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Ryan Phillips agrees to extension; McCallum returns in 2015 Monday, March 23rd, 2015

BCLions.com Staff

The BC Lions Football Club announced this morning that defensive back Ryan Phillips has agreed to a contract extension through the 2016 season and kicker Paul McCallum will return in 2015.

“Both Paul and Ryan remain integral parts of our team and they continue to perform at a high level on the field and play a vital role as respected leaders in the dressing room,” said VP of football operations and GM Wally Buono.

Phillips enters his 11th CFL season and has made 180 consecutive appearances for the club since signing as a free agent in 2005. The Seattle native and four-time CFL All-Star notched a team-high three interceptions last year along with 39 defensive tackles. Ryan’s incredible run of consecutive games is the longest among all active CFL players and his 40 career interceptions place him second in club history behind the great Larry Crawford.

Only the second player in the history of professional football to reach the 3,000-point plateau, kicker Paul McCallum prepares for his 23rd CFL campaign and his 12th as a Lion in 2015. Earning his sixth nod as a West Division All-Star, Paul was good on 38 of 42 field goal attempts in 2014 for a CFL-best 90.5% success rate.

His remarkable career has seen the 45 year-old McCallum appear in 325 regular season games, 151 as a Lion, and establish a success rate of 80.6% on field goals, tops among all kickers with at least 400 attempts along with 18 seasons with at least 100 or more points.

http://bclions.com/article/ryan-phillips-signs-extension-mccallum-returns-in-2015

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I don't mind seeing McCallum return as a kicker. Even without power, the guy is more than accurate enough still.

But please God let them sign a separate punter. I don't know enough of the market to know if there's a relevant Canadian option out there, but even another American punter will do. I don't care if he takes up an import spot, sign him and play him (sitting Ricky Schmitt during our playoff game last year was a terrible decision, not that anything would have saved us from that shellacking.)

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are they bringing in some quarterbacking experience..no one feels secure with Lulays shoulder..if not we could end up with a rookie at the helm..

how will they alleviate the international ratio so we can get the best players playing instead of not dressed..eg: Tim Brown not dressing.

Closing the top tier, what brought this about,,taking a page from the Whitecaps?

Never asked any question, as everyone basically covered what I was thinking. Coach Tedford said that Lulay is still healing basically and that he is progressing. Didn't say anything beyond that. Someone asked him to work on all the no yards penalties we took last year.

Wally mentioned that he is a member of the rules committee and that there will be a vote this week regarding the 5 yards no yards penalty. they want to scrap it as it slows down the game and it basically a waste of a penalty as it gets declined most often. He mentioned something about wanting to make it so the kicking team cant start running down the field until the kicker kicks the ball.

He then talked about how there is a CFL charter that prohibits certain changes to the game. Keeps the CFL distinct and Canadian. I imagine the import rules falls under that.

Someone asked about McCallum as kicker and how he is getting up there in age. I see they signed him to an extension, but by the sounds of it he wont be the only kicker this year.

Someone asked about if the QB gets to call his own plays. Coach mentioned that the QB does have options with a play package the the coach calls.

He mentioned the the O line is one of the biggest priorities as we need to protect the QB. He said he will be asking a lot from the front line.

They decided to close the top tier as the feel the fans were spread too far apart to create a decent atmosphere. The lower bowl will hold 28,000. They will be opening some of the top fer certain games depending on ticket demand.

He wants to make BC Place a nightmare for opposing teams like it was in the past.

He talked about running a real up tempo offense the keep the D on their toes. He wants players to really own their position and excel at what they're good at. Talked about how all the players will do bod pod testing and that that proper body mass, nutrition, and health will be taken very seriously.

Talked about a lot of other stuff but I forget a lot of it, LOL! Got the impression that he will be looking to change our offensive look while keeping the D pretty much the same. Will expect better discipline from the players. I'd say he has very high expectations for the season.

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Never asked any question, as everyone basically covered what I was thinking. Coach Tedford said that Lulay is still healing basically and that he is progressing. Didn't say anything beyond that. Someone asked him to work on all the no yards penalties we took last year.

Wally mentioned that he is a member of the rules committee and that there will be a vote this week regarding the 5 yards no yards penalty. they want to scrap it as it slows down the game and it basically a waste of a penalty as it gets declined most often. He mentioned something about wanting to make it so the kicking team cant start running down the field until the kicker kicks the ball.

He then talked about how there is a CFL charter that prohibits certain changes to the game. Keeps the CFL distinct and Canadian. I imagine the import rules falls under that.

Someone asked about McCallum as kicker and how he is getting up there in age. I see they signed him to an extension, but by the sounds of it he wont be the only kicker this year.

Someone asked about if the QB gets to call his own plays. Coach mentioned that the QB does have options with a play package the the coach calls.

He mentioned the the O line is one of the biggest priorities as we need to protect the QB. He said he will be asking a lot from the front line.

They decided to close the top tier as the feel the fans were spread too far apart to create a decent atmosphere. The lower bowl will hold 28,000. They will be opening some of the top fer certain games depending on ticket demand.

He wants to make BC Place a nightmare for opposing teams like it was in the past.

He talked about running a real up tempo offense the keep the D on their toes. He wants players to really own their position and excel at what they're good at. Talked about how all the players will do bod pod testing and that that proper body mass, nutrition, and health will be taken very seriously.

Talked about a lot of other stuff but I forget a lot of it, LOL! Got the impression that he will be looking to change our offensive look while keeping the D pretty much the same. Will expect better discipline from the players. I'd say he has very high expectations for the season.

sounds good..thanks for the info.

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  • 2 weeks later...

The CFL is making some significant rule changes for the upcoming season:

http://www.cfl.ca/article/major-rule-changes-approved-by-cfl-governors

Converts from the 32 yard line? About time.

Like the kick off and return changes. The conversion ones could work, except the possibility of implementing a 3 point conversion sounds like $&!#.

The DB/Reciever contact one is going to receive a lot of groans and complaints as the season goes on. I don't like it, and we're going to be getting a lot of phantom calls throughout the season.

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The rule changes are going to make for an interesting season. I like the majority of them.

Lions added a couple more ex NFL'ers yesterday.

The BC Lions Football Club announced this morning that international receiver Cameron Morrah and running back Brendan Bigelow have signed with the team.

Morrah brings some NFL experience to the Lions after spending three years with the Seattle Seahawks from 2009 to 2011. The former California-Berkeley grad appeared in 27 games over three seasons with Seattle hauling in 16 receptions for 194 yards.

Bigelow joins the club following a notable four-year stay at California-Berkeley as well as a training camp stint with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2014. In college, the speedy back piled-up 877 yards on the ground over 155 carries with five majors in addition to 42 receptions for 305 yards. A threat on special teams, Brandon added 1,363 yards on 62 kickoff returns.

Both additions to the Lions will be in action later this month when the club hosts an offensive mini-camp from April 27th to 29th.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

So the first preseason game will be at UBC Thunderbird Stadium.

We're now just a few weeks away from training camp kicking-off in Kamloops and we can't wait to get started with the 2015 season!

As many of you are already aware, we are in a unique situation this season in regards to our home pre-season game. Due to the FIFA Women's World Cup being hosted at BC Place we have announced that your Lions will be playing their final exhibition tilt against the Edmonton Eskimos under the Friday night lights at UBC's Thunderbird Stadium.

We’re pleased to have both the date and location of the preseason game now finalized. The size and layout of Thunderbird Stadium allows us to offer some very exclusive game day opportunities that we cannot undertake at BC Place, so we believe it’s going to be a memorable game for everyone. We're already hard at work in conjunction with UBC to ensure a great experience for our fans and have discussed many things to offer such as a pre-game tailgate party, food trucks, a beer garden, and a chance to meet players during an autograph session following the game.

Playing at Thunderbird Stadium will also give Lions fans a chance to witness a very unique, intimate, college-like atmosphere for a game that will feature many veteran players on the field as Head Coach Jeff Tedford and his staff work to trim down the roster in preparation for their first regular season game on July 4th in Ottawa.

Of course, the change of venue for this game does have an affect on your season ticket purchase. We want to ensure that our loyal season ticket holders have first access to take advantage of this unique experience. We're also pleased to present you with a few things to address the fact that the game is not being played at BC Place. Below this letter you will find details on this offering and there is also a form you are required to fill out no later than Friday, May 15th.

Thank you for your outstanding support of the BC Lions Football Club - we look forward to seeing you at Thunderbird Stadium on June 19th!

-----------------------------------------------------

Gotta wonder how many tickets will make it to the general public. Place only holds roughly 3500.

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Nice to see another classmate of mine, Adam Konar, drafted by the Eskimos

Lions did take your other classmate Christian Covington with a 5th rounder. Highly doubt he plays in the CFL ever though think he has a decent shot to make the 53 man roster on Houston at worst practice squad for a few years but not CFL.

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Lions did take your other classmate Christian Covington with a 5th rounder. Highly doubt he plays in the CFL ever though think he has a decent shot to make the 53 man roster on Houston at worst practice squad for a few years but not CFL.

Yeah. I'm stoked both have made it far in professional football and although my allegiances lies with other teams, the Eskimos and Texans have become my second favourite team in the respective leagues. I highly doubt Covington will have to fall back to the CFL as he's got all the right tools to make it onto the 53 man roster. He's got a lot of guys he can learn from down there and being a Texan was probably a dream come true for him.

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Didn't konar get kicked out of UBC?

Was it academic or behavior issues?

I didn't really follow him after we graduated from high school but just some quick Google research was that he was deemed academically ineligible to play in UBC's program after a year so he left and played in the CJFL (Canadian Junior Football League) and then the University of Calgary recruited him

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I didn't really follow him after we graduated from high school but just some quick Google research was that he was deemed academically ineligible to play in UBC's program after a year so he left and played in the CJFL (Canadian Junior Football League) and then the University of Calgary recruited him

Yeah not that surprising It is quite a bit too handle going to school and taking university level classes and trying to get decent grades while playing football and trying to go pro.

All that while still finding time to chill with your buddies go to parties and hang out with girls or whatnot.

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