Henry Burris has been on a media tear this week with a chip on his shoulder.

After accomplishing so much in 16 CFL seasons, the Ottawa Redblacks quarterback still feels he has his doubters, some of whom he called out personally. Whether the negative perception of Burris is warranted or not, it would certainly change if he secured a second Grey Cup win Sunday.

“Dave Naylor said it very well, just in terms of media perception, maybe Henry Burris is the Peyton Manning of the CFL,” said TSN’s Matthew Scianitti. “It’s more acutely felt in a nine-team league. Burris has done so much in this league, but this will be his third Grey Cup as a starter and if he loses he’ll be 1-2.

“Anthony Calvillo did himself and his legacy quite a service by winning two Grey Cups late in his career, really cementing himself as an all-time great.”

Burris has thrown for 60,957 yards and 361 touchdowns in his career, putting him third all-time in each category behind only Calvillo and Damon Allen. The 40-year-old also has a Grey Cup and Grey Cup MVP under his belt with the Calgary Stampeders and is a two-time Most Outstanding Player recipient.

That’s the Good Henry.

Bad Henry is his 1-1 career Grey Cup record and 6-6 career playoff record while jettisoned by two different teams in the past five years.

“It’s important,” echoed TSN’s Milt Stegall. “You take a look at his body of work, Burris in my opinion is definitely an elite quarterback in this league. But he’s not considered that because he has that stigma, the Good Henry and the Bad Henry and it kind of wears on him sometimes but he’s out to prove that he in an elite quarterback.

“He’s one of the best quarterbacks in CFL history and if he can go out there and win this game, he’ll certify that.”

And it appears that fact hasn’t been lost this week on the man himself.

“Henry needs this game for his legacy,” added Scianitti.. He kind of couches it in a way – I want this for my family and I want this for my son and I want this for the city of Ottawa – but he really wants it for him.”

 

While the main narrative has been Burris vs. the Eskimos, Ottawa’s quarterback needs to know he’s not the only one on the field for the Redblacks.

“All week long Henry has been saying he wants to play mad because he’s tired of being disrespected,” Stegall explained. “And that’s all fine and dandy but just don’t try to do too much, trying to prove everybody wrong.

And I don’t think that’s going to be the case, but when you get into the heat of the battle, sometimes those things takes over. He has to understand that it’s not him that’s going to win this game, it’s a team game.”

Stegall added that while Burris is far from shy, directing all the attention to himself could be a team-first move as well. “Henry loves it,” he said. “All professional athletes are egomaniacs. That’s Henry.

“I’m sure the team also loves, it takes a lot of pressure off of them. You have a lot of young guys, some guys on this team seem to be shy, I don’t think they would enjoy that spotlight but Henry Burris, he loves it.”

Standing in Burris’ way is Edmonton’s highly ranked defence. The Eskimos finished first in the league in points allowed (18.9 per game) and third in yards allowed (303.1). Under Chris Jones, the 2015 squad has a well-earned reputation for creativity.

“The Eskimos defence and the multiple looks they’ll be able to throw at Henry, basically you could think about (the scheme) as Orlondo Steinauer’s defence on steroids,” said Scianitti. “There isn’t a stunt, there isn’t anything that Jones isn’t willing to try to provoke Burris into a mistake.”

 

Burris’ game-winning 93-yard touchdown pass last week against Steinauer’s Ticats was of course preceded by a dropped interception by defensive end Arnaud Gascon-Nadon one play before.

Stegall thinks that the Eskimos will have a similar approach to that of the Ticats on defence, with a lot of tricks up their sleeve.

“They’re going to try to confuse him,” he said. “And the thing you have to do with Henry is you have to put some pressure on him early. If you think you can just rush three and drop back eight and have some success against Burris you have something coming.

“So I think early on Chris Jones is going to try to put some pressure on him and try to frustrate him a little bit and see if he can throw him off his game.”

Burris against the Eskimos defence and Jones’s machinations is the most intriguing and influential matchup heading into the Grey Cup. And it’s one where most experts are giving the slight edge to Edmonton.

“Right now you have to go with Jones; he’s a mastermind,” Stegall said. “But Burris has seen just about everything you can throw at him.

“As long as he stays calm, as long as he understands that every single play is not going to be a big play, they have a chance to have some success. But it’s going to be difficult, Jones is a mastermind as far as scheming against opposing teams.”

“There is certainly opportunity for the Redblacks to take advantage, but this is really the Eskimos game to lose,” echoed Scianitti.

“When the key moments happen the Eskimos should feel confident that they have the tools to certainly put pressure on Ottawa.”