ROBSERVATIONS: Dazzling debut by Armstead … Herdman-Reed picks off Mahomes! … remembering Sean Quinlan
Ryquell Armstead left Calgary Stampeders defensive players grasping at air and a grizzled gargoyle of a Saskatchewan Roughriders historian scrambling for precedents.
Has anyone in franchise history ever enjoyed a debut to rival that of Armstead?
On Friday, he rushed 25 times for 207 yards to power the Roughriders to a 37-29 CFL victory over Calgary at McMahon Stadium.
The rushing-yardage total was the fourth highest in Roughriders history.
On only nine previous occasions had someone rushed for 100-plus yards in his first game with Saskatchewan:
105 — Tommy Reamon (16 carries) at Winnipeg, Sept. 11, 1977.
111 — Craig Ellis (13) versus Toronto, July 1, 1984.
116 — Bobby Johnson (25) versus Calgary, June 29, 1986.
116 — Nealon Greene (7) at Ottawa, June 28, 2002.
158 — Anthony Allen (27 carries) versus Hamilton, June 29, 2014.
113 — Will Ford (17) versus Toronto, July 26, 2014.
150 — Joe McKnight (17) at Toronto, Oct. 15, 2016.
104 — William Powell (20) at Hamilton, June 13, 2019.
101 — Darrell Wallace (19) vs. Hamilton, Oct. 17, 1993.
Rushing-wise, Armstead’s debut performance in Green and White is clearly the best.
What about other positions?
Defensive ends R-Kal Truluck and DeWayne Patterson each had three sacks to begin their careers with the Roughriders. They helped Saskatchewan defeat the visiting Toronto Argonauts 19-10 on July 3, 1998.
Charleston Hughes also had three sacks in his first game as a Roughrider — a 27-19 home-field victory over Toronto on June 15, 2018.
Special teams-wise, I am pleased to nominate Ryan Meskell, who was the Roughriders’ emergency placekicker when they visited Calgary on Oct. 13 of last year.
After Brett Lauther became ill on the morning of the game, the Australian-born Meskell was quickly flown from Regina to Calgary. He proceeded to make all four of his field-goal attempts. There may never be a debut quite like that again!
Offensively, well, it depends if we get really picky. And we all know how picky historians can be.
Rocky Butler, making his first start at quarterback for Saskatchewan, rushed for three touchdowns in a 33-19 victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Sept 1, 2002.
That wasn’t Butler’s debut, per se, because he had been on the Roughriders’ active roster prior to that game. However, he had not seen any action until the 2002 Labour Day Classic.
Earlier that season, Butler had descended to fourth on the Roughriders’ quarterbacking depth chart, but a spate of injuries allowed him to move up the ladder and, eventually, start.
But, technically, it wasn’t his first game, so … ummm …
If you disqualify Butler on account of nitpicking, the closest parallel to Armstead would be Mike Saunders.
Saunders, also a running back, rushed eight times for only 15 yards in his first game with the Roughriders — an Oct. 25, 1992 collision with the B.C. Lions at Taylor Field.
However, Saunders wowed the crowd with a 91-yard touchdown reception en route to catching eight passes for 214 yards in a 41-22 Saskatchewan victory.
At the time, it was the fourth-best single-game receiving-yardage total in Roughriders history. (Reminder: Armstead also amassed a fourth-best yardage total on Friday. How about that?!)
All these years later, Saunders remains in the top 10:
260 — Chris DeFrance (9 receptions) at Edmonton, Aug. 5, 1983.
255 — Andy Fantuz (10) versus Calgary, Sept. 17, 2010 (OT).
244 — Jeff Fairholm (6) at Toronto, Sept. 26, 1992.
240 — Andy Fantuz (7) at Hamilton, Oct. 14, 2007.
231 — Steve Adkins (11) versus Saskatoon Hilltops, Oct. 6, 1934.
231 — Duron Carter (11) versus Ottawa, Oct. 13, 2017.
218 — Joey Walters (9) versus Edmonton, Oct. 14, 1979.
215 — Jeff Fairholm (7) at B.C., July 9, 1993.
215 — Curtis Marsh (13) versus Toronto, July 28, 2001.
214 — Mike Saunders (8) versus B.C., Oct. 25, 1992.
Honourable mention goes to Freeman Johns, who caught 12 passes for 191 yards and one major in his first game with Saskatchewan (Sept. 17, 1978 versus Edmonton).
Quarterbacks … how could we forget quarterbacks?
We’ll give a nod to Greene, who rushed for 116 yards (see above) and threw for two scores as Saskatchewan posted a 30-27 overtime victory over the Ottawa Renegades to open the 2002 season.
In terms of foreshadowing, an Oct. 11, 1987 game in Hamilton stands out.
Kent Austin, in his first CFL game, threw for 292 yards — 51 of which resulted from a touchdown bomb to Ray Elgaard — as the Roughriders defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 23-20.
Austin’s interceptions (two) outnumbered his touchdown passes (one), but you could see from the outset that he possessed the it factor.
All things considered, though, the Roughriders debuts of Armstead and Saunders rank them 1-2 — at least in this assessment — because of how quickly and spectacularly they joined the exclusive 200-yard club.
And if you include Butler, he deserves a spot on the podium as well.
PICKING OFF PATRICK
Roughriders linebacker Jordan Herdman-Reed, a proud new father, will be able to entertain his grandkids with a fun reminiscence from 2017.
That year, Herdman-Reed — a standout linebacker at Simon Fraser University from 2013 to 2016 — was invited to the Kansas City Chiefs’ rookie mini-camp.
While there, he was introduced to somebody named Patrick Mahomes, who had been selected 10th overall by Kansas City in the 2017 NFL Draft.
“I got to meet him and I actually got an interception against him in practice, so that was pretty cool,” Herdman-Reed said. “That’s my favourite story to tell.
“I remember picking it off and running to the end zone. Then I looked back and realized it was him and thought, ‘I just picked Patrick Mahomes off!’ It was a great experience — one of the coolest things about being down there.
“He was good then, but he wasn’t the Patrick Mahomes that he is now, with three championships. I wish I had kept the ball. Maybe I could have got him to autograph it or something.”
SEAN QUINLAN (1947-2024)
Sean Quinlan, the Roughriders’ director of marketing from 1979 to 1982, passed away on Sept. 5 in Regina. He was 76.
During Quinlan’s tenure with the team, pom-poms and fight songs (“Green is the Colour!”) were popularized at Taylor Field.
Shortly before Quinlan left the Roughriders in May of 1982 to become the director of communications for the Government of Saskatchewan, the team exceeded 20,000 season tickets for the first time.
He played an integral role in the evolution of a team that went from staring at deficits to shoe-horning people into Taylor Field.
I only spent time with him on two occasions, but the purpose of those interactions tells you everything about this fine gentleman.
While I was employed at the Regina Leader-Post, we held an annual sports memorabilia sale to benefit Raise-a-Reader.
Two years in a row, he contacted me and asked if he could drop off a piece of memorabilia at the newspaper’s front desk.
We had two wonderful conversations in the lobby.
I will always be grateful for those memories.
ROLL CREDITS …
• Nice people who deserve a plug: Joan Quinlan, Suni Rebecca Milligan, David Eisenzimmer, Roby Sharpe, Don Bahnuik, Bob Irving, Scott Yemen, Peter Husli, Norm Peel, Bruce Johnstone, Mike Saunders, Ryan Meskell, Tom Harris, Suzanne Harris and Pete Paczko.
