As Rider nation arose yesterday to a Grey Cup countdown, and who knows how many hangovers, their heroes were in fine form. At Mosaic Stadium, the players were in meetings by 9:30 a.m., packed by 10 a.m. and out the door soon after.
But not Omarr Morgan. He took his time. He stayed by his locker inside the dressing room, didn’t say a lot, just soaked up the mood. Finally he was getting his chance. Finally, after 10 years in the CFL, the Saskatchewan Roughrider from Hollywood, Calif., was getting a juicy script to work with, his go at a championship ending.
“I’ve never seen a Grey Cup game,” Morgan said quietly when asked about heading to Calgary and Sunday’s clash with the Montreal Alouettes. “I’ve watched a couple of playoff games. I did that in 2007. But that Grey Cup? I couldn’t watch it.”
That Grey Cup, the 2007 edition, best captures the Omarr Morgan saga. Had he stayed with the Riders, he would have been a member of their Cup win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. He would have owned a ring, personal validation. It would have been the balm that soothes the ache.
Instead, he spent that season with the Edmonton Eskimos. One season. Then he returned to the Riders hoping his decade-long championship drought would end. And now, having defeated the Calgary Stampeders in the West Division final, he has his chance, and his Saskatchewan teammates have taken Morgan’s cause to heart.
“He’s done so much in this league,” veteran offensive lineman Jeremy O’Day said. “He’s been such a solid player and a solid guy in the locker room that we want to win this Cup for him. If anyone’s dreaming about winning this Grey Cup, it’s him. We know it.”
The win-it-for-Omarr theme has been slowly building as the Riders’ season has moved along. Yesterday, as the players kibitzed with one another and worked their BlackBerrys for family travel arrangements, many of them pointed to Morgan as their inspiration. You can understand why when you know the rest of his football story.
Coming out of Brigham Young University, Morgan was the only player from the 1998 Senior Bowl not drafted by the NFL. He went to the St. Louis Rams’ training camp and was cut.
For two years he worked at entry-level jobs and stayed in shape hoping to make a team, any team.
“One job I had I was working at the YMCA,” Morgan explained. Then an old friend, quarterback Steve Sarkisian, who was playing for the Riders, asked Morgan to send up a videotape of his football highlights. Sarkisian passed the tape along to the Riders’ coaching staff. No one seemed too impressed.
For two years he worked at entry-level jobs and stayed in shape hoping to make a team, any team.
“One job I had I was working at the YMCA,” Morgan explained. Then an old friend, quarterback Steve Sarkisian, who was playing for the Riders, asked Morgan to send up a videotape of his football highlights. Sarkisian passed the tape along to the Riders’ coaching staff. No one seemed too impressed.
The following season, in 2000, Morgan attended the Riders’ training camp and, at long last, a CFL all-star was born.
“You could tell he was a good player right away,” said Eddie Davis, Saskatchewan’s other nine-year presence in its defensive backfield. “He’s meant a lot to this team. That’s why 2007 was unfortunate for him. Winning that Grey Cup was bittersweet. Guys like him, Jackie Mitchell, Roy Shivers, they helped build that team. They were a part of it.”
Morgan felt no such connection but he did return to Regina hopeful his time would come. This season, he was every bit as solid as ever, making 50 tackles, four interceptions, two fumble recoveries, one of which he returned for a touchdown. It was, his head coach said, not the only measure of Morgan’s worth to the Riders.
“We had Chris McKenzie, a rookie at weak-side halfback, and Omarr took him under his wing and coached him,” Ken Miller said. “He even changed assignments with McKenzie to make sure the coverage was tight. He’s been a tremendous leader.”
“We had Chris McKenzie, a rookie at weak-side halfback, and Omarr took him under his wing and coached him,” Ken Miller said. “He even changed assignments with McKenzie to make sure the coverage was tight. He’s been a tremendous leader.”
There’s something curious and special about this Rider team. Nothing fazes it. A player gets injured along the offensive line, at linebacker, at defensive back, at receiver, and another steps in and does the job. If there’s one word that best depicts this squad, it’s relentless. So, too, is Morgan.
“I thought we could get to the Cup,” he said. “That was my goal and I’ve never given up on that. This is the best group of guys, the best coaches I’ve ever been with. We’re so confident in each other and what we have to do. It’s unreal.”
That doesn’t mean beating the Alouettes is a sure thing. Montreal ate up the Riders in the regular season and went through the B.C. Lions as if they were cellophane. Morgan’s assignment in the Grey Cup will be to cover Kerry Watkins, who had three catches for 113 yards and a touchdown in the East final. “He’s a guy who has it all – speed, strength, great hands and a great quarterback,” Morgan said.
Still, just being there, in a game of that magnitude, is all the challenge Morgan has ever wanted. Finally, his script has come in. All he needs now is to go Hollywood and go home
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