Mandiekandie

Simon, a 31-year-old native of Johnstown, Pennsylvania who attended the University of Maryland, is entering his ninth season in the CFL and seventh with the Lions. He played for Winnipeg in the first two seasons, and then signed with B.C. as a free agent after a failed tryout in the National Football League. Simon has totaled 8,582 receiving yards and is on pace to set a variety of B.C. records. He has totaled 7,551 receiving yards with B.C., needing 1,698 to break the record of 9,248 set by Jim Young from 1967-79. Simon has averaged 1,403 receiving yards in the last four seasons and a whopping 1,642 in the last three seasons. He also needs only 56 catches to break Young’s career total of 522.

If Simon continues to put up the gaudy numbers he’s posted in the last four years, he’d have a realistic shot at Allen Pitts’ League record of 14,891 career receiving yards. If he’s able to improve upon last year’s numbers – 105 catches for 1,856 yards, he’d have a shot at matching or breaking Pitts’ single-season record of 2,036 receiving yards when he hauled in 126 catches. In this first part of a three-part series, Simon talks about the possibility of breaking some Lions team records and some CFL records, the year he almost quite professional football, and his on-field chemistry with Lions quarterback Dave ****enson.

CFL.ca Did you know you’re fast approaching several records that would make you the all-time leading receiver in terms of yards and catches in team history?

GS: I knew I was on a pretty good pace, but I don’t know the exact numbers of guys before me and things like that.

CFL.ca The record for total receiving yards is 9,248 and you are about 1,697 yards shy of that mark. The player who had that mark is Jim Young, who was known as Dirty 30. Do you know who he is?

GS: I met him a few years ago.

CFL.ca Last year you passed Mervyn Fernandez to place second overall behind Jim Young. Have you ever heard of Mervyn Fernandez, who was known as Swervin’ Mervin during his playing days with the Lions. He also played in the National Football League.

GS: I know a little bit about him.

CFL.ca What does it mean to be fast approaching these marks and to actually be able to pass some of these legends not only in Lions history but the Canadian Football League as well?

GS: It’s an honour to play football on a professional level first of all and then to be able to have your name in the record book at any level is great, let alone the CFL. I think it’s an honour to have someone who believes in me to give me that opportunity.

CFL.ca That being the B.C. Lions?

GS: Yes. The B.C. Lions and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers they were the first team to give me an opportunity to play (in the CFL), and after two years in Winnipeg I went to the Kansas City Chiefs and came back (to the CFL) and the B.C. Lions were one of the few teams that were willing to give me another opportunity to play in the CFL.



You can read the rest of the interview here:
CFL.ca Network :: Official site of the Canadian Football League

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Mandiekandie

In the second part of the three-part interview with Geroy Simon, the B.C. Lions’ splendid slotback talks about his breakout year in 2003, chasing some of Allen Pitts’ career records, and his views on the NFL.

CFL.ca: In 2004, you had a solid start and were on pace to possibly break Allen Pitts’ single-season League record of 2,036 yards, set in 1994. Do you recall if you were thinking about the possibility of breaking the record?

Geroy Simon: I was on a great pace and then defences starting changing (by) double-teaming me. I was seeing a lot more coverage my way. I was still getting open, but it kind of made sense to use me as a decoy and go the other way with the ball. If I had two guys on me and another guy was singled out, it kind of made sense to go to the other guy. It increases your chances. I’m still seeing the same types of coverage, but last year we just found a better way to beat it.

CFL.ca: Can you say what that “better way” was?

GS: Just moving me around in different situations. If coverage is going my way, I’m not in the same spot all the time so defences can predict where you’re going to be. In certain situations, I’m in different positions where they’ve got to wait and see where I’m going to be, then they can try to defence it, but then sometimes it’s too late to do it.

CFL.ca: Is it a realistic objective to break Allen Pitts’ single-season record? Do you think you can do it?

GS: Yeah, I think I can. I’m not going to predict that I’m going to do it, but I think it’s possible. I look back to last year and I had a very productive season, but I know I could have been better. I know we could have been better as an offence. Earlier in the season we missed a lot of big throws where the ball was overthrown or underthrown and there were times I didn’t make the right reads on certain plays where I could have had big plays. For whatever reason it just didn’t happen. It could happen, but you just can’t go into a season thinking you’re going to receive for over 2,000 yards. I have a certain goal every year and for the last few years I’ve hit that goal, but I don’t go into a season thinking I’m going to go for 2,000 yards because you’ve got to pretty much have the perfect season to attain that goal.

CFL.ca: Allen Pitts has the all-time career record of 14,891, which he set in 11 seasons. You have totaled about 9,200. Can surpassing Pitts’ record be a realistic objective?

GS: Yeah, I think it could if I keep having the seasons I’ve had. Injuries and good health are going to be the things that get you there. I’ve been pretty consistent over the last few years and I’ve been pretty healthy. As long as I can stay healthy and keep plugging away, I think I can get there, but you never know what’s going to happen. I just try to go out and just be prepared. If I get there that will be great, but I think I’ve had a pretty good career. I just want to keep building on top of that.


Read the rest of the interview here:
CFL.ca Network :: Official site of the Canadian Football League

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Mandiekandie

In the third part of the Geroy Simon interview, the B.C. Lions receiver talks about his touchdown pose, winning the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player Award and the Grey Cup in the same year, and the origin of his given name.

CFL.ca: I know you’ve probably been asked this before, but what’s the origin of your (touchdown) pose?

Geroy Simon: (Laughs). Well, my second son, his name is Jaden, and he’s really big into super heroes – Power Rangers, Superman, Batman, all that stuff. He was about two years old or so and he was watching Superman and he always asked me, ‘Daddy, show me your muscles.’ I’m a pretty skinny guy, but he thinks Daddy is like a superhero because you get out there and play and everybody is screaming for you. I figured I’d do something just to entertain him, basically. It kind of caught on and I’ve been doing it ever since. I think I first did it in 2003. I didn’t do it that often. I did it maybe once or twice in 2003 and then in 2004 that’s when I really started doing it and that’s when it really kind of caught on. All the fans that I would talk to said that they liked it. I guess the media liked it as well.”

CFL.ca: Is it a copy of the Superman pose or is it a variation?

GS: It’s a little bit of a variation. It’s the hand on your hips, but I just kind of put my own little flavour into it.

CFL.ca: Your pose is fairly sedate compared to a lot of other receivers in this day and age getting into the end zone and doing all these different, wild poses, players like Terrell Owens and Chad Johnson?

GS: I had my time where I did that when I was with Winnipeg where every time we got in the end zone we’d get in a line and do our little dance, but I don’t think I need to do that. I think I’m a little bit grown up. I just do what I do, if you like it, you like it, if you don’t it’s too bad (because) I’m going to do it. It’s not demeaning to anybody. It’s kind of between me and my little boy and that’s it. I think receivers need to have some attention because we’re so dependant on other people. We’re dependant on the (offensive) line, we’re dependant on other receivers and we’re also dependant on our quarterback. For receivers to get in the end zone and make a statement, if you well, it shows receivers need attention. We need to have our independence, and a lot of guys take it too far.

CFL.ca: Winnipeg during your time there had the likes of Robert Gordon and Milt Stegall and several others who were fairly demonstrative when they did their line dances and things like that, including imitating taking pictures of themselves, right?

GS: That was the 2000 season when we really started (laughs) going crazy with the dancing and the posing. We were the only ones doing it at the time. It wasn’t like everyone else in the League was doing it and we were copying. We were the ones that started doing it. We would do our little dance in the locker room when nobody was there. Milt Stegall was the choreographer and everybody would just follow suit.

You can read the rest of the interview here:
CFL.ca Network :: Official site of the Canadian Football League

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