THE CANADIAN PRESS
He finished his college career as Ohio Northern’s all-time leading rusher with 4,169 yards and single-season record holder with 1,664 yards. In 2002 he was NFL Europe’s offensive MVP and set a league record for the longest run from scrimmage with a 90-yard TD scamper.
But life in the CFL has taught running back Jamal Robertson to make do with less.
Traditional football thinking has long suggested most running backs usually aren’t into the flow of a game with anything less than 20 carries. In the four-down game, many coaches plan for their tailbacks to get 25 to 30 carries per contest.
That rarely happens in the CFL, where running backs usually get between 10 and 15 carries per game. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are the league’s top-rushing team, averaging 24 attempts per contest. But they’ve also got four running backs in Canadian Jesse Lumsden and imports Kenton Keith, Terry Caulley and Tre Smith to handle that load.
On Friday night, the five-foot-10, 210-pound Robertson became the first Toronto Argonaut to surpass 100 yards rushing in a game when he ran for 139 yards and two touchdowns in a 24-20 home loss to the B.C. Lions. Robertson had just 10 total carries and did most of his damage in the second quarter with touchdown runs of 75 and 48 yards.
Despite that, Robertson, 31, managed just four carries in the second half.
"I’m a running back and most running backs like to get a feel for the game," Robertson said. "By getting the ball more you can set up different defenders, get your rhythm and get into the flow of the game.
"But (CFL) is definitely a different game and you kind of already get your mind ready for it going to a three-down game. You’ve got to look for different ways to get the ball."
One way is to become involved in the passing game. On Friday night, Robertson added two catches for 42 yards. And while B.C.’s Stefan Logan ran for a game-high 144 yards against Toronto, he broke a 17-17 tie in the third quarter with a 10-yard TD grab.
Other CFL teams have figured that out, too, with six running backs among the league’s top 45 receivers. Included are Saskatchewan’s Wes Cates (second in CFL rushing with 1,055 yards who has 35 catches for 413 yards) and Montreal’s Avon Cobourne (third in CFL rushing with 950 yards who has 61 catches for 576 yards).
For others, like Toronto’s Dominique Dorsey, special teams offers opportunities to shine.
The five-foot-seven, 173-pound Dorsey ran for 1,261 yards on 226 carries (5.6-yard average) in his senior season at the University of Las Vegas in ’04. But since coming to the CFL in ’05 with Saskatchewan, Dorsey has developed into one of the league’s top special-teams threats.
Dorsey, currently nursing a high ankle sprain, is Toronto’s rushing leader with 410 yards and a sparkling 6.4-yard average. But he’s also leading the CFL in all-purpose yards with 2,892 yards while also being tops in punt returns (63 for 752 yards and a TD) and missed field goals (five returns for 187 yards) and second in kickoff returns (50 for 1,257 yards and a TD).
"Patience is the key," said Dorsey, in his fourth CFL season and second with Toronto. "For me, it was always one of those things that it was going to be up to me to find a way to showcase what I could do with the ball in my hands that would result in me getting carries, some how some way.
"You’ve got to make the most out of it. That’s what Jamal did last week and from then on you raise people’s eyebrows and they say, `OK, this kid can play."’
Patience was also a key for Mike Pringle, the CFL’s career leader in yards rushing (16,425) and total yards from scrimmage (20,254) who was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame this year.
Pringle spent his first three CFL seasons with three teams (Edmonton in ’92, Sacramento in ’93 and Baltimore in ’94). It wasn’t until supplanting Sheldon Caney as the Stallions tailback that Pringle took the CFL by storm, running for a then league-record 1,972 yards and 13 TDs.
With Pringle in the backfield, the Baltimore-Montreal franchise — the Stallions relocated to Quebec after the ’95 season — bucked CFL tradition by keeping the run as an integral part of its offence. Pringle responded by becoming the first — and only — back in league history to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a season en route to becoming the CFL’s most prolific rusher.
But Pringle was the exception.
Dorsey says while most American-born running backs understand the nature of the Canadian game when they arrive here, they still go through some culture shock.
"For many guys who come up here, for the first year or so it’s never truly a situation where you’re going to be in there right away," Dorsey said. "You go on the practice roster first, then almost always special teams, then running back.
"If you can do other things that’s a plus. That was my mindset when I came in, to do other things so I could be in a position to be ready for whatever might come (at running back)."
SUCCESSFUL SURGERY: The Edmonton Eskimos announced Tuesday defensive back JR LaRose underwent successful surgery to repair a broken tibia and fibula.
LaRose had the season-ending operation Monday, the CFL team said.
LaRose suffered the injuries in the third quarter of the club’s 36-22 win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Saturday night at Commonwealth Stadium.
"I’ve seen the play. I mean it’s as innocent as you can possibly imagine," said Edmonton coach Danny Maciocia. "We have it under control right now.
"The process is going to be a long one. He’s going to have to rehab it during the off-season. He is young, so we’ll see how it all unfolds"
TRADE DEADLINE : The CFL trade deadline is slated for 3:59 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
Unlike the NHL trade deadline, which features a flurry of last-minute deals, traditionally there has been little to no movement in the CFL.
RECORD PERFORMANCE : The Hamilton Tiger-Cats’ 44-38 win over the Montreal Alouettes on Saturday night was certainly one for the CFL record book.
Montreal quarterback Anthony Calvillo had a CFL-record 44 completions in the game. But Calvillo and Hamilton’s Quinton Porter combined for 71 completions, breaking the mark of 70 established by Calgary and Saskatchewan in a 1993 regular-season contest.
Calvillo finished the game 44-of-53 passing for 472 yards while Porter was 27-of-32 passing for 429 yards.
The 901 total passing yards finished well short of the league record of 1,093 set by Calgary (547) and Saskatchewan (546) in that ’93 contest.
NOTES : In a classy move, Saskatchewan GM Eric Tillman awarded the game ball following the Riders’ 37-34 win over Calgary on Friday to veteran Riders beat reporter Darrell Davis, whose wife, Eva, died of cancer Sept. 28 at the age of 51. . . . Saskatchewan Roughriders defensive line coach Ron Estay, 59, is in hospital in Regina battling cancer. . . . Montreal’s 44-38 loss in Hamilton on Saturday was its first in seven games this season against an East Division rival. . . . Edmonton’s Kelly Campbell has 39 catches for 889 yards so far this year, which translates into a stellar 22.8-yard average per reception. Campbell needs five more catches to make his stats official for the CFL record book. But he’s got some work to do to break the single-season record of 26.5 yards established in ’97 by Winnipeg’s Milt Stegall, who had 61 catches that year. . . . Winnipeg added veteran offensive lineman Bobby Singh to its 46-man roster Tuesday.
