To know just exactly what Henry Burris has meant to the city of Ottawa, it quickly becomes obvious that you need to talk about more than just a stirring victory in Grey Cup 104, last November.
Leading the on-field charge in ending a city’s forty-year pro football championship is not chump change, no. It factors in, of course. It’s important.
But so are a number of other things when it comes to the legacy of Burris in the nation’s capital, a place where it can safely be said that he now gets a seat at the table along with beloved sporting giants like Russ Jackson, Daniel Alfredsson and Brian Kilrea.
For Burris, a firm place in the warm hearts and satisfied minds of the Ottawa faithful has been fashioned in a number of ways; with on-field success, an expressed love for the city he now calls home and a three-year tenure that saw him usher in a bolder, more optimistic Ottawa football culture in a way that resonated with an energized gridiron pulse in the city.
Alfredsson – the all-time great Ottawa Senator who now serves as the NHL team’s Senior Advisor of Hockey Operations after spending seventeen seasons playing for them – and Kilrea – another living legend who spent some thirty-five years associated with the Ontario Hockey League’s Ottawa 67’s – are utterly entrenched in the Ottawa history books as successful sportsmen and even more importantly as pillars of the community.
For REDBLACKS’ radio play-by-play man AJ Jakubec, Burris has indeed reached pillar status, although he – rightfully so – reserves the most rarefied air for the legendary Jackson alone, at least in football terms. Jackson is a planet unto himself, really, and to suggest that Burris – or most anyone else – stands astride with one of the greatest players to ever slip on a helmet would not be just. However, Burris has at least made his way to a kind of “Mr. Ottawa” status in short order; an impressive feat that will have him shaking hands at dinners and games for decades to come as he smiles and flashes the ring.
“Here’s Henry Burris and in three years, he’s already the embodiment of that from a football perspective which is quite remarkable,” says Jakubec of Burris’ position as beloved Bytown hero and respected citizen.
“The reason Henry is revered here is much the same reason Daniel Alfredsson is revered here. It’s because of what he’s done in the community.”
– REDBLACKS play-by-play AJ Jakubec
Burris got there so quickly by being successful, rewriting the script so that Clements-to-Gabriel is no longer the last great moment in Ottawa football history. That’s part of it but it seems to mean a little bit more to fans in Eastern Ontario because of the way Burris has embraced them since his arrival in 2014.
I put the word out to Ottawa football fans on Twitter on Monday, when news of Burris’ impending retirement announcement first surfaced, asking for their thoughts. What I got in return were replies that saluted his playing field accomplishments as well as his presence at public events and his one-on-one abilities with the fans he met along the way.
“He led a team that reignited a football spirit in the capital,” wrote The LumberJoes. “The legacy of last year’s Grey Cup will reverberate for decades to come.”
“He was the driving force of the blossoming of an entirely new generation of sports fan in a city dying for a winner,” wrote Andrew Cassidy.
Accomplishing that, along with his teammates, when the REDBLACKS shocked the heavily favoured Calgary Stampeders in the Grey Cup, Burris cemented a two-way love affair with the city of Ottawa that had already been in bloom before last November’s triumph. Some of that love came in 2015 when the REDBLACKS followed up their 2 and 16 inaugural season with an impressive sophomore campaign, making it all the way to the Grey Cup game under the direction of Burris and his MOP season.
All the while, Burris was endearing himself to the population, bringing his “Smilin’ Hank” charm to those whose paths he crossed. “Everyone feels like a million bucks when you’re done talking with Henry Burris,” said Jakubec.
While some Ottawa fans were singing his football praises on Twitter, a few others let me know how important Burris has been to them on a personal basis, pointing to smaller stories of friendly encounters as well as Burris’ energetic willingness to plug into the community and the local charities that came calling.
“Henry has been visibly involved with great causes,” wrote Jane Holski.
“Also, he recorded a personal message for our anniversary.”
It’s one thing to help lead a team and city to sporting glory. Stay in that city, move there and become an active citizen, though? That takes you to a whole ‘nother level of love. Burris moved to the nation’s capital, embraced life as a hockey dad and has made those frequent appearances at community events and charity affairs. “The reason Henry is revered here is much the same reason Daniel Alfredsson is revered here,” said Jakubec. “It’s because of what he’s done in the community.”
“I think the fact that he moved here and stayed here during the off-seasons, it’s obvious he genuinely loves this community,” continued Jakubec. “He’s been great to the city. There’s mutual admiration there.”
RELATED: BURRIS ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT
CFL.ca has sideline-to-sideline coverage of Henry Burris’ retirement including exclusive interviews, columns, rare photos and more.
> Burris 1-on-1: Hank Reflects on Career in Exclusive Interview
> Hero to Villain: Examining Burris’ love-hate relationship with Riderville (by Jamie Nye)
> The Calgary Years: Burris lifted Stamps on and off the field (by Pat Steinberg)
> Hank restores Tabbies in short order (by Marshall Ferguson)
> A who’s who of Henry Burris pass-catchers (by Jim Morris)
> Burris by the Numbers: A look back at a stellar career
When General Manager Marcel Desjardins and Head Coach Rick Campbell decided to switch gears at quarterback after first plucking Kevin Glenn in the expansion draft, they may have figured how well Burris’ personality and at times surly competitive stripe might fit in with their designs to bring Ottawa football from meek to macho. So they signed him and hoped he’d love Ottawa as much as he loved silencing critics.
Turns out he did and it also seems, in retrospect, that Burris may have been just the right kind of leader at just the right time for the football team and for the city’s fans.
Always with a chip on his shoulder, always with a bad taste in his mouth whenever he felt slighted. That’s Burris. Hating – absolutely hating – the notion that anyone might think of him as unable to do the job. In a city that had seen decades of futile, embarrassing, pushover football including the folding of two franchises, that attitude may have well represented the seething, fed up psyche of the fans at large. Enough, already, with the agony of it all. Give us the ball and let’s get it done. Give ’em something to shove.
Burris’ long, decorated career, while dotted with tens of thousands of yards in passing as well as a previous Grey Cup Championship as a starter in Calgary, can most easily be defined by his three years in Ottawa, when all is said and done.
Counted out, he came back and he did it in a city that had suffered the same insult.
That will please him – and the people of Ottawa – greatly, no doubt.
