THE CANADIAN PRESS
The story of Henry Burris in Hamilton is similar to his ventures in Saskatchewan, Calgary and eventually Ottawa in many ways. Henry swooped in, stole a fan base’s heart, resurrected a team to relevancy and had a less than ideal farewell.
In January of 2012 when the Tiger-Cats traded for Burris from Calgary for fellow journeyman quarterback Kevin Glenn and offensive lineman Mark Dewit, many Tiger-Cats fans embraced the wide smiling gunslinger as a breath of fresh air to a franchise in need on any available oxygen.
In the decade before Burris arrived to Steeltown, the Black and Gold went 58-111 (.522) behind passers named Beautjer, Boltus, Brady, Chang, Corley, Eakin, Glenn, Gonzalez, Jones, LeFevour, Maas, Porter, Printers, Robinson, Sankey, Tafralis, Washington and Williams.
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
> Top of His Game: This is the only way Henry should exit Football (by Don Landry)
> 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)
> A who’s who of Henry Burris pass-catchers (by Jim Morris)
> Burris by the Numbers: A look back at a stellar career
Henry Burris (right) celebrates with Andy Fantuz (left) during the 2013 season (The Canadian Press)
The team needed solidarity. A leader to call its own and a face to energize the fan base. Burris was by no means celebrated as the greatest of all time at any point in Hamilton, but he had that charm, a wit and rocket launcher of a shoulder which somehow resulted in more wins than losses almost anywhere he went.
That first year in 2012, despite having a career statistical season in a new system throwing for 5,367 yards and 43 touchdowns, with a passer rating of 104.4, Burris and the Ticats would fall to a lacklustre 6-12 record and miss the playoffs. Unfortunately at that point it felt like home.
In 2013, Burris led the league in passing again with 4, 925 yards and a playoff berth after finishing 10-8 while being displaced to Guelph for all home games. I’m not sure many other quarterbacks could have done that in a fluid situation like the Ticats had in 2013. Henry just put on a smile and led the league in passing all the way to the Grey Cup.
After that season and another quick turnaround of a franchise to which Burris could add to his resume, the Tiger-Cats went younger. They moved away from Burris in order to make room for Zach Collaros. Just like the Stamps did for Drew Tate and the REDBLACKS would eventually do for Trevor Harris.
It never mattered though. Hank would continue to smile and play with a boulder on his shoulder. In Hamilton, he played with anger from his Calgary breakup and left with Hamilton as motivation to fuel his future endeavours. A sort of circle of life which could leave Tiger-Cats fans wondering, “how much credit do we get for Burris’ miraculous 2016”?
