BRADENTON, FLA.

Nik Lewis is going to get kicked out of the receiver club if he keeps talking like this.

The Montreal Alouettes slotback has to be the first pass catcher who has come out and said the CFL’s illegal contact rules are unfair.

Until now, all receivers have been in favour of the new rule, which forbids contact that impedes an opponent more than five yards past the line of scrimmage. Defensive players, naturally, have been bemoaning the significant change to the rule book that some say will result in ridiculously high scoring games.

Lewis is the exception to the rule.

“I hate the rule about the no contact after five yards,” Lewis said during his team’s mini-camp in Vero Beach, Fla. “We have an advantage already with motion. If you can’t go through a little bit (of contact), then work harder. Man up. It’s been this way for a long time. I’ve gotten open.”

Lewis has climbed the CFL’s receiving yards list, all the way to the 11th spot, despite the clutching and grabbing progressively getting worse during his career. Now, Lewis is a physical force and would rather go through a defensive back than around him, but even that will be disallowed under the new rules.

“There’s going to be a couple (receivers) who do a little bit more because of this rule, but it’s going to kill the game because you’re going to have 25 to 30 penalties a game in the first nine weeks because the refs have to call it now,” Lewis said.

“If you throw a flag every time somebody grabs ... I mean, there’s guys who have been in this league 10 years and they’ve been doing the same thing. They’re not changing. We’ve already got the advantage with the motion, so let them have something.”

Not feeling the same kind of sympathy for the defensive players is Bombers slotback Clarence Denmark, who finished second in CFL receiving yards last season with 1,080.

“I love not being touched after five yards. I love that,” Denmark said Sunday while watching Bombers mini-camp at IMG Academy. “It’s going to make the game more explosive with more points and more exciting for the fans. I’m a receiver. I’m an offensive guy. So it’s good for me. I’m not worried about them.”

The new rules, especially the one regarding illegal contact, are going to be the story in the first few weeks of the season. One of the first things Alouettes defensive co-ordinator Noel Thorpe did at Alouettes mini-camp last week was remind his defensive backs that for every yard they backed up as a receiver approached the line of scrimmage, that was another yard they were giving up to legally disrupt his route.

It’s going to take some getting used to, and Alouettes cornerback Geoff Tisdale believes it’s going to change the game substantially.

“I don’t want to say it’s going to change it for the bad, but it’s going to look bad at first, because this is not what we’re used to,” he said. “Personally, it’s kind of hard to cover a man running at you full speed without putting your hands on him.

“It’s going to make us DBs cover. It’s going to make us DBs work on our technique. That’s just really what it comes down to. I still don’t think it’s right. We’ve got on shoulder pads. It’s a contact sport. So why are we not making contact?

“I can understand you don’t want the clutching and the grabbing, but if I’m square in front of the receiver I should be able to protect my area even if I’m eight yards deep.”

The feelings are already this strong, and games haven’t even been played yet.

Just wait.

HELP ME HELP YOU

It sounds like Sam Giguere is going to have a little more freedom to produce with the Alouettes than he did with the Tiger-Cats.

Giguere, who signed a one-year free agent deal with the Als after spending three seasons in Steeltown, loved the way he was utilized during the team’s three day mini-camp. Giguere had between 400 and 600 yards and one touchdown in each of his three seasons with the Tabbies.

“I certainly think I can do more things than I was asked to do in Hamilton,” Giguere said. “The coaches have stressed the idea that they want to move people around constantly. Usually you come in for a mini-camp and it’s all really basic, straightforward stuff. You’re at one position, and you don’t move.

“But already on the first day we had motions, we had different formations, you were weak side or strong side, motion from side to side and being in a wideout or slot. It’s fun. It’s a lot more interesting for the guys, and you have more opportunities to show what you can do and what you’re good at.”

LESS HAIRY?

Are dread-locked receivers about to become a thing of the past?

Alouettes pass-catcher Fred Stamps was sporting a closely shorn look at his team’s mini-camp last week, and it had nothing to do with the career reboot he got when Edmonton traded him to Montreal in January.

“I got tired of playing football and coming off the field and seeing my dreads hanging off on the ground getting pulled on,” Stamps said. “I’d been having a lot of headaches from getting my hair pulled. You feel fresher. You feel cleaner. I feel better.”

kirk.penton@sunmedia.ca

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