Russ Jackson never sent Ron Lancaster a telegram or placed a long-distance call before the two former teammates met as opposing quarterbacks in the 1966 Grey Cup game in Vancouver.
In an age decades before instant communication, it never occurred to either.
But times, as they say, have changed.
One of the first people to text Travis Lulay after the B.C Lions won the Canadian Football League’s West final on Sunday was his old mentor and current rival, Buck Pierce.
“We keep in contact, just wishing each other well every week,” Pierce said after the Winnipeg Blue Bombers landed at the Vancouver airport on Tuesday night, returning to the city that gave him his professional shot, the city he hopes to disappoint by winning Sunday’s CFL championship.
The two quarterbacks became fast friends when Lulay joined the Lions in 2009, perhaps each seeing in the other bits of himself. There are many common threads.
Pierce, who just turned 30, grew up in Crescent City, California, (pop. 7,000), a 4 1/2 drive from Lulay’s hometown of Aumsville, Oregon (pop. 4,000).
Lovers of the outdoors both, they fished together whenever they could when both were Lions.
Each is athletic, Pierce was a champion long jumper in high school as well as a standout point guard on the basketball court. At the 2006 NFL combine, Lulay led all quarterbacks in the short-shuttle drill and was in the top three in the three-cone, long jump and vertical.
Both starred at smaller colleges, Lulay with the Montana State Fighting Bobcats, Pierce with the New Mexico State Aggies.
Both arrived in B.C., after catching the eyes of Lions coaches during off-season free-agent camps, with abilities and smarts that are tailor-made for the Canadian game.
And when Lulay arrived to a team on which Pierce, making $330,000 a year, was the quarterback of the future, Lulay found himself in the same position Pierce had been in in 2005 — No. 4 on the depth chart.
“I have a lot of respect for Travis, the way he handles himself in the community and as a person representing this league,” Pierce said. “We’re both truly happy Sunday’s game is against each other.”
The big difference between the two is Pierce couldn’t stay healthy and Buono cut him after the 2009 season, bringing Casey Printers back for an ill-fated sequel, which eventually opened the door for Lulay to become the starter — and now the 2011 most outstanding player favourite — midway through last season.
“I think their personalities are different, their temperaments are slightly different, but the thing that everybody would attest to is that both would put it all on the line in any game and every game,” Buono said.
Yes, both are team-first guys and both are warriors. The knock on Pierce — his injuries — obscures the fact he’s fearless (to a fault).
Starting in college, when he once ran 30 yards with ruptured ligaments in his ankle, when he once directed a long TD drive while his throwing shoulder was separated, he’s played with a reckless abandon.
After going through Dave Dickenson’s repeated concussions and shoulder injuries, the last thing Buono needed was a repeat So he cut Pierce, hoping the QB would catch on elsewhere.
“It wasn’t that we let Buck go because he was a bad quarterback or because he was a bad person, it was just the injuries, you know, to the quarterback position,” the coach/GM said.
It’s worked out for the Lions, for the Bombers, for Pierce and for Lulay.
“It’s a good feeling for me to come back here and play a championship game in the city where I started my career,” Pierce said.
“I have a lot of friends here still. I have good feelings toward the whole Lions organization and just happy to have the opportunity to come here and play for a championship against a former team.”
