[url]http://www.ottawasun.com/2014/11/07/burris-hard-on-himself[/url]
... "I'm in it to win it," he said. "I went through this in Hamilton back in 2012. A guy by the name of Troy Aikman went 1-15 in his first year with the Dallas Cowboys. You look at the footprint. We've got a great nucleus of young players. I see a lot of great things happening in Ottawa." ...
Interesting analogy, with just a few differences between his current situation and Aikman's 1989 rookie season:
- The Cowbells, bad as they were the two seasons before Aikman was drafted, were not an expansion team
- In 1985 they drafted Herschel Walker who in 1989 then turned into five players (LB Jesse Solomon, DB Issiac Holt, RB Darrin Nelson, LB David Howard, DE Alex Stewart) and six draft picks (Emmitt Smith, Russell Maryland, Kevin Smith, and Darren Woodson) in the 1989 bank heist deal with the Vickings.
- In 1988 the drafted Michael Irvin and Ken Nortion Jr.
- In 1989 they drafted other key pieces; OG - Steve Wisniewski (8 time All-Pro and Pro-Bowl), FB - Daryl (Moose) Johnston, OG - Mark Stepnoski (5 time Pro-Bowl centre)
The Rouge et Noir have some nice pieces, but were not as far along as the 1989 Cowbells. And unlike the then rookie Aikman, Burris is near the end of his career and isn't learning or improving as the team grows around him.