By Bob Hughes
Somewhere, he is smiling. Because no matter where he was, whether it was in Edmonton or Hamilton or parked in a television booth, his heart was always with the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
I used to think that Ron Lancaster was invincible. During his 18 unequalled seasons as a quarterback in the Canadian Football League, all but three of them with Saskatchewan, Ronnie took ground-shaking hits from the likes of Wayne Smith, Angelo Mosca, Tom Brown, Wayne Harris, Bill Baker, Dave Fennell, John Helton and on and on. He broke ribs, bruised bones and muscles, was knocked out, gave blood, and always defiantly rose from all those injuries to play another day.
They called him The Little General. They called him The Little Assassin of Taylor Field. Short and thick, the brushcut his trademark for many years, Ronnie stood taller than just about anybody who ever played the game up here.
He was a leader, by word and by actions. The most telling words I ever heard spoken about what he was like on the field of play came from Calgary Stampeder centre Basil Bark after he had stopped crying in the Stampeder dressing. Ronnie had brought the Riders back in an amazing second half comeback to score a win that clinched first place for Saskatchewan in 1976.
“I’ve known him for a long time now,” said Bark, his words raw yet ringing with admiration. “I know that when you get him down, you better put your foot on his chest because he never gives up.”In his storied career, Lancaster engineered 50 comeback victories.
The fourth quarter was his theatre, the stage where he gave his most electrifying performances, where somehow he would yank the fans out of their seats and his teammates out of their comfort zone and bring them all along on the giddiest of rides to victory.
And, when the game was over, and the city and the province were alive with the fumes of victory, Ronnie would sit in the dressing room, shrug his shoulders, get that little grin on his face, and sip on a beer with his buddy George Reed.
When he died two years ago in September after seeming to have whipped cancer only to have his heart give away, the province, indeed the country, went into mourning. I had never seen such an outpouring of unrelenting grief for any Saskatchewan figure who died as I did for Ronnie in the week following his death.
It was if everybody had been hit in the stomach with a sledge hammer.In the 100 year history of the Roughriders, you can count on one hand the number of truly remarkable quarterbacks they have had. Glenn Dobbs was one. Maybe Frank Tripuka. Ronnie was another. Kent Austin was one.
And, now, on the eve of the Grey Cup championship in Edmonton, there is emerging yet another chapter in the rise of a guy who may be the next great Rider quarterback.And, in some ways, the emergence of Darian Durant as a bonafide starter in the CFL is intriguingly similar to Lancaster’s story.
They both began their careers with Ottawa. Lancaster played three years there before coming to Regina in 1963. Durant went to Ottawa, having set 51 records at the University of North Carolina. When Ottawa folded, he went to Hamilton and then was traded to Saskatchewan in 2006.
He was Riders’ third string quarterback in 2007, their Grey Cup year.
But, he didn’t become the starter until coach Ken Miller finally stopped juggling his quarterbacks and gave the number one job to Durant in 2009. When Miller made Durant his guy, Darian took off. When Eagle Keys made Lancaster his guy, Ronnie took off.Sunday’s game against the Montreal Alouettes will be Durant’s third Grey Cup appearance, his second as a starter.
And in the two seasons he has started, the Roughriders have become perhaps the most feared and definitely the most watched team in the league.
He brings to the game a fierce determination to win and a rare talent to turn that desire into points. He is everything you could want in a quarterback. He can throw the ball, with the accuracy of anybody.
He can run it, better than most. He thrives in an element where when all else appears coming down around him, he is just taking off. He is as good and as dangerous a running quarterback as if there ever has been.
And, he has that extraordinary ability to involve each of what is the best set of receivers in the league in virtually every game. And, like Ronnie, he has class and respect. Neither one of those two ever trash talked anybody.
Now, there is nothing especially pretty about how Darian Durant plays the game. He can throw interceptions you can’t figure out. He can hang around the pocket so long you figure he must think he’s invisible. He can look about as interested in what’s going on as the guy who is in charge of cleaning the snow off residential streets. There are times when you think he’d rather be somewhere else.
ut put the game on the line, maybe even the season, and he somehow finds the nearest phone booth, makes a quick change, and shows up wearing a Superman outfit. The eyes suddenly look like bright lights on a dark night, he gets this smile on his face, and he launches himself right into the other team’s party.
It’s like he’s been waiting all game for the moment when he could take it over.
f there is anything the Montreal Alouettes should be afraid of on Sunday afternoon in Edmonton, it will be that moment when Darian Durant decides this is his time and his place, and nobody is going to stop him. They tell me that Darian Durant has this tattoo on his left bicep which reads, “Against all odds – I’m going to shine.”Ron Lancaster didn’t have any tattoo. But, he had that same fire-eating attitude.
Bob Hughes column sponsored by Exit Realty Fusion
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