The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have their man.
Quarterback Buck Pierce -- the gritty but often-injured former B.C. Lions starter – was introduced as the newest Bomber quarterback at a press conference Monday afternoon.
His addition means the club now has five quarterbacks under contract: Pierce, Steven Jyles, Ricky Santos, Adam DiMichele and Stefan LeFors – although it’s expected LeFors, who is balking at returning under a reduced contract, will retire if the team can’t trade him.
All but LeFors are currently in town to meet with the new coaching staff and make public-relations appearances on behalf of the club.
That said, all of the assembled media in attendance were there for Pierce, the 28-year-old New Mexico State product spent five years with the Lions and posted a 21-12-1 record during his time in orange and black. He was named the Lions starter prior to last season after signing a three-year $900,000 contract, but was released last month when the team committed to Casey Printers instead and after suffering through a series of injuries that included at least one concussion and a season-ending injury to his non-throwing shoulder
"The most important thing is I’m not concerned (about his health) and the organization’s not concerned," said Pierce. "We spent a lot of time and have gone back and forth and we’ve seen trainers and we’ve seen doctors and they say I’m good. That gives me confidence and them confidence to go into the 2010 season.
"This is a great place to come and play and the fans out here are what it’s all about. For me, at my stage in my career and to be able to come in here and have an opportunity like I have now... I couldn’t be more excited."
Pierce finished his days in B.C. with 48 TD passes against 31 interceptions while completing 65.2 per cent of his passes for 8,734 yards. He exited the Lions’ den with the third-best QB rating in team history behind only Dave Dickenson and Printers. Bomber GM
Joe Mack attended a free-agent camp at which Pierce showcased his skills earlier this month and were very diligent in checking out his health before signing him.
Contract deals were not released, but it’s believed Pierce signed an incentive-laden deal that will reward him handsomely if he stays healthy and is productive.
"He threw well," said Mack of Pierce’s appearance at the recent camp. "I thought his shoulder looked good. He was accurate, he had good velocity and I thought he had good ball placement and he seemed very enthused about coming with us. I went back and looked at some film on him and I saw a guy who was competitive, moved the team, won games and was available. I also did some checking and his teammates really seemed to like him, he was a good guy in the locker room... so, they were all positives. Put that with the fact it looked like Stefan was not going to be here and... putting together a football team is like a puzzle. You have pieces that fit in and when another experienced CFL quarterback was a piece of the puzzle we needed to address and I think Buck does that."
ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/Bombers-sign-Buck-Pierce-90611144.html
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