the Grey Cup back home in America because they realize these are some of the best of the best. The game is more exciting, you don’t have to wait 40 seconds between plays and as far as putting the ball in the air, nobody does it better than CFL quarterbacks.
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SN: There is an inferiority complex in relation to the CFL with some Canadians. What are they missing?
Burris: You look at the offences that are being run now, you look at the defences that are being run now, those are CFL systems from five years ago. The things that people are seeing that Tom Brady is doing, I’ve been running that offence for about 10 years now. That’s why he is enjoying the fruits of that labour. So many coaches who are having success like Jason Garrett, Mike McCoy, guys like Gary Kubiak came up here and learned their systems in the CFL.
SN: Why did you make your home here?
Burris: Canada has given myself and my wife an opportunity to live out our dream. And that dream doesn’t exist the same way in America anymore with a lot of the things that are going on and we want that dream for our children and the rest of our family.
To live in a place where it feels like a big community with great people who realize if someone has a passion for something, they’ll support them in achieving it. That goes back to the American dream that I had when I was a kid. When you look down there now that’s not a reality for a lot of people. I want to make sure our kids are growing up in an environment that will make their dreams come true.
SN: Is that dream becoming the next great Burris football player?
Burris: Honestly, they’re probably the next P.K. Subban before they’ll be the next Henry Burris. They love hockey. Both my kids play almost year-round hockey. We had to force them off the ice just to get them to relax and play some other sports. I’m still teaching them football.
Now they see daddy is going to be home now and we can build that relationship that was put on pause for the past couple of years because daddy would be gone for six months. It’s the most important thing I’ll be judged on in life. More important than winning Grey Cups is to see them successful. They are taking us on a new adventure now and exposing us to things we’d never thought we’d experience.
