RIDER PRIDE

Saskatchewan Roughriders' Omarr Morgan
Photograph by: Bryan Schlosser, Leader-Post files

REGINA — The Saskatchewan Roughriders have their veteran corner back.

Instead of becoming a free agent on Feb. 15, 33-year-old cornerback Omarr Morgan has opted to re-sign with the Roughriders, with whom he has spent all but one of his 10 CFL seasons. The deal, for one year plus an option, was announced Thursday.

"I talked to players from other teams and they told me to hold off and that the coaches might want to sign me, but I wasn't going to make the same mistake twice,'' Morgan said Thursday from Los Angeles. "I wasn't going to go into free agency again. It was pretty much a no-brainer. If I wasn't going to play in Saskatchewan, I probably wouldn't have played.''

Morgan tested free agency in 2007 and signed a six-figure contract with the Edmonton Eskimos. The Roughriders won the Grey Cup later that year.

His stint with Edmonton lasted only one season. He rejoined the Roughriders in 2008. Last year, he helped Saskatchewan reach the Grey Cup, only to lament a 28-27 loss to the Montreal Alouettes.

"I had the best time I ever had playing football last year, because of the organization, the coaches and the players,'' said Morgan, who had four interceptions and a CFL-record 108-yard fumble return in 2009. "It's not just us winning and going to the Grey Cup. It's just the best time I've had playing football. It was better than college and Pop Warner football. It was the greatest.''

That sentiment is not affected by the shocking conclusion to the Grey Cup, which will long be remembered for a costly too-many-men-on-the-field infraction called against Saskatchewan.
"We lost and it was the Grey Cup — the biggest game of my career,'' Morgan said of his only Grey Cup appearance. "The way we lost was kind of different, but I just want to go out there and play football again. You can't dwell on it. You can kind of have some anger, but I'm the kind of guy who doesn't dig too far into grudges and what happened in the past. Montreal's the Grey Cup champs and hopefully in 2010 the Saskatchewan Roughriders will be the Grey Cup

champs.''

Morgan said negotiations were conducted with Eric Tillman and his recently appointed successor as the Roughriders' general manager, Brendan Taman.

"It wasn't a back-and-forth thing,'' Morgan said. "They pretty much gave me what I asked for. It was easy. For the most part, I've never really had a problem getting what I've asked for because I just want to play. You don't get rich in the CFL, so you have to do other things. I have other things that make money, so I just want to play. It's not about another $2,000 here or another $5,000 there or another $10,000 there. You've just got to love playing, and that's what I love to do.''

Morgan's re-signing leaves the Roughriders with 13 potential free agents. One of them is defensive halfback Eddie Davis, who turned 37 on Wednesday.

Roughriders head coach and vice-president of football operations Ken Miller sounded optimistic about Davis returning for a 16th CFL season.

"We really like the idea of Eddie coming back,'' said Miller, who is hoping for a "flurry of signings'' over the next two or three weeks.

EXTRA POINTS: The Winnipeg Blue Bombers announced the signing of former Roughriders receiver Vincent Marshall on Thursday. Marshall played five games with the Roughriders in 2008, catching nine passes for 145 yards and one touchdown. The touchdown was scored in Winnipeg. Marshall also had a tryout with the Calgary Stampeders last season . . . Roughriders offensive co-ordinator Paul LaPolice has been interviewed for the Bombers' vacant head-coaching position. "Paul is in the thick of that right now,'' Miller said. "Hopefully we know definitely on that by the end of next week.''

rvanstone@leaderpost.canwest.com