EDMONTON — Edmonton Eskimos running back Jerome Messam gets a chance Saturday to improve on his hot start by taking on the team that dumped him.
Problem is the B.C. Lions knew what they gave up, don’t care, and wouldn’t want him back anyway.
Messam will line up against the Lions at Commonwealth Stadium for the first time since he was suspended and traded during training camp for misconduct.
It was an unceremonious end to a troubled one-year tenure with the team that saw him break the jaw of popular receiver Paris Jackson in a locker-room fight and get convicted for beating up a bouncer at the Barking Frog nightclub in London, Ont.
“It (Saturday’s game) means a little bit more, but it’s just another game. I prepare just like any other week and control the things I can control,” Messam told reporters after practice Thursday.
In what way does it mean a little bit more?
He wouldn’t go there. “I just want to be successful,” he said.
The Eskimos gave up a 2013 fifth-round draft pick to get Messam late in training camp after the Lion senior players met with head coach Wally Buono and, in an unusual move, told him despite all that Messam brings to the team athletically, he had to go.
Messam reportedly was sloughing things off in training camp, not getting it done. But when he brought a woman to his dorm room, a major violation of training camp rules, the writing was on the wall.
The Lions knew it was a lot to give up.
The 26-year-old has been a beast early on this CFL season, fulfilling the promise and the glowing scouting reports dating back to his high school days in Brampton, Ont.
On Saturday, he ran for 104 yards and two touchdowns as the 2-0 Eskimos beat up on the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 28-10, He was named the CFL’s offensive player of the week and is currently second in the rushing standings with 141 yards and 5.4 yards per carry.
At six-feet-three and 245 pounds, he is a monster with Mercury speed. He’s been timed at 4.4 seconds in the 40-yard dash.
“He’s a tailback in a fullback’s body,” said Eskimo general manager Eric Tillman, who said he’s heard the comparisons between Messam and CFL great Sean Millington.
Tillman said Millington made his name as a north-south battering ram.
“Jerome has that in his repertoire, but it’s also his ability to make people miss in space. And he also has very good hands,” said Tillman.
Messam’s true value lies in his birth certificate.
He gives the Eskimos a Canadian-born, game-changing running back while not forcing them to use up a valued import spot. That’s gold in the CFL.
Which isn’t to say Tillman jumped at the chance to get him.
He and head coach Kavis Reed, with the Lions’ blessing, talked to Messam by phone before making the deal.
Tillman said they wanted to hear from Messam and to deliver their expectations. He won’t discuss what was said but said the overall message was clear.
“He either assimilates to what we want and expect or he won’t be here,” said Tillman.
“The talent has never been in question, ever. We just need him to fit in well.”
Messam said the fit so far has been like a glove.
“It feels good just to get a clean slate, get a fresh opportunity. The guys didn’t judge me or have any perception of me coming in,” he said.
“I feel like I’ve earned the respect of the guys on my team and that’s what I wanted to do when I got here.”
What ultimately went wrong in B.C.?
“Maybe it just wasn’t a good fit,” he said.
“Maybe some personal issues with me coming from college, where you get a lot of opportunities to get the ball coming to a role where you have to take more of a back seat. It kind of takes a toll on your mind.
“It was nothing as far as the organization, or me being unhappy there. It just didn’t work.”