Courtesy Regina Leader Post:

The Saskatchewan Roughriders are still trying to replace Kent Austin. But you might want to cut them some Slack.

After all, the search has lasted for only 14 years.

Ever since Austin was traded in the winter of 1994, the Roughriders have been searching for a quarterback who would be the uncontested starter over a span of several seasons.

Almost every year, there is uncertainty at football’s most critical position as training camp looms.

In 1994, the Roughriders received Tom Burgess in the Austin trade, a three-way deal. Burgess was coming off a two-season span in which he had thrown 59 touchdown passes on behalf of the Ottawa Rough Riders.

However, he had the unenviable task of succeeding Austin, who had thrown for 125 touchdowns and 20,720 yards over the four Canadian Football League seasons that followed his magnificent performance in the 1989 Grey Cup. Burgess could not measure up but, in fairness, who could? No replacement, short of Doug Flutie, would have been of Austin’s calibre.

Since then, there has been a carousel of quarterbacks. The Roughriders have auditioned the likes of Warren Jones, Heath Rylance, Kevin Mason, Jimmy Kemp, Reggie Slack, Steve Sarkisian, Henry Burris, Marvin Graves, Kevin Glenn, Keith Smith, Nealon Greene, Rocky Butler, Marcus Crandell and Kerry Joseph as starters, with varying degrees of success.

Slack guided the Roughriders to the 1997 West Division championship, but his success was short-lived.

Burris had impressive seasons in 2000 and 2004, only to leave — first for the Green Bay Packers, then the Calgary Stampeders — in the winter to follow.

Greene was inexplicably placed ahead of Burris and Glenn on the depth chart. Greene is now out of football. Burris and Glenn are the uncontested starters for Calgary and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, respectively.

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