Lionbackers.com

Lions' Anderson a man for all seasons

'Big Smooth' is living up to his nickname

Mike Beamish Vancouver Sun Wednesday, October 10, 2007

When he bursts into somebody's backyard to put out a barbecue fire, Bret Anderson gets stared at, with a puzzled hey-don't-I-know-you-from-someplace? look.

No wonder. Homeowners don't expect a professional football player to show up when a call is put in to Port Coquitlam fire and rescue. Besides, Anderson has kept such a low profile in his years with the B.C. Lions that it's difficult to believe he's the team's longest-serving player in terms of continual service.

Though a stranger to hoopla, Anderson handled his 157th game with the Lions last Friday with typical aplomb and nonchalance. Asked to step in and replace ailing kicker Paul McCallum against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Anderson calmly stroked a pair of field goals in the turbulent, windswept, viper's pit for kickers known as Canad Inns Stadium.

Anderson, or "Big Smooth" to his teammates, indeed looked like an old smoothie as he used textbook form and a favourable northeast gale to manage field goals from 44 and 41 yards, which added up to the difference in a 26-20 Lions' win.

The kicks weren't cheapies either. They were no doubters, impressing even a tough critic like McCallum who has kicked 420 of them throughout his 15-year career.

"He's very -- what's the word -- direct in what he does," McCallum said. "He's always very consistent. He doesn't seem to get rattled. It's just his nature. He doesn't seem to worry about outside forces. He just goes out and does what he's asked to do."

Anderson was tickled to boot the first two FGs of his CFL career with plenty of air to spare, coming six days after he made his first two career converts -- in a relief of an injured McCallum -- in the Lions 42-9 win over Calgary.

Anderson normally handles kickoffs, plays as the team's sixth receiver and plays "field hawk" on punt coverage teams, the last-chance defender expected to make the tackle so that McCallum -- the punter -- isn't forced to.

He has 84 receptions, 92 tackles, five singles, four touchdowns, two converts and now two field goals on his career resume, which includes one game as the designated third-string quarterback when starter Dave Dickenson injured his knee in the week leading up to a 2003 playoff game in Toronto.

At 32, Anderson is at a stage of life where many football careers end but kicking careers are just getting started. He was two-time all-conference all-star as a punter and kicker at Simon Fraser. The Lions, however, had a legend at the position -- Lui Passaglia -- when Anderson was drafted in 1997, so he happily has made his mark as a complementary player.

"I don't know if I extended my career the other night, but we'll see how the body feels at the end of the year," Anderson says. "My value to the team right now is to be able to do everything. Maybe, down the road, I'll work with Paul, and he can get me up to speed as a full-time kicker."

Though McCallum (bruised hip) didn't practice again Tuesday, he is expected to resume both punting and placekicking duties Saturday when the Lions play in Edmonton.

"The pain is still acute in one area," McCallum admitted. "I wasn't near ready to play [last Friday] but I tried to play through the pain. I should be fine to do both [kick and punt against Edmonton]. If I can't, well, we have Bret."

And Anderson -- if it comes to that -- will coolly seize the opportunity to be more useful than he already is.

Even though you know he is versatile, it still amazes you how he can do the things he does. I saw him try punting at practice. He had not done so in the 4 - 5 years I have observed practice. He was absolutely killing the ball: tight, long, high spiral punts.

Some call him Big Smooth, Casey Printers called him The Big Easy

Blitz wrote:
The Big Easy is a great name for Anderson but underneath that composed, laid back demeanor is a tremendous competitor!!

Robbie wrote:After Lui Passaglia retired, there was a big hole to fill with regards to placekicking. Matt Kellett couldn't fill the position and neither could Duncan O'Mahony before some consistency was finally achieved with Paul McCallum. Does anybody know if Bret Anderson was ever considered for or offered the full-time placekicking job?