Broad Shoulders
 Ricky Ray Matt Dunigan
10/1/2007 3:32:31 PM
Chronologically, I believe it went Buck Pierce, Anthony Calvillo, Henry Burris and now Ricky Ray. Every one of these quarterbacks have shouldered their respective teams expectations this season and paid the price for doing so. Ironically, the price they paid was with their shoulders, as in separations or dislocations.
Getting injured in football is all part of the game, no matter what position you play. Last I checked, it is a collision sport. But the 2007 season has seen an unusually large and disturbing number of quarterbacks suffer shoulder problems. Again, that was Pierce, Calvillo, Burris and now Ray, WOW!
The rash of injuries does not stop with that one particular body part. There have been other QBs who have shouldered their team's fate this year and suffered various other ailments: Damon Allen in Toronto - torn toe tendon; Michael Bishop also in Toronto - broken wrist; Kevin Glenn in Winnipeg - knee sprain; Hamilton's Casey Printers - hamstring.
The B.C. Lions have dealt with Dave Dickenson's post-concussion syndrome for most of the season. You can bet Kerry Joseph in Saskatchewan has dealt with a number of aches and pains this season. Akili Smith in Calgary suffered a pulled groin this weekend.
Before he was traded, Jason Maas in Hamilton played with an arm that was not nearly close to being 100%. I believe that cost him his job and a change of venue. Frankly, I don't know if Jason's arm will ever be the same and if he will ever be considered an elite quarterback because he tried to play through the pain and suffered a lack of production as a result.
This is truly an amazing, yet horrifically sobering profession at times. One season, one game, one series, one minute, one down and or one play, you can be on top of the world and then BANG, it's over. This week it happened to Ray. Who's next? Chances are someone else is going down before the conclusion of the season in Toronto on Nov. 25th. That is just the stark reality of playing quarterback in the CFL.
When these injuries happen (and they will), you have quality medical personnel all across this country who will look after these gunslingers. So rest assured, they are in great hands from East to West being treated for what ails them.
These quarterbacks that I have mentioned (and all the others waiting in the wings) are tough as nails; they are warriors, survivors and leaders of men. Know this, they are doing everything possible to get back out on the field of play as quickly as they can. They do this because that is who they are; that is what they know. It has been ingrained in every fibre of their being. They are professional quarterbacks and they have a burning desire to overcome all odds, move the chains, put the ball in the end zone and have one more opportunity to compete.
All of this takes place on the ultimate playing field, the gridiron. Now more than ever in today's world, these careers and lives are accessible; they are front and center, out in the open, in the paper, on the television and on the Internet. We watch, follow, marvel, criticize, second-guess, cheer and appreciate this phenomenon in all its astonishing glory.
The process plays out like an open book under the watchful eye and scrutiny of millions of football fans in this country and around the world. No doubt a professional quarterback's job description will include somewhere, somehow, the words used for this column's title; Broad Shoulders!
For TSN.ca, I'm Matt Dunigan
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