Ok, looking at our teams recent success the last half century and our talent that we have now..
would certain players like Elgaard, Fairholm, Narcisse, Jurasin,
to name 4.. would they have stayed with this team as long as they did?
I have been wondering about this for a little while now.
we had all those really crappy teams back in the 80's and 90's.
poor scouting, consistent issues and problems and lack of winning teams..
Would Elgaard if he was in his prime have been able to stay on this team for as long as he did?
how about Fairholm or heck, even Narcisse?
basically what I'm saying is, if you really look at it and break it down.. were these players truly that good or were they just the best players that they could find at that time??
I'm not knocking Narcisse at all, he was definitely a great player for our team at least for most of his career.. (stayed a few years too long) but if he was playing today, would he have been able to beat out guys like Bagg or Fantuz, or Dressler?
same with Elgaard. if Elgaard was 25 and competing vs Fantuz and Dressler for the Slot back position, would you choose him over those two?
Fairholm was gone before I was really old enough to recall. I think Jurasin, Narcisse and Elgaard all played 1 season where they had truly dropped off their play. They were all great players in their prime, maybe they stand out more because we had terrible teams, but that shouldn't take away from their accomplishments.
Remember different players, different era. For the time Narco, Elgaard, Fairholm, et al played, they were near the top of their class…same as right now…only difference is our Canadian content is deeper…thanks to CIS training. The skill level with each passing generation is improving across the board…on both sides of the ball.
I think your concept is correct - we tended to view spots as lifelong positions, which players held until they didn't want them anymore. But the players you gave as examples were not the best choices, as, for the most part, they were the ones that were useful for most to the end. But players like Stew Fraser, Jerry Friesen, Dwight Edwards, and countless others played for years, mostly because we never bothered trying to upgrade from them.
Elgaard and Narcisse both stayed too long. they definitely were great players but when they were over the hill, nobody told them it's time to go! they stayed for a bit too long when other talent could have been groomed for their spots.
If our team was bad and those guys were star players going against the rest of the league, I'm not sure how you can question their ability.
You're saying because our team was bad, then they must've been mediocre. That is ridiculous. Tell that to the defenders in the league that allowed Narco a catch in every game for a decade. Tell that to the O-lines that were getting eatin' up by Bobby J. Tell that to the defenders that Elgaard was knocking on their @$$es every chance he got.
This reminds me of the Gretzky vs Orr debate. It’s really impossible to compare. Take your question a bit further. Could Warren Moon or Doug Flutie compete in today’s game? Or look at it differently. Could Bagg, Fantuz, etc compete with Narcisse and Elgaard? You can’t compare!
I agree that Narcisse’s last year was off a little, but the year previous he had 95 catches and 1200(+) yards!!! We haven’t had a receiver put up those kind of numbers (especially wide receiver) for many years. Why wouldn’t he think he could come back for another year???
Unfortunately Geno is going through this right now. Should he have retired after last year? Maybe. I think he can still be effective at guard, but he’s really struggling at tackle. But he will always be one of the greatest O-Linemen we’ve ever had - now and in the future. Just like Narcisse, Elgaard, etc will always be some of the greatest of all time. There’s no point in comparing today’s players with players of the past.
Excuse me? I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt, and say that must be a typo. I know you don’t really mean that.
Look at his stats…142 sacks, 3rd best ever (when he retired) in CFL, including 22 in one season! The great season Chick and Baggs had last year 23 sacks, combined! And let’s face it, Chick and Baggs were really effective when they were both out there. If one was out for whatever reason, the other was double teamed and not nearly as effective. But Bobby J rarely had the benefit of a strong player on the other end. The teams he was on were not nearly as good, and that made what he did all the more impressive.
But all that aside, it was his attitude that made him most valuable. We could only dream of having a player with his kind of leadership and enthusiasm. Kitwana Jones may be the exception - my current favorite player. But Bobby was special!
Agreed. But I think there was a little more to that. IMHO he felt pretty bad about being cut, and never recovered that intense drive he always had before that.
I would have to say Elgaard, by a very tight margin. Only because he could carry like two guys on his back for a few YAC yards. He had as good of hands as Fantuz or Dressler for sure. I met Elgaard last year and the guy is a tank…still! lol