Courtesy Regina Leader Post:

Wally Buono says that Otis Amey reminds him of his biggest mistake. It’s meant to be a compliment.

Amey, a 28-year-old rookie receiver at Lions training camp, has some of the same characteristics as Terry Vaughn, the impact player Buono allowed to slip away to the Edmonton Eskimos in 1999 after four seasons coaching him in Calgary. Eight seasons later, Vaughn retired as the CFL’s all-time leader in catches with 1,006.

“We had Allen Pitts, Travis Moore, Dave Sapunjis, Vince Danielsen, Brian Wiggins, Will Moore . . .,” Buono said Tuesday, listing members of his outstanding Stampeder receiving corps of the mid to late 1990s. “Terry, God bless him, had options. And I just couldn’t pay to keep him.”

Despite the kudos being tossed in his direction, Amey is just another refugee from the Arena League trying to catch on with a team loaded at the receiver positions. When the indoor football league suspended operations this season, Amey’s $100,000 US salary, his paid apartment and other accoutrements went with it. Now, he’s in Abbotsford, admiring the view and the way Geroy Simon and Paris Jackson run their routes. He was already familiar with the cosmology of CFL stars before he got here.

At Sacramento State, where Amey holds all of the school’s major receiving and kick return records, he was a redshirt freshman on a team quarterbacked by Ricky Ray. Charles Roberts was the feature back.

“Charles reminded me of Barry Sanders,” Amey says. “He didn’t have that home-run speed, but when he got into the secondary they couldn’t get him. Ricky was a real quiet leader who threw the smoothest ball. Even in the States, I’d heard of Geroy. He and Paris don’t necessarily run the fastest, but they’re real smooth. They know exactly what they’re doing. They know how to use the angles.”

Amey is a crafty, calculating veteran himself who knew all the right crooks, curves and bends to take in a hockey rink. Last year, he won the equivalent of the Arena League’s Rocket Richard Trophy by scoring a league-leading 50 touchdowns for the Cleveland Gladiators. Granted, the field is a postage stamp compared to the wide expanses of outdoor football in the northern tundra. Still, you’ve got to be pretty smart and elusive to juke a defender out of his drawers in a phone booth.

“He’s a taller Terry Vaughn,” Buono says of Amey. “He catches the ball very well, very strong and fairly nifty. Terry wasn’t the fastest guy in the world or the biggest guy in the world. But Terry was very good after the catch and getting open. Amey, just from my observations, I see that. I don’t see blazing speed. But when I see him in a foot race with a d.b., I see Amey accelerating ahead of him.”

Lions player personnel coordinator Roy Shivers, then GM in Saskatchewan, got a bead on Amey after his graduating year at Sac State. But the San Francisco 49ers crossed him up by signing Amey as a free agent in 2005. All he did was score a 75-yard touchdown the first time he got his hands on the ball, on a punt return.

“That was my dream since I was seven years old — to be on the highlight reel on SportsCenter [ESPN],” Amey says. “It made the top 10.”

Amey got his shot as a punt returner when the 49ers decided to turn their main man, Arnaz Battle, into a wide receiver. That scenario might also open a door with the Lions, if returner Ian Smart transitions into a feature back role. Smart says he can do both, but the coach maintains otherwise.

“It’s not going to happen,” Buono says. “Our philosophy hasn’t changed.”

It’s why the Lions are also giving extra work to Amey and other newbie receivers such as Terence Scott, a 22-year-old from Oregon, as kick returners. Amey, Scott and wideout Emmanuel Arceneaux, a 21-year-old surprise from Alcorn State, are examples of the agonizing decisions that will have to be made at roster-trimming time.

“I really like 89 [Scott] and 74 [Arceneaux] is really sneaking into the picture,” Shivers says. “He’s done some nice things and he’s a tall kid, too [6-2].”

One of the conclusions being arrived at early: When it comes to receivers, Lions camp has made a great catch.

sixbeamers@aim.com

SEARCHING FOR A SIDEKICK

Lions set up eight camps to find a backfield running mate for Buck Pierce

The B.C. Lions lined up in shotgun formation in the off-season, spraying an unprecedented eight free-agent camps across the U.S. to look for new prospects and import depth. Was it worth it?

“Our short list today is filled with guys who could be here, except our roster is full,” said head coach Wally Buono. “This might be the best crop of invitees, as a group, that I’ve ever been around. Eight camps. That’s not luck. We worked our asses off. We have more money because we’re not paying as many veterans.”

Buono said he could extend invitations to three more linebackers and two more defensive linemen who are as good as the players in camp. With vacancies to fill at nose tackle (Tyrone Williams) and rush end (Cam Wake), Buono maintains the players are up to the challenge. Defensive tackles Jonathan Williams, Melik Brown and Rodney Williams and defensive end Xavier Mitchell have caught his eye.

As for running back candidates Damian Sims, Martell Mallet, Emmanuel Marc and junior Andrew Harris?

“Tell me which one I should send home?” Buono asks.

He’s not exaggerating. Scouts from the Miami Dolphins, San Diego Chargers and Chicago Bears have already dropped in to check out B.C.’s talent pool.

Read more…