Lefko on Tiger-Cats: Where is the love?

Not exactly sure why, but for some reason nothing short of a Grey Cup win will earn Kevin Glenn respect.

Glenn used the word “disrespected” after the Cats’ season-opening 24-16 loss to Winnipeg to describe how he felt when pulled in the game by head coach Marcel Bellefeuille. As Toronto Sun football writer Frank Zicarelli so aptly noted in a column on Tuesday, any player who has ever played football or pro sports who doesn’t feel disrespected after being taken out of a game should call it quits.

The thing is, this isn’t a first-time Glenn has been “disrespected.”

His career reads like a stockmarket chart with ups and downs, and not always for the right reasons. He was voted the East Division representative for Most Outstanding Player honours in 2007, when he threw for a career-best 5,117 yards, posting 25 touchdowns against 13 interceptions and posted a 93.2 quarterbacking rating. A rating of 100 or more is considered like an 80 average in school. He led the team to the Grey Cup in 2007 but didn’t play in it because of a fractured forearm suffered in the division final.

The next year, his numbers dropped off precipitously. According to an individual who had a day-to-day understanding of the team, the Bombers thought they’d get back to the Grey Cup in 2008, but the offence bogged down and head coach Doug Berry wouldn’t fire the offensive co-ordinator. Glenn was asked to call his own plays and reluctantly agreed. A rift developed with the media, who considered Glenn surly. Berry was fired after the season.

A new head coach was brought in, the bombastic Mike Kelly, who immediately said the team needed a quarterback change. He “disrespected him, big time,” said the individual who was there to watch it. Kelly tried to trade him to Hamilton, but had no leverage after publicly devaluing him, and ended up waiving Glenn, who was then picked up by Hamilton as a free agent.

“Kevin’s talent, experience and leadership will make him a valuable member of our team,” Ticats’ general manager Bob O’Billovich noted at the time. “‘He will be a great fit in our offence and will give us a better chance to win in 2009.”

And he did. Glenn started the season as the backup to sophomore Quinton Porter, who showed some flashes of talent as a rookie but clearly struggled as a full-time starter. Midway through the season, Glenn assumed the starter’s job and the team started to move forward.

Kelly, it should be noted, bombed as a head coach and was fired because of incidents on and off the field.

Last year, Glenn threw for a career-best 33 touchdowns and a QB rating of 97.6, also a personal best. He threw for 300 or more yards in eight games last year and once surpassed the 400-yard plateau.

The Ticats stumbled badly in the playoffs last year, losing 16-13 in the playoffs, and Glenn threw for 314 yards on 24 completions of 35 throws. He also threw two interceptions. But the Ticats committed numerous turnovers and had issues with their field-goal kicking.

The organization rewarded Glenn with a contract extension in the off-season that included an increase in pay.

And then he is pulled while struggling in the season opener, throwing three interceptions and only one touchdown, although it should be noted several key players on offence failed him with their own individual efforts. Some fans could clearly be heard shouting “Por-ter, Por-ter” prior to the quarterback change.

Such is the case with Glenn. He just can’t seem to get respect, for no reason other than he has the occasional bad game. And what quarterback hasn’t?

He is not the flashiest quarterback and doesn’t move with the same agility he did years ago before some injuries changed his game. He still looks tiny in comparison to other quarterbacks, including his statuesque backup. But Glenn can get the job done.

The Ticats have a new offensive co-ordinator, Khari Jones, formerly the team’s quarterback coach and a onetime teammate of Glenn’s. The team has undergone some notable changes on offence, and when plays are missed or the execution isn’t there, it can’t be pinned solely on Glenn.

Yes, he made some mistakes in the opener, but how much different was it from what happened with Saskatchewan’s Darian Durant, who turned the ball over several times himself in a shocking loss to Edmonton. Durant was allowed to play through it. He even said in an interview the day before that he appreciated the support the team showed in him by allowing him to play through adversity in his development in previous years without pulling him.

A year ago, Toronto Argonauts’ head coach Jim Barker settled on Cleo Lemon on his starter for almost the entire season and the playoffs, believing the first-year quarterback had shown improvement, despite criticisms from fans and the media otherwise. Barker continues to back Lemon against repeated remarks from critics, who aren’t quite sold on the quarterback.

It’s clear some fans in Hamilton aren’t sold on Glenn, but he will remain the starter because the Ticats have invested time and money in him and simply can’t tie him to the bench after one game.

He has bounced back before. He will surely do it again.