t make the playoffs a year ago and a whole new regime

Dunk: Burris looks to fulfill Black and Gold's grey plan
#GCPlayoffsHenry Burris was brought to Hamilton for one reason, and one reason alone: To colour the city grey. Burris wasn’t viewed as a stopgap veteran quarterback who was supposed to hold the position until a young pivot of the future was ready. He was seen as the signal caller that could push the Ticats from the middle to the top of the food chain in the Canadian Football League. In 2009 Hamilton made the playoffs for the first time in five long years. But with making the playoffs came greater expectations. The Ticats lost two straight post-season games at Ivor Wynne Stadium and the fans, rightfully so, became restless. A thrilling upset win over the Alouettes in Montreal in the 2011 East Semi-Final had the Tabbies dreaming grey. But a humbling 19-3 loss to Winnipeg in the East Final quickly squashed any championship hopes. And because the Kevin Glenn-Marcel Bellefeuille quarterback-head coach tandem couldn’t reach the CFL title game in three tries, change was about to go down. Eastern Semi-Final Playoff CentreThe 2013 Eastern Semi-Final matchup is set as the Hamilton Tiger-Cats host the Montreal Alouettes. Here is everything you need to know ahead of Sunday's game.Click here to view pageOn January 3, 2012 Burris was acquired by the Ticats for Kevin Glenn, offensive lineman Mark Dewit and a conditional draft pick. At the time of the trade, Hamilton’s general manager was Bob O’Billovich. Obie believed Burris was a better athlete and possessed a stronger arm than Glenn. And he brought a championship pedigree to Steeltown having already proven he could win a Grey Cup as a starting quarterback. Hank led Calgary to a championship in 2008. He threw for 328 yards with one touchdown and one interception and added 79 yards on the ground to garner Grey Cup MVP honours. Burris led the Stampeders to a title for the first time since 2001. The Ticats championship drought is a little longer. You have to go all the way back to 1999 to find the Tiger-Cats last Grey Cup winning team.Burris’s first season in Black and Gold was a success from a numbers standpoint. He threw for 5,367 yards and 43 touchdowns – both career highs. However, despite Hank’s best efforts it was a season, record-wise, to forget. “Definitely there were still a lot of things being put together here last year,” Burris said. “There was a lot of turnover going on and we had a lot of youth in a lot of phases. Our coaching staff had first timers, Casey [Creahan] being a first time defensive coordinator and George [Cortez] being a first time head coach.”“There were a lot of things being figured out over the course of the season. And we never experienced that big victory to get us going.”The Ticats didn’t make the playoffs a year ago and a whole new regime,Arizona Cardinals Jersey, led by Kent Austin,Wholesale NFL Jerseys, was brought in. But there was one major takeaway from the 2012 season – Burris still had ‘it’.Many pundits wondered if old age, in football terms, would finally catch up with the now 38-year-old, but he continues to outrun and evade father football time. Burris started every single game for Hamilton in the regular season - one of just two quarterbacks to do so this season. And he views the back-to-back games against Montreal in Weeks 17 and 18 as the pivotal point of the Ticats season. “It reminded me of 2008 when Edmonton came into Calgary and they just embarrassed us on Labour Day. I mean they beat us in every direction and there was no way for us to even try and sugarcoat it – we got out butts kicked that game,” Burris explained. Related Links Burris confident heading into playoffs Winners of four of their final five regular season games, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats are feeling good about their game as they ready to hit the practice field Wednesday. Eastern Semi-Final Playoff Centre Buy: Eastern Semi-Final Tickets The Eskimos won 37-16 in the front end of the annual Edmonton-Calgary Labour Day week home-and-home. Burris passed for just 81 yards.“It was a telling moment when we went into Edmonton. We could’ve either become the team we knew we could become and that was to go in there and turn things around and get a big win,” Burris said. “Or we could’ve just tucked our tail between our legs and just taken the beating again.”Hank came up with a much better performance, throwing for 323 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Stampeders to a 38-33 win back on September 5, 2008. “The same thing happened in this case against the Alouettes. We went up to Montreal and got our butts kicked and we came back here,” Burris said. After a thorough drubbing, 36-5 was laid on the Ticats by the Als. Hamilton responded with a thrilling 27-24 come-from-behind win just six days later. The Ticats clinched home field with the victory in what was as close to a playoff game, and atmosphere, as you can get in the regular season. “To see our team respond to adverse times, bounce back, support each other and get such a huge team victory, with all the pressure in the world on us - it reminds me of what our Calgary team went through in 2008,” Burris said. “To see us overcome all of the obstacles that were mounted against us, that’s when I truly believed. I knew we had the makings to become a title contender, but when all the cards are stacked against you, the true championship teams find ways to get it done. And we did just that against Montreal,” Burris said. “That’s when I saw the next coming of potential Grey Cup champions, as far as on our team this year. In both instances we overcame the obstacle of a team that had our number at the time.”Burris had a grey feeling in 2008 and he legitimately has it again in Steeltown in 2013.