On the play which should have locked up a win for the Tiger-Cats in Sunday night’s home opener, defensive end Brandon Barlow made his third sack of the game.
And for the second time in that game, and the third time this young season, the sack was forced by the Cats’ other defensive end, Nick Usher, who sealed off any escape route for Saskatchewan quarterback Trevor Harris and bumped him back into the hard-charging Barlow.
That made it 2nd-and-17 for the Riders, from their own 15-yard-line, with under two minutes remaining on the clock. Ticat fans would prefer not to be reminded about what happened next, as Saskatchewan somehow got a first down on the next play, marched quickly for a game-tying touchdown, then won it 33-30 on Brett Lauther’s field goal after an interception which caromed crazily off lunging Tim White.
It was a devastating result for the 0-2 Ticats, but among the many encouraging signs—hello Barlow, Bo Levi Mitchell, Kiondré Smith, Steven Dunbar Jr., Shemar Bridges—was the work of Usher, the 6-foot-4, 256-pounder who had previous CFL stints with Edmonton, Montreal and B.C. before the Ticats signed him as a free agent in February.
Head coach Scott Milanovich was technically the head coach in Edmonton when Usher returned there in 2020 after a tryout with the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders who released him because of injury (knee). That season was never played because of the pandemic, and Milanovich returned to the NFL for a couple of years, while Usher — Milanovich recalls him as then still recovering from that lingering serious injury—moved to Montreal for two-plus seasons before he was released in the midst of last season’s Grey Cup run, despite 70 tackles and nine sacks in his Als tenure. He finished out the year in B.C.
Given that recent history, it would seem that Usher is a player with something to prove.
“Most definitely,” he agrees. “That was a big injury two years ago. I feel like I’m finally getting my feet wet, finally getting to be myself again so I’m definitely excited to be here and happy this organization gave me the opportunity to come in and show my talents.”
Usher is a key part of a mostly-reconstituted defensive front seven which has only one starter—tackle Casey Sayles who had the Ticats’ only sack in the opener in Calgary, helped by Usher—who also started in the CFL East semi-final last season.
“He does a great job,” Milanovich said. “He’s got high energy, he’s physical, he plays fast. That was a great pickup by Ed (Hervey, GM) and his staff.”
Usher started almost every game in his four years at the University of Texas at El Paso, which plays against some of college football’s most famous teams. His UTEP head coach described him as having the best motor on the team and as a senior, he switched to linebacker after three years at defensive end. He had a half dozen sacks that season and says playing linebacker helped him in open-field tackling and squaring up on quarterbacks and ball carriers when he returned to the line as a pro. He finished his UTEP career as a team captain and a degree earned within his four years, fulfilling a promise he had made to his mother.
But first, he had to change his body to make the team right away.
“I arrived out of high school 190 pounds and in the first summer at UTEP went from 190 to 235,” he said. “I was really dedicated and didn’t want to redshirt. When somebody tells me I can’t do something that just pushes me more to get it done.”
He describes his on-field motif as “Nasty, ruthless. tenacious ….I want to impose fear on people” and says he’s fulfilled that his linemates are getting on the stats sheet.
“At the end of the day, I’m a teammate first. I definitely helped but I’m going to have my day, they’ll come in bunches. If Barlow got his and I’m the guy that gives it to him, I’m happy. I know he’ll do the same for me. This teamwork and this bond in this group starts like that.”
CATS CLAUSES: the Ticats released WR Kaylon Geiger and DB Mark Milton and signed Americans, TE Camren McDonald and DB Kordell Rodgers … McDonald was in training camp but was injured. He will give Hamilton some tight end depth behind Jevoni Robinson, while Rodgers started 11 games for Montreal last year with 37 tackles, three knockdowns and two interceptions. The Als released him in mid-May.
