Robservations: A.J. Ouellette hopes to roll up to Tim Hortons Field and win … spectacular season-opening stats! … remembering Jack Nix … and the weekl
06/15/2024 11:52 AM
A.J. Ouellette always has time for Tim Hortons Field.
While grinding out important yardage for the Toronto Argonauts, the talented tailback typically wore double-double blue during road games against the arch-rival Hamilton Tiger-Cats — a team that once brought us Tommy Joe Coffey.
But now, Ouellette is poised to pay his first visit to Steeltown as a member of the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
"It gets the blood flowing only because I think the fans are still going to hate me," he said with a laugh in advance of Sunday's CFL game in Hamilton (5 p.m., TSN, CKRM).
"It'll be fun walking out there and getting the boos and all that. It's a passionate fan base and it's always a fun place to play, so I'll be fired up."
Hold on just a minute. Ouellette is invariably a nice guy so, honestly, how could anyone give him a chili reception? But the comments kept getting cru(e)ller.
"You've got the guys right behind the bench who say the most terrible things to you, but it's football so we're used to hearing that on the field," Ouellette said.
"And then there are the signs that they have with your name on it, along with some wording and funny phrases. It's what you want to see. It fires you up, because you know they're passionate.
"Nothing feels better than when they're fired up and then you get to leave with a win. They get to go home and try to drink their sorrows away."
Ouellette savoured a sweet victory, by a 41-28 count, when he last played at Tim Hortons Field.
Of particular note is the fact that the Thor hammer — his trademark accessory — was unveiled during that Labour Day game. ("It’s further to travel this time," he noted before the team flew to Hamilton, "so I think it'll stay here in the locker.")
As a capper, Ouellette threw his first CFL pass … for a touchdown!
"That just adds the dagger to it," he recalled. "I really didn't think that play was going to be called at that time, but it was, and it was fun to execute it and get a touchdown out of it."
The play began when Ouellette accepted a pitchout from quarterback Chad Kelly. It appeared to be a running play to the right before Ouellette, who would ordinarily attempt to drive through would-be tacklers in such a situation, suddenly pulled up and threw to Dejon Brissett for a made-to-order 26-yard TD.
"We put the play in on Day 1 of practice that week," Ouellette said. "It was a terrible pass — a duck, straight out of my hand. Coach said, 'Yeah, we're not calling that … ever!' We didn't run it for the rest of the week.
"Then we get out there (for the game) and there it is. They called it. I thought, 'All right. Here we go!' Luckily, he was wide open, so I couldn't miss him."
Ouellette's return to traditionally hostile territory qualifies as a can't-miss event.
On Sunday, he hopes to enjoy a stellar second game as a Roughrider. He donned green and white for the first time in a game of consequence last Saturday, when he ran for a one-yard TD to help Saskatchewan defeat the Edmonton Elks 29-21 at Commonwealth Stadium.
On the day, Ouellette carried the ball 18 times — his highest total as a CFLer is 19 — for 40 yards.
Offensive Co-ordinator Marc Mueller's commitment to blend the run and the pass kept the Elks' defence guessing and created opportunities through the air for Trevor Harris.
The Roughriders' quarterback, not one for a vanilla offence, threw for 305 yards and three TDs — the last of which came lat(t)e in the fourth quarter.
"Mueller's my dude!" Ouellette said. "I love it. He didn't lose faith in (the running game).
"I've had that a lot in my career where if the first couple of runs don't pop, they kind of get away from it, and you end up with four or five touches. I had 18 for a terrible game.
"The fact that he stayed true to it is just going to improve it later in the season when we're playing a playoff game here and we're freezing and the wind's brutal."
The objective, of course, is to ultimately drink from the Cup.
GAINS FOR BANE
Shawn Bane Jr. was always open in the Roughriders' season opener.
The result was five catches for 125 yards and all three of the team's TD receptions.
Bane Jr. registered the 26th season-opening 100-plus-yards receiving game in franchise history. In terms of total receiving yardage, he is tied for 10th on the Roughriders' all-time Game 1 list, which appears here for your reading pleasure:
215 — Jeff Fairholm (7 receptions, 2 TDs) at B.C., July 9, 1993
180 — Weston Dressler (13 rec., 3 TDs) at Hamilton, June 29, 2012
154 — Weston Dressler (7 rec.) vs. B.C., July 3, 2009
154 — Weston Dressler (9 rec., 1 TD) vs. Montreal, July 1, 2010 (OT)
147 — Bob Pearce (7 rec., 2 TDs) at Hamilton, July 31, 1972
142 — Joey Walters (7 rec.) at Winnipeg, July 9, 1982
142 — Hugh Campbell (7 rec., 3 TDs) at Edmonton, July 29, 1966
132 — Curtis Marsh (7 rec., 2 TDs) vs. Hamilton, July 6, 2001
128 — Ray Elgaard (7 rec.) vs. Calgary, July 8, 1994
125 — Don Narcisse (9 rec.) vs. Hamilton, July 12, 1990
125 — Shawn Bane Jr. (5 rec., 3 TDs) at Edmonton, June 8, 2024
And how about Harris?
He sported the Green and White's 11th game of three-plus TD passes in a season opener. Yes, we'll keep milking these lists …
5 — Ron Lancaster (13-for-17, 270 yards) at Edmonton, July 29, 1966
5 — Darian Durant (30-44-481) vs. Montreal, July 1, 2010 (OT)
4 — Tom Burgess (19-35-280) at Ottawa, July 15, 1988
4 — Darian Durant (25-34-390) at Hamilton, June 29, 2012
3 — Frank Tripucka (12-19-291) at B.C., Aug. 16, 1958
3 — Ron Lancaster (11-18-134) at B.C., July 31, 1973
3 — Tom Burgess (12-23-204) vs. Calgary, July 12, 1989
3 — Kent Austin (39-57-393) vs. Calgary, July 8, 1992
3 — Henry Burris (22-34-309) vs. Toronto, July 6, 2000
3 — Darian Durant (14-22-171) at Edmonton, June 29, 2013
3 — Trevor Harris (22-31-305) at Edmonton, June 8, 2024
Worth noting: A Roughriders quarterback threw for three or more majors in 1966, 1989 and 2013 — three of the team's four championship seasons.
As well, Harris registered the 13th-best passing-yardage total by a Roughrider in a season opener.
You know what that means … one more list!
484 — Kent Austin (31-for-54, 2 TDs) at B.C., July 9, 1993
481 — Darian Durant (30-44, 5 TDs) vs. Montreal, July 1, 2010 (OT)
426 — Joe Paopao (29-41, 2 TDs) vs. Ottawa, July 7, 1985
393 — Kent Austin (39-57, 3 TDs) vs. Calgary, July 8, 1992
390 — Darian Durant (25-34, 4 TDs) at Hamilton, June 29, 2012
371 — Tom Burgess (22-44, 1 TD) vs. Calgary, July 8, 1994
348 — Kent Austin (28-53, 1 TD) vs. Hamilton, July 12, 1990
339 — Darian Durant (27-37, 2 TDs) vs. Edmonton, July 3, 2011
313 — Darian Durant (18-32, 2 TDs) vs B.C., July 3, 2009 (two Durant references in a row is a double Doubles!)
311 — Cody Fajardo (22-32, 1 TD) vs. Hamilton, June 11, 2022
310 — Darian Durant (31-48, 1 TD) vs. Toronto, June 30, 2016
309 — Henry Burris (22-34, 3 TDs) vs. Toronto, July 6, 2000
305 — Trevor Harris (22-31, 3 TDs) at Edmonton, June 8, 2024
JACK NIX (1928-2024)
Jack Nix, a star receiver with the Roughriders in 1951, passed away on April 11 — 26 days shy of his 96th birthday.
He had been the final surviving Roughrider from the 1951 Grey Cup Game.
In 13 regular-season games, Nix caught 46 passes for 599 yards and seven touchdowns in 1951.
He also caught a TD pass from Glenn Dobbs in the 1951 national final, won 21-14 by the Ottawa Rough Riders.
That was the western Riders' first Grey Cup appearance since 1934. After 1951, the Green and White did not play for a championship again until 1966, when Ron Lancaster threw three touchdown passes in a 29-14 victory over Ottawa.
Nix had hoped to rejoin the Roughriders in 1952, but his pro football playing career ended at age 24 due to United States Marine Corps commitments. He would serve in the Korean War.
In 1958, Nix returned to the gridiron as a back judge. He was an NFL official for 10 years.
A man of many talents, Nix was also a talented jazz pianist. In 2013, he released an album, Then and Now. It is available on Apple Music — and downloaded on to my iPhone!
Fittingly, one of the tracks is "I Left My Heart in San Francisco."
Nix left the San Francisco 49ers, for whom he played in 1950, to sign with the Roughriders on April 13, 1951.
It could also be said that Nix left his heart in Regina. On Jan. 16, 1952, Nix and Celia Park — then a reporter for the Regina Leader-Post — exchanged wedding vows at Knox Metropolitan Church.
Celia (also the name of a jazz tune, written by pianist Bud Powell) and Jack celebrated their 70th anniversary in 2022.
Born in Rosthern and raised in Regina, Celia passed away in June of 2022 in Fallbrook, Calif.
ROLL CREDITS …
• Nice people who deserve a plug: Kent Maugeri, Cathy Maugeri, Blaine Maugeri, Kylie Maugeri, Kaden Maugeri, Kent Paul, A.J. Ouellette, Logan Ferland, Darian Durant, Roy Shivers, Joannee Molnar, Carter Haroldson, Ted Wyman, Rob Barlow, Mike Roney, Wayne Smith, Don Williams, Barry Zerr, Eric Anderson, Dr. Mark Anderson, Ian Hamilton, Andrew Hamilton, Pete Paczko, Dr. Tom Robinson and, with insincere apologies in advance to someone who has the extreme misfortune of being my roommate this weekend in Hamilton, Roughriders Digital Media Producer Blake Tiedeman. And that's a wrap.
