Jul 23, 2015
Messam's dominance lost in team struggles
Saskatchewan running back has been proving doubters wrong his entire CFL career.
By Glen Suitor
There is pressure on head coach Corey Chamblin, with frustration mounting around every water cooler in the prairie province.
One positive story has almost been lost in the growing pile of frustration and doubt: starting tailback Jerome Messam looks almost unstoppable.
After four weeks, the Brampton, Ont., native is leading the league in rushing while splitting time with Anthony Allen in the Riders back field. It's true that the Riders are in the group of teams that have already played four games, but Messam's numbers are just part of the story.
When it comes to the doubters, Messam has been there before. When he was coming out of college, people said he had off-field issues, and the 245-pound back wasn't selected in the 2008 CFL draft.
He saw limited action in B.C. after signing as a free agent in 2010, carrying the ball just 23 times in his rookie year before being traded to Edmonton. Messam recalls the doubters that thought he would never become mature enough to be a true professional.
"Oh yeah, it felt like everyone doubted me except my family," he said. "But they believed in me and so did I."
He admits to some issues during his teenage years, but is quick to point out that, 'ever since college at Graceland, there has been no problems."
That inner confidence guided Messam to a monster 2011 season in Edmonton. He became just the third Canadian running back since 1960 to rush for 1,000 yards, was a CFL all-star and was named Outstanding Canadian.
He was finally starting to silence the critics and establish himself as a pro when a tear in the meniscus of his left knee, suffered during a playoff game, would once again give people reason to doubt him.
Messam had a tryout with the Miami Dolphins in the summer of 2012. He tried to downplay the injury, but the knee slowed him. He was released by the Dolphins, returning to the Eskimos for the second half of the CFL season.
The questions began again. Could Messam regain his 2011 form? Some were even wondering if his performance that season was a fluke.
He returned to Edmonton with two major obstacles to overcome. First, he wasn't quite 100 per cent healthy. Secondly, he was now sharing time in the backfield with Hugh Charles and Cory Boyd.
Messam didn't complain, nor did he talk at all about the fact that his knee was still not completely healed. Some running backs would have arrived in Edmonton and demanded playing time after an award-winning season a year earlier.
Messam didn't do that, and he didn't get much playing time. He finished the season with just 168 yards on 42 carries.
The Eskimos then traded Messam to Montreal for a sixth-round draft pick. Many said it was his last chance to nail down a regular starting roll and regain his all-star status. He was on and off the Alouettes roster during the 2013 season, watching as Calgary's Jon Cornish became the top Canadian running back in the league.
The doubters wouldn't go away, and Messam would lean on his mother Sandra and his father Kendal for support. "My family has always been very supportive of everything I do, and never let me go too far off my path," he said.
Messam refused to listen to the skeptics who said his career was over after the Alouettes cut him. When he signed back in Saskatchewan at the beginning of the 2014 regular season, many classified the move as little more than the team taking a flier on a former star. It probably wouldn't work out, but what did it hurt to take a look?
Messam did make the team, and 2014 gave him a chance to get completely healthy. He wasn't the feature back, wasn't on offence for every snap and felt that lesser role was finally what it took to put his knee issues behind him.
"The 2014 season, where I was allowed to ease into the lineup, was a blessing in disguise," he said. "I was able to become completely healthy. I still believed I could come back strong."
If the first four games of this season are any indication, he is all the way back. Messam has averaged almost eight yards per carry through four games. He is currently sharing time with Allen, but if he had all the team carries he would be already be over half way to a 1,000-yard season and on pace for more than 2,000 yards.
The doubters will say you shouldn't read into averages too early in the season and that Messam's tremendous start isn't sustainable. Those same doubters also believe that the 2015 season in Saskatchewan is already lost.
But Messam has heard the doubters before and continues to believe in himself. Before the Riders loss to the B.C. Lions last week, he said publicly that the team would be .500 by the bye week, showing a glimpse of that inner confidence.
When asked what the Riders need to do to break out of their four-game losing streak against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Sunday in Regina, Messam didn't hesitate.
"We have to believe, in each other and in our system," he said. "It has worked for Corey Chamblin before, and people need to get off of our coach. We just need to believe."