The gears are turning in the heads of the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
On Thursday, the CFL announced it was relaxing its rules for touchdown celebrations to allow the use of props.
Previously, players who used props were subject to objectionable-conduct penalties. Some officials threw their flags, while other officials did not.
The league now wants players to express themselves however they see fit. That said, the CFL said in a media release that props are OK “provided they are not hidden in a player’s uniform or the goal post assembly, they are not demeaning or discriminatory in any way, they do not simulate the firing of a weapon and they do not unduly delay the game.”
“I don’t know what we’re going to do yet, but we will decide,” Roughriders slotback Naaman Roosevelt said Thursday, two days before his team is to visit the B.C. Lions. “In the next 48 hours, we’ll try to come up with something to see what we can do.
“I’m glad they did that. It’ll bring some excitement to the game. I don’t think (that excitement) was missing, but it’s just fun to see guys do certain things. Guys will be thinking of even more things, so it’s going to be fun to see what happens this week.”
On Saturday, Edmonton Eskimos receiver Duke Williams was penalized for objectionable conduct after he and two teammates crawled through some ad boards at the back of an end zone after Williams caught a touchdown pass.
The night before, Winnipeg Blue Bombers receiver Darvin Adams scored a touchdown, grabbed a TV camera on the field and started filming his teammates. That celebration wasn’t penalized.
The Roughriders plan to do something whenever the opportunity presents itself.
“We’ve got to figure it out,” Roosevelt said. “Maybe when we’re at home …”
“Next home game, we should get Gainer to be in the end zone and everybody can hop in his go-kart and drive around,” receiver Rob Bagg chimed in from the locker next door.
“Yeah, yeah,” Roosevelt said. “It’s going to be fun to see what happens. We will figure some stuff out.”
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Brett Lauther kicked six field goals in Saskatchewan’s 40-27 victory over the Calgary Stampeders on Sunday while the offence produced just one touchdown — but that’s nothing new. The offence’s production in the red zone has been an issue all season.
Saskatchewan has four touchdowns on 13 opportunities inside the opponents’ 20-yard line through eight games, while opposing teams are 10-for-16 inside the 20 against the Roughriders’ defence.
Head coach-GM Chris Jones said “a multitude of things” have hindered the Roughriders’ offence in the red zone.
“There has been lots of penalties, there has been lack of execution along the offensive line that put us in a second-and-non-manageable and there have been drops (by the receivers) — that, and a couple of misreads by our quarterback,” Jones said. “That’s a recipe for kicking some field goals.”
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Lauther celebrated loudly after kicking a 43-yard field goal in the first quarter of Sunday’s game.
He and holder Josh Bartel turned to the Calgary bench and uttered some things — but it was because of what they had heard before attempting the kick. Calgary head coach Dave Dickenson gave Lauther the gears — “Hey Lauther, you’re gonna miss!” — and those words were audible to TSN viewers through the live mic Dickenson was wearing.
“We didn’t even know it was Coach Dickenson right away,” Lauther recalled Thursday. “Every time you go out (to attempt a kick), there’s usually someone on defence yelling at you or you hear something, so you just block it out. That one was loud and lasted for the whole kick.
“After we made the kick, we were saying some stuff back. Then we were coming off and (Roughriders special-teams co-ordinator Craig Dickenson) pulled us aside to talk about that and we said, ‘We think that was your brother.’ ”
Craig Dickenson said he was surprised that his brother chirped Lauther.
“He’s usually not like that,” Craig said. “But I know this: It was in good fun. (The Dickenson brothers) had dinner the night before and Lauther and Bartel joined us. (Dave) knows Brett and it was just Dave being competitive and maybe ribbing a guy who he has a lot of respect for.”
“That (evening) was the first time I ever met him,” Lauther noted. “Super-nice guy. He’s even a nice heckler. He wasn’t rude at all.”
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There was some rudeness shown late in the fourth quarter Sunday, when the teams engaged in a 24-man set-to.
Roughriders tailback Tre Mason and Calgary defensive end JaGared Davis started the incident with some pushing and shoving under the pile, prompting everyone on the field to get involved.
“I was taught when I first started football that you protect your teammates,” said Saskatchewan centre Dan Clark, who quickly jumped to Mason’s defence. “That’s all that happened. It wasn’t anybody’s words, it was actions. Calgary would do the same thing if one of our guys went that way on one of their players. It happened and that’s all we can do.
“I think it was handled right. It’s one of those things where when you jump in as a third party, you think, ‘Oh no, I could get ejected too,’ but I’m not going to let my running back’s face get smashed into the ground.”
After things calmed down, Stampeders defensive back Emanuel Davis was ejected for contacting an official. On Wednesday, Davis was fined an undisclosed amount by the CFL for contacting and verbally abusing an official.
