Burris again hosting weekend ‘for the kids’
Henry Burris has been part of this particular team for eight years and, in their books, he’s a perennial MVP.
Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Calgary and Area announced the details of the 2013 All-Star Weekend on May 10-11, hosted as usual by the gregarious former Calgary Stampeders’ quarterback and inveterate Calgarian.
“This is home for us,” stated Burris, who now toils for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. “Nicole and I have two young boys who were born and raised here and we enjoyed a long great career here with the Stampeders. But the city of Calgary itself has done so many great things for my family. They’ve allowed us to make this place home and we have to give back. That was always a part of my family upbringing. We have to keep doing this because it’s for the betterment of this great city and more important for the kids.”
The weekend includes a celebrity golf tournament at the Springbank Links Golf Club on May 10; the Henry Burris Football Camp for Kids at McMahon Stadium on the following day, from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.; and it culminates that evening with the all-star gala at The Westin hotel, with the keynote address being given by gold medal Olympian Carla MacLeod.
Some of the athletes who are expected to take part are Ryan Thel- well — who was on hand to kick off yesterday’s announcement — as well as fellow former CFLers Don Narcisse, Pee Wee Smith and Travis Moore, Seattle Seahawks’ Brandon Browner, hockey’s Charlie Simmer, as well as numerous ex- and current Olympians, including Kyle Shewfelt and Shannon Rempel.
“I didn’t think too much about the cause itself until I met Henry,” Thelwell, a three-time Grey Cup champ, told those assembled. “When I signed here in 2007, he was the first guy that called me. The first thing he does is invite me to his all-star weekend. It’s amazing what we can do.”
“People are catching on and they know about the event, and that means it’s growing,” Burris added. “This city has been created on certain standards: you believe in your fellow man and you take care of your fellow man. It always takes a community to raise a child and there are certain children out there that don’t have those resources. They need those mentors in their lives.”
Burris will be heading off to the Tiger-Cats’ mini-camp in a week and is looking forward to hooking up with new head coach and a former QB himself, Kent Austin.
“I’m excited about it because I’ve talked to guys like Damon Allen and Kerry Joseph, quarterbacks who have worked with Kent,” he noted, “and just to hear about all the success they’ve been able to achieve working under Kent. I’m eager to get out there and learn a new offence. We’re one year older — we’re not the youngest team in the league anymore, we had upgrades on the defensive side.”
About that year older thing, Burris will in fact be 38 in June, but don’t be pulling out the rocking chair just yet.
“I have more fire now probably than when I was younger,” Burris noted. “My training has been spectacular. I said last year I finished second in the league in rushing as far as quarterbacks … I want to finish first this year! For me, age has never been a situation. I’ve been able to take good care of my body, I still feel young, I feel energy every day I wake up. I’ll be out there for another three, four years playing. I’m excited and looking forward to it.”