B.C. Lions: Printers' game was figuratively lame

Sacked quarterback kept bum knee under wraps to the point it crippled his skills. Former Florida A&M University Rattlers quarterback Printers played for Lions after 3rd game with a partial tear of his ACL and a torn meniscus in right knee, while B.C. Lions kept info on the hush-hush from league.

CALGARY - Quarterback Casey Printers still hasn't lost the ability to excite and inflame the passion of Lions fans, even when he is no longer a Lion.

On Thursday, TSN reported that Printers had undergone surgery on his right knee, eight days after his release by the Lions, and the news spurred those who believed Printers had stoically suffered in silence during his disappointing second go-round with the team to view him in a much different, more heroic light.

"I suspected all along that he was suffering the effects of his knee injury," said a blogger known as the Lion King, just one of many who weighed in on the lionbackers.com web-site. "Doesn't say much about [Wally] Buono blaming Printers for the Lions' offensive woes."

Printers agreed with team MD's recommendation

Time heals old wounds. It also distorts some facts, Wally Buono said Tuesday. Though Casey Printers is no longer with the B.C. Lions, the coach/GM of the CFL team is still having to answer questions about how the club handled the medical file of his former starting quarterback.

The ACL surgery performed on the right knee of Printers last week again raised questions about whether the Lions put pressure on him to play through the injury, which caused him to sit out three weeks after he was hurt July 16 against Montreal.

Pouncing on Printers no more

There was one less Cadillac Escalade with Texas plates in the parking lot, one less quarterback with an orange jersey at practice and one more open stall in the locker-room. Otherwise, life -- post-Casey Printers -- moved forward for the B.C. Lions Thursday.

"Honestly, it's still very recent," said Travis Lulay, the acknowledged starting quarterback following Printers' release two days ago. "I don't think a ton has changed. It's so new. I wouldn't say the atmosphere is dramatically different without Casey. But I do feel the team and the locker-room is in a good place. And I'm not saying that's because Casey is gone, or if the team would be in a good place with Casey here. It's impossible to say."



Lions release Casey Printers‎

VANCOUVER -- The British Columbia Lions released quarterback Casey Printers on Wednesday. The 29-year-old started the first three games of the season before suffering a knee injury. He returned as a starter for Week 8 loss to Calgary, but had been relegated to backup status for the last two games against Winnipeg.

"At this time, we believe it's in the best interest of our club to part ways and move forward," said Lions head coach and general manager Wally Buono. "We wish Casey the very best." Printers finished his 2010 tenure at B.C. with 1,731 passing yards, 10 touchdowns and six interceptions.

Former Lions QB Printers speaks about his recent release

After being released by the B.C. Lions on Thursday, Casey Printers' CFL future is up in the air. A statement from Printers passed on through his representative to CFL Insider Dave Naylor expressed his thoughts on the Lions' decision, the team's playoff chances and what comes next for the 29-year-old quarterback.

"It was with surprise and disappointment that I received the news of my release," said Printers. "I remained confident that we had an outstanding opportunity to challenge for the Grey Cup down the stretch and into the playoffs.

Casey under the knife

The next team to take a shot with Casey Printers will have to wait until he recovers from ACL surgery he underwent Thursday. A report by TSN, which had the first word on Printers last weekend, indicated the former Lions quarterback underwent the procedure in Vancouver, which would hardly come as a surprise to Wally Buono.

Though he did not provide details at the time of his release a week ago, Buono told Printers the club would look after the costs of his medical recovery as he was going out the door.

READ MORE, CLICK EACH TITLE.

Bruised, battered, but winners: CFL B.C. Lions 38, Montreal 17

Former FAMU quarterback Casey Printers returned to action from a knee injury as the Lion starter and completed 14 of 28 passes for 235 yard and two touchdowns over the East Division leader, Alouettes.

It still made a lot of sense to look the other way when watching the Lions as has so often been the case during the torturous first half of their CFL season. But for a change it had nothing to do with what they did while slapping around everyone on the Montreal Alouettes with the exception of injured quarterback Anthony Calvillo, whose value to the Grey Cup champions was never more apparent in the Lions' 38-17 win Friday.

The area around the B.C. bench was not for those troubled by misplaced body parts, nor did you want to be around coach/GM Wally Buono trying to figure out how many healthy bodies he will have to replace when his boys face the Toronto Argonauts Saturday at Empire Field.

Korey Banks was first. He had four fingers on his right hand going one way and his ring digit in a different location after an injury in the third quarter. Trainer Bill Reichelt had Banks look somewhere other than the field when he realigned the finger so he could continue.

READ MORE, CLICK TITLE.

READ RELATED ARTICLES:

Lions get their reason to believe

Lions show signs of life as they roll over Alouettes

Seven up as Lions snap losing streak

Printers mirrors inconsistent Lions: Buono

Former FAMU quarterback Casey Printers is showing inconsistency as Lions starter.

VANCOUVER, B.C. — The one great quality of being a genius coach is having a great quarterback. And three games into the 2010 CFL season, B.C. Lions quarterback Casey Printers is not making his boss look very smart. In coach Wally Buono's view, his field general is exhibiting the same erraticism that is bedeviling the rest of the team.

"You'd like for him to be more consistent," Buono said Saturday, after reviewing tapes of the Lions' 16-12 defeat to the Montreal Alouettes Friday night at Empire Field. "Half the time, there is a very good quarterback." That statement was borne out by the statistics, which saw Printers complete 20 of 40 passes for 253 yards against the Alouettes. And he did throw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Jamal Robertson for the game's only major.

However, he was intercepted twice, the first time when he tried to throw a home-run ball into the end zone with Paris Jackson double-covered and the entire Montreal defence aware that Printers was going to go deep. It was not a smart call, Buono admitted, because the Lions were in Montreal territory and needed to come away with points in what was a low-scoring defensive struggle.

READ MORE, CLICK TITLE.

Video: Highlights: MTL 16, BC 12

VOD: Week 3 - Alouettes vs. Lions

READ RELATED ARTICLES:

Alouettes defeat Lions, break 10-year curse

BC needs Printers to be electric

Inconsistent Printers hearing no evil

Lions come up short as Als end winless streak in BC

Offence misfires with a chance to KO Als

FAMU's Printers suffers hamstring injury in Lions' loss to Riders

Vancouver, BC (Sports Network) - British Columbia Lions starting quarterback Casey Printers suffered an apparent leg injury in the final minute of the first half of Saturday's 37-18 loss against the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Printers was taken down by defensive end Brent Hawkins when he was hurt and limped gingerly off the field. Travis Lulay played under center for the second half. "I could've played but I couldn't risk making it worse. It was a precautionary thing to sit back. It's a long season," Printers said. Prior to suffering the injury, Printers completed 10-of-14 passes for 120 yards and a touchdown.

READ MORE, CLICK BLOG TITLE.

Video Highlights: SSK 37, BC 18

BC Lions' had a brilliant night – except for the football

VANCOUVER — It was a great night for the lions. Stoic and noble, glorious and indomitable – those were the lions on the North Shore mountains. For the Lions down on the field, playing the first outdoor regular-season Canadian Football League game since 1982, B.C.'s football team was far eclipsed by its stadium. The Lions were far eclipsed by the Saskatchewan Roughriders, too, losing 37-18 in a game that dulled the nostalgia of returning to Empire Field for the 2010 season.

The two best lions were those peaks in the Coast Range overlooking English Bay and Burrard Inlet. The only B.C. Lion close to them was Geroy Simon, whose first-half jumpball catch on Casey Printers' 32-yard heave-ho and a garbage-time grab of Travis Lulay's bomb for a 98-yard touchdown gave his team an illusion of competitiveness.

Roughriders spoil Lions' return to Empire lands before a sold-out crowd

VANCOUVER — The Empire didn't strike back, it struck out. Saskatchewan Roughriders stopped a five-game Lions win' streak against them at Hastings and Cassiar - albeit one that stretched back 28 years - as they crushed B.C. 37-18 before a sold-out crowd of 27,500 at Empire Field Saturday night. The game was the first CFL game played outdoors in Vancouver since the 1982 season at the former site of Empire Stadium, demolished after the Lions moved to BC Place a year later.

And demolished pretty much described the state of the Lions after their first regular-season game at Empire Field, the temporary, $15 million structure that is the team's contingency home while BC Place undergoes renovations for a retractable roof.

The Lions lost starting quarterback Casey Printers late in the second quarter with a strained quad muscle after he was flushed out of the pocket by defensive end Brent Hawkins, who was a monster all evening for the Roughriders. Besides his constant raids into the Lions backfield, Hawkins forced a fumble when he tackled Travis Lulay - Printers' replacement - then picked up the loose ball to score Saskatchewan's fourth touchown on 40-yard fumble return.


#1 Quarterback Casey Printers (FAMU)

CFLGame Video:

• Week 2: Roughriders vs. LionsPlay

Highlights: CGY 23, HAM 22

Highlights: TOR 36, WPG 34

READ MORE, CLICK TITLE.

Printers, B.C. Lions kick their way to road victory

Former FAMU Rattlers' Quarterback Casey Printers plays turnover - free football in the B.C. Lions 25-10 road win over the Edmonton Eskimos in yesterday's Canada Day season opener.

EDMONTON, AB — The distance from where the Lions began their Canadian Football League season on Sunday and where they would like it to end up is not large. It is precisely 25 steps to walk from the visiting locker-room to the palatial new digs occupied by the Edmonton Eskimos at Commonwealth Stadium, where this year’s Grey Cup game is to be played. And in relative terms, what the Lions did when they posted a 25-10 win on the strength of a turnover-free game in which they also forced the hosts into five giveaways, not to mention six field goals by Paul McCallum, was take precisely one step in that direction.

One step, nothing more. But with so much uncertainty as a result of the massive off-season personnel airlift, there is reason to think coach Wally Buono has assembled the makings of a team. And if there were doubts about the young offensive line, they were erased when Jon Hameister-Ries sprang Robertson with a block for his scoring run. Quarterback Casey Printers was only dropped behind the line of scrimmage once.

Video:

• Week 1: Lions vs. EskimosPlay

Highlights: BC 25, EDM 10

CFL News and Highlights : Step in the Right Direction

READ MORE, CLICK TITLE.

Printers and BC Lions lose a thriller at Empire Field

VANCOUVER, B.C. - Fans at Empire Field were pleased with the facility but not with the result of the game. In their first game in their new temporary home the British Columbia Lions of the Canadian Football League lost 36-32 to the Edmonton Eskimos. It was a last second touchdown pass from Jason Maas to Skyler Green that proved to be the winner for the Eskimos. Overall, the Lions had a pretty good game as starting quarterback Casey Printers (Florida A&M University) got a feel for some of his new receivers and running backs. Printers hooked up with Jamal Robertson twice for a couple of scores.

Big plays also came from Printers as he connected with Jamall Lee for a 95-yard play that resulted in a touchdown. Eskimos linebacker T.J. Hill picked off a Casey Printers pass that went off of Jamel Robertson's hands and went 60 yards for a major score on just the second play from scrimmage for a 7-0 lead 54 seconds in. Printers guided the Lions through the first half and finished the day completing 13-of-22 passes for 263 yards, a touchdown and an interception.

Attendance at the first ever game at Empire Field was 24,763. The B.C. Lions ended pre-season with a 1-1 record.

Next Game: SEASON OPENER - Sunday, July 4 at Edmonton Eskimos, 4 p.m.

PHOTOS ( 10 )

Former FAMU Quarterback Casey Printers starter for B.C. Lions

BC Lions look to the past to prepare for 2010 football season‎

With the B.C. Lions set to play home games outdoors for the first time in nearly three decades, much of the talk around the team’s 2010 Canadian Football League season will focus on its past and its ties to the original Empire Stadium on the Pacific National Exhibition grounds. But as the Leos get set to kick off training camp in Kamloops on June 6, head coach and general manager Wally Buono intends to take a different path down memory lane. The man with more CFL coaching wins than anyone else is far more interested in recent history than in nostalgia.

Buono spent much of the off-season trying to figure out how to get his 2010 football club to look and play like the teams he had here four, five, and six years ago, when the Lions truly were kings of the CFL jungle, getting to the Grey Cup in 2004 and winning it all in 2006. Last year, the Lions lost their way as they stumbled to a forgettable 8-10 record. While they managed an overtime win in Hamilton in their playoff opener, they suffered an embarrassing 56-18 thumping one week later at the hands of the eventual champion Montreal Alouettes.

And, of course, there is Casey Printers (Florida A&M University), who comes to camp as the starting quarterback after his much-ballyhooed return to the club late last season. Unlike last year, though, Printers will have the luxury of a full training camp to begin putting his stamp on the Lions. Buono believes that Printers can get his game back to the level it was at in 2004, when he was the CFL’s most outstanding player.

“When he came here last year, he worked hard and won the locker room, and not only excited the players in the locker room but everyone in the organization and the fans,” says Buono. “He wants to lead this team. It’s the number-one position on any football team, and we feel right now we’re in excellent hands. Casey is in the prime of his growth and development as a quarterback.”

"You talk about offence, you talk about excitement, you talk about a guy who raises everybody else up, and the guy that did that for us last year was Casey Printers. I think he excited not only the players in the locker-room, but everybody in the organization and our fans. It was something we needed." -- Coach Wally Buono on his No. 1 QB.

Lowered expectations for once mighty Lions

VANCOUVER — The once-mighty B.C. Lions have fallen from the “expectant” category in the Canadian Football League into the “hopeful” group. In an eight-team league, that’s a precipitous drop and a significant change as the rookies gather on the Hillside Stadium fields of the campus of Thompson River University in Kamloops, B.C., for the beginning of training camp on Wednesday.

There are, of course, reasons and explanations for the downgrade. Foremost is team performance the last two seasons in which the Lions, firstly, were bumped from the top perch by the Calgary Stampeders (2008); then forced to qualify for playoffs by crossing over to the East Division when their ugly 8-10 record was superior to two woeful teams in the have-not division.

Heading to camp, instead of grand expectations, the Lions are hoping quarterback Casey Printers is, indeed, the answer to revitalizing a moribund offence. They are hoping they have the line protection needed so Printers or Jarious Jackson or Travis Lulay will have time to look off their primary receiver without fear they are going to be killed by the blind-side rush. Heading for Kamloops, they are hoping that, at 33, running back Jamal Robertson has one more good year in him or until Jamall Lee can get his feet under him. They are hoping they discover another Emmanuel Arceneaux to augment established stars Geroy Simon and Paris Jackson.

LIONS ROAR INTO HILLSIDE

Local football fans are in for a treat. For the next 17 days, the B.C. Lions will be at Hillside Stadium preparing for the upcoming Canadian Football League season. The action gets underway today (June 2) with the beginning of the team’s rookie camp, followed by full two-a-days beginning this weekend. Between June 6 and June 19, the squad will practice twice each day on the artificial turf at Hillside. The only exception will be June 13, when the Lions face the Saskatchewan Roughriders in a CFL exhibition game in Regina.

Jeff Putnam, sport development and business operations manager with the City of Kamloops, said the fact the Lions are holding training camp in the Tournament Capital speaks volumes about the city’s facilities. “It means a lot with an outward perspective,” he said. “It solidifies the fact that our facilities are at a professional calibre.” And it means a lot for local football fans. On-field training camp practice sessions are open to the public — and there’s no charge.

Video: Click Here--

CFL Game of the Week, Eastern Semi: BC 34 ...

Starring Casey Printers, B.C. Lions, (FAMU); Hamilton WR Marquay McDaniel (Hampton University) and Hamilton RB Martell Mallet (Arkansas-Pine Bluff). Mallet is now 2010 member of NFL Philadelphia Eagles.

Click here to listen to Casey Printers on the TEAM 1040

B.C. Lions sign quarterback Casey Printers to contract extension ...

Just as he was during a magical run in the summer of 2004, Casey Printers is once again the go-to guy for the B.C. Lions. The Canadian Football League's Most Outstanding Player in that 2004 season returned to the Lions Den late last year and showed enough in limited action for the team to anoint him its starting quarterback moving forward. That was made official when the two sides agreed to a new contract on Sunday (March 7).

It's been an interesting six years for Printers since he left the Lions to pursue his dream of playing in the National Football League. When that didn't pan out, he returned to the CFL and had a less than successful stint with the Hamilton Tiger Cats. Printers looked like he may have played himself out of professional football at this time last year when there were no takers for his services. But when the Lions ran into injury problems at the most important position on the field last September, they reached out to Printers, who jumped at the chance to resurrect his career and led the Lions to a playoff win in Hamilton and showed enough to earn the new deal.

He's only 28, an age when many pro quarterbacks are coming into their primes. It seems the professional hardships he's been through may have given Casey Printers some perspective and allowed him to mature. He's got the physical tools to play the game as he displayed with his electrifying performances six seasons ago. And now he's got the contract he was looking for and the starter's job that goes with it. He's taken a less than conventional route to return to his roots, but Casey Printers is back to lead the B.C. Lions in 2010.

Lions release Champion

‎

The B.C. Lions' remake of the quarterbacking depth chart continued Monday with the release of Zac Champion.The Louisiana Tech grad was mostly a third-and fourth-stringer in his two years with the Lions, although a rash of injuries last season meant he saw action in one game. He went four-of-14 for 35 yards with two interceptions.

Earlier in the off-season, after re-signing Casey Printers to a long-term deal, the Lions released former starter Buck Pierce. He later signed with Winnipeg. Jarious Jackson, also a onetime starter, and Travis Lulay are the other quarterbacks currently on the depth chart behind Printers. General manger/ head coach Wally Buono expects to add one more thrower before the start of training camp June 6 in Kamloops.

READ MORE, CLICK TITLE.

Coach K won't say if Casey Printers his type

But ex-Ticat welcome at tryouts, Kelly says

He's been labelled a clubhouse cancer and a prima donna. And if you were to paint a picture to best describe quarterback Casey Printers' days with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, it would almost certainly involve a mushroom cloud, an enormous crater and several kilometres of scorched earth. And now, just a few weeks after vehemently denying any interest in his services, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers are tap-dancing around weekend reports emanating from a Vancouver radio station that Printers is suddenly in their plans.

QB Casey Printers (Florida A&M Rattlers - 2002) has dropped in one season with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats from the top paid player in the CFL to unemployed professional quarterback.

"It's beyond me how this story has taken on a life of it's own," head coach Mike Kelly said from San Diego, where the Bombers conducted a free-agent tryout camp on the weekend. "Right now, we're just looking for good players (the club has two more camps scheduled in the next month). These are open tryouts. Joe Montana might walk out and say, 'Hey, I want to throw the ball around' and we'll say, 'OK, let's see what you got.' "I can't turn anybody away from these workouts."

That may be true, but despite his considerable skill set and his glowing credentials -- Printers was the CFL's Most Outstanding Player in 2004 -- the Bombers have until this point repeatedly spit out a polite "no thanks" when his name popped up in recent weeks. They vehemently denied interest in him in January when rumours surfaced that Printers would be traded to the Bombers for Kevin Glenn. And last month, when Printers was cut adrift by the Ticats, the Bombers took a pass on him as well.



CONTINUE READING, CLICK BLOG TITLE.

READ RELATED ARTICLES:
Blue to take look at Printers
Suitor: A case for Casey
Green is the colour
Much more madness
• Ticats 'moving in the right direction'
Bombers try to find place for Payton
Extra text-ures

Printers and Hamilton Ticats have claws after all

Video Highlights: http://watch.tsn.ca/cfl-news-and-highlights/clip64416#clip64416

Excerpt from article:

Led by Jesse Lumsden's 189-yard, two-touchdown rushing night and Casey Printers' smooth-and-patient quarterbacking, the sadsack Ticats looked like a different kind of team: a suddenly dangerous one. The Argos, in contrast, who drew 30,822 for the biggest home-opener head count since 1992, were stunningly ineffective for much of the night. Kerry Joseph, the starting quarterback coming off a championship season in Saskatchewan in which he ran for about 43 yards a game, looked only slightly more mobile than Michael Bishop, the backup QB, and Bishop spent the entire evening standing on the sideline.
















Photo: Former Florida A&M University quarterback Casey Printers lead the Tiger-Cats to a 32-13 victory over the Toronto Argonauts on the road (photo courtesy JOHN SOKOLOWSKI).

The Ticats, meanwhile, attacked with an efficient use of both ground and air, Printers making good on 16 of 23 for 171 yards passing. And it made one wonder how a team that looked positively disorganized a week before – turning it over three times in ceding Montreal the early momentum – could look so estimable. Printers and Lumsden ran zone-read fakes with convincing precision. Lumsden, held to 36 yards on nine carries in the opening-week loss, rushed for 86 yards in last night's first half alone, and the Ticats – who got 75 rushing yards from Tre Smith – tallied 313 yards on the run all told. Lumsden leant two hands on another key play, helping to push Printers into the end zone after Printers – in a quarterback sneak not far from the goal line – hit the wall and needed a little more oomph on his second-effort thrust for six points.

CONTINUE READING, CLICK BLOG TITLE.

Big Shoes to Fill, Ti-Cats taking a big step forward

QB Casey Printers (Florida A&M University) rivals some of his offensive linemen. He wears a size 15 shoe, as well.

CFL Hamilton Tiger-Cats starting quarterback Casey Printers


Say this about Hamilton Tiger-Cat offensive line prospects, they certainly have big shoes to fill. Literally. One common trait among six-foot-five-inch pass blockers who tip the scales at 325 pounds is huge feet. We're talking human aircraft carriers here. And a size 15 or 16 football cleat takes an inordinate amount of shoe leather.

Ticat offensive line coach Jeff Bleamer, a former offensive lineman himself and a size 15, said those who ply their trade in the trenches need a set of flatbed trailers to carry the load. "They need big feet for a good base. You don't see too many offensive linemen walking around with a size 10. Most offensive linemen have size 14 and up," Bleamer said, adding the big cleats are a source of power.

Bleamer said the biggest feet he ever saw belonged to one-time Tiger-Cat, Alouette and Philadelphia Eagle offensive lineman Ed George. Size 17. "You could probably fit a small family into size 17," Bleamer quipped.

CONTINUE READING, CLICK BLOG TITLE.

QB Casey Printers, 2004 CFL MVP (Age: 27, 5 Year CFL/NFL Veteran)