Arden Zwelling
CFL.ca
TORONTO — Anthony Parker isn’t often at a loss for words. But when asked to describe the anticipation as the Calgary Stampeders rookie receiver approaches his first CFL game, there really was no way to put it.
“It’s one of those things that you can’t really put into words,” Parker said. “I’m very, very excited. I feel privileged to be able to be a part of this team and I can’t wait to get out on the field.”
It’s a feeling Parker shares with Jade Etienne of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Marco Iannuzzi of the BC Lions, two other Canadian rookie receivers who will lace up their cleats and strap on pads for their first games as professionals later this week.
All three are simply happy to have made it on to a CFL roster after watching many of their friends and teammates bite the bullet on cut down days last week when CFL teams trimmed their rosters to 46.
Iannuzzi and the rest of the Lions rookies were asked to sit in the locker room last Thursday, the day after the team thumped Saskatchewan 34-6 in its final preseason game, and wait to be called into the coach’s office in groups of three or four. The groups were all getting one message — active roster, practice roster or pack your bags — and no one knew their fate until they stepped into the room.
“It was a very tense room and it really wasn’t a situation you want to be in — I’m glad it’s over with,” Iannuzzi said a few days after finding out he made the team. “It’s tough. You’re making relationships and friendships and sharing lockers with guys and each day one of those lockers is missing.”
Of course, Iannuzzi had it relatively easy compared to Etienne whose Blue Bombers asked their rookies to sit tight in their hotel rooms last Friday after their final preseason game and wait for the phone to ring. If it rang that likely meant you were off to find new employment. If it didn’t, there was a team meeting that night at the stadium — don’t be late.
Etienne was fortunate enough to have his phone stay silent while the phones in the rooms of two other Canadian wide receivers — David McKoy and Josh Bishop — lit up, meaning Etienne had earned one of just four Canadian wide out positions on the Blue Bombers and his first job in the CFL.
In fact, it was Etienne’s second ‘welcome to the CFL’ moment. His first one came during training camp when Blue Bombers defensive back Alex Suber — the shortest player on the team at 5-foot-7, 174-pounds — caught Etienne sleeping in traffic and sent the rookie thudding to the ground.
“Yeah, he’s tiny but he’s powerful,” Etienne said with a laugh. “I got off the field and somebody said ‘welcome to the CFL, bud.’”
That likely won’t be the end of the ribbing for Etienne who, at just 21-year-old, is the youngest Blue Bomber by far and the second youngest player in the league, tied with Alexander Robinson of the Argonauts who was born on the same day as Etienne in 1989.
Etienne is fresh off a four year stint at the University of Saskatchewan where he caught 28 passes for 721 yards and six touchdowns in just seven games last year. The first-team All-Canadian would love nothing more than to show the Blue Bombers they made a good decision by drafting him fourth overall this year, but going into his first CFL game the Regina-native isn’t sure when that opportunity may come.
“They haven’t told me too much. I’m honestly just hoping to do my job,” Etienne said. “Whatever my role is I think I’m going to do great at it.”
One of those roles, strangely enough, could actually be as the team’s kicker as Etienne auditioned for coaches after practice Monday, slotting a pair of field goals from beyond 40 yards. Etienne actually arrived in university as a kicker before he fell in love with receiving — “they get all the glory,” he quipped — and will likely serve as the Bombers’ emergency kicker this season.
“If they have any trouble or there’s a weird situation like when Montreal played Toronto last year and they had to punt out of the end zone — I could do that,” Etienne said. “Hopefully nothing happens but if [starting kicker Justin] Palardy goes down — I’m there.”
But while Etienne is the youngest Blue Bomber he’s still older than Parker who earns the youngest player in the CFL distinction this season when he suits up for the Stampeders. The 21-year-old was born a mere 41 days after Etienne in the final year of the 80’s, but beat Etienne in the 2011 CFL Canadian Draft, going one spot before him at third overall.
Parker is the only rookie receiver the Stampeders added to their 46-man roster this year and joins a veteran receiving corps boasting five players who are 28 or older. That means Parker has plenty of wisdom and knowledge to absorb every time he hits the practice field.
“All the guys have been great, Nik [Lewis] in particular. Any chance he gets he’s been helping me out with the way I run routes. He’s been very open to helping me learn the position,” Parker said of the veteran receiver entering his eight season in the CFL. “It’s made the transition a bit easier because I’ve got a lot of guys who are willing to help me out.”
Parker will start the year in a backup role, seeing action mostly on special teams. But just taking the field at McMahon Stadium in Calgary will be special for Parker who just finished four years playing under the same lights for the University of Calgary Dinos.
Most rookies need to get used to a new set of surroundings when they join their first professional team. But the only difference for Parker will be the size of the crowd.
“When we were up in Edmonton the stadium was only half full and there were still 30,000 people there — so that was a pretty cool experience,” Parker said. “That was really the first time that I was like ‘wow, this is really incredible that this is my job.’”
Of course, there are more than a few differences Parker will have to get adjusted too as he cuts his teeth in the pros, not the least of which is the Stampeders phonebook-sized playbook which makes the Dinos’ selection look like a pamphlet. And there’s the small factor of trying to catch heaters from the arm of 13-year CFL veteran Henry Burris, one of the league’s most revered quarterbacks.
“Everything happens much faster on any given play — I think that makes the adjustment a little bit tougher,” Parker said of making the transition from the CIS to the pros.
Iannuzzi, on the other hand, is arguable dealing with more adjustments than either of his counterparts who are coming from Canadian schools. Iannuzzi is fresh off four years at Harvard University where he played four-down football with fair catches, a shorter field and a smaller ball. Now, the 24-year-old has to relearn the intricacies and finer points of the Canadian game all over again.
“I’ve been sort of ingraining that stuff back into my mind and trying to make it second nature. It’s a little different when you’re running at the line instead of being stationary,” Iannuzzi said of playing receiver in the Canadian game. “Sometimes you think you’re in no-man’s land and all of a sudden the ball comes out and you think there’s no way it will be in bounds but you realize you’ve got about 15 more yards to go before you get to the sidelines.”
Iannuzzi was hailed for his returning p
rowess at Harvard which he leaves as the school’s top all time returner, averaging 34.5 yards per return. He set a single season record in his final year, averaging 26.5 yards per return and is the only player in Harvard history to return two kickoffs for a touchdown in one season.
The Calgary native has been running with all four core special teams squads in practice and hopes to get a shot to be the off returner on deep punt returns and kick returns. That’s not to mention a healthy rotation spelling the Lions’ starting receivers which should be more than enough to keep things busy for Iannuzzi who said he hasn’t played on this many different units since high school when he never left the field for a single play.
“It just brings me back to that time in high school. You just have to channel a different part of yourself to become the guy tackling rather than the guy trying to elude the tackle,” Iannuzzi said of playing pursuit on special teams for the first time in four years. “It’s a little bit different but I’ve done it before and I feel pretty comfortable out there.”
Of course, another part of getting comfortable for Iannuzzi will be settling his young family in British Columbia, a move he can finally make now that he’s made the team that drafted him sixth overall this year.
Iannuzzi has a wife and a young daughter who were living with him in Boston during his Harvard days and now gets to tackle the headaches of uprooting their entire lives from one side of the continent to the other.
“I have to get my family here and get us all happy with where we are. We’re still trying to work out our vehicles. We still have to do a lot of the housekeeping in terms of everyday life,” Iannuzzi said. “Once that all happens then maybe we can step back and say things are normal.”
As if there are even such things as ‘everyday’ and ‘normal’ for the CFL rookie.
