Dave Chidley/CFL.ca
If the CFL was a forest, these men would be shrubs.
In a sport dominated by big people, no one among the CFL’s top-four punt/kick returners stands taller than five-foot-nine. The heaviest is 180 pounds. Still small men like Chris Rainey of the BC Lions, Stefan Logan of the Montreal Alouettes and Brandon Banks of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats can have a big impact on any game.
The Calgary Stampeders will have a lot of heavy artillery at their disposal when they face the Ottawa REDBLACKS in the 104th Grey Cup presented by Shaw Sunday. Roy Finch may be small calibre but can still do a lot of damage.
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At five-foot-seven and 171 pounds, Finch is one of the smallest men on the Stampeders roster. He made a big a statement in the Western Final, returning the opening kickoff 46 yards. That allowed Calgary to start its first possession at midfield. Four plays later the Stampeders scored their first touchdown in a 42-12 demolition of the BC Lions.
Finch was fourth in the CFL in combined yards this season. He had 993 yards in punt returns, 1,060 yards in kickoff returns and 198 yards in missed field goal returns. During the Labor Day Classic, he returned a punt 85 yards for a touchdown.
“I’m pretty excited about the season I had,” said the 25-year-old native of Niceville, Fla. “I felt like early in the season there was a lot of things I could have been better at.
“I started off kind of slow, just understanding the concepts and what the coaches wanted me to do. Once I started understanding the schemes and understanding what was being implemented each week my game started to elevate. I started to see holes quicker. I was able to be more patient and the game just game to me naturally.”
Mark Kilam, Calgary’s special teams coordinator, calls Finch a “float and stab” returner.
“He floats, then when he wants to stab and stick his foot in the ground and change direction, he can,” said Kilam. “He’s a special player.”
Finch combines the speed of a Ferrari with the rugged power of a tank.
“Roy is very explosive,” said Kilam. “Roy is tough as nails, which returners have to be because they to take some shots.
“He can break tackles, which is what you need in the open field because you can’t block it perfectly every time. You are going to have times where your returner needs to break a tackle and he’s very good at that.”
Finch said returning a punt requires a different mentality than fielding a kickoff.
“On a punt, the blocking isn’t there sometimes, it’s more freelancing,” Finch said. “On a kick return, there’s a scheme. You get behind a wall.”
Kilam said on a punt, the defenders are down field quickly, which limits the schemes. A kickoff allows more flexibility.
“A kickoff, on paper, you do have time to set it up,” he said. “It’s an offensive play where you are starting from a different position every time, depending how long the ball is in the air.
“There’s a lot of other moving parts that got to make it work for you. It’s an interesting dynamic.”
“I don’t think it’s about the size of the person. It’s all about the heart of the person and how hard they are willing to work.”
Roy Finch
Like other coaches, Kilam also plans his returns based on who the Stampeders are playing.
“You scheme off what you see off the kicking team for one,” he said. “Are they vulnerable in an area?
“You also scheme for what your guy does well. If your guy is really good at running field returns, you run field returns. If you guy is really good as miss-direction stuff, then you scheme more for that.”
Besides returns, Finch is a backup to running back Jerome Messam. During the season, Finch had seven carries for 24 yards. He saw more action in the Western Final, getting five carries for 49 yards.
Head coach Dave Dickenson liked what he saw.
“I thought he was great,” said Dickenson, who was named Coach of the Year earlier this week. “I thought he proved he could run and block between the tackles. That is a positive sign for us.”
Messam said Finch is still adjusting to the CFL game.
“Things I have tried to teach Roy is he doesn’t have to be so fast all the time,” said Messam, who won the top Canadian award after leading the league with 1,198 yards.
“He’s super speedy. Sometimes you have to slow down and let the game come to you. He was a lot more patient in the last game and he had some big runs because of it.”
Finch played college football at Oklahoma where he was a running back and returner. He returned the opening kickoff of a 2012 game against Kansas 100 yards for a touchdown.
Finch spent time with the NFL New England Patriots before signing with Ottawa in 2014. He played five games for the REDBLACKS before being released. He joined the Stampeders in May.
Messam has been impressed with Finch’s work ethic.
“He worked hard the whole year,” said Messam. “There were two guys ahead of him in training camp. He worked his way up to get on the roster.
“For him to be the second guy playing in the Grey Cup, that’s just awesome for him.”
Dickenson used Finch sparingly as a running back during the season.
“I feel like, if you have a good returner and you over use him in the offence, you lose what he’s there for in the return game,” he said.
“Now it’s playoffs. Mess is our horse. I will put (Finch) in there and try to keep everyone fresh.”
Kilam has a theory for why some of the CFL’s best return men are also the league’s smallest players.
“Those are some guys that maybe fall through the cracks in the NFL because of size,” he explained. “They all are very explosive and that lends itself to their skill set.”
Finch shrugs off questions about his stature.
“It matters what’s in your heart,” he said. “Are you a lion or are you a sheep? I’m a Lion.
“I don’t think it’s about the size of the person. It’s all about the heart of the person and how hard they are willing to work.”
