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It started with a Sunday tweet (and story on the website 3DownNation) that the Saskatchewan Roughriders had reached out to quarterback Henry Burris and asked if he wanted to come out of retirement.

The story was written by Justin Dunk, who is about as connected as anyone in Canadian Football League media circles, but the 43-year-old Burris, who retired after leading the Ottawa Redblacks to the Grey Cup in 2016 in the last of his 17 CFL seasons, says it wasn’t exactly the way a conversation he had with the Roughriders went down.

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Photo by Michelle Nash Baker/Metroland / Michelle Nash Baker/Metroland

Explained Burris, now a CTV Morning Live host and CFL on TSN panelist: “They called me. They were asking me if I knew of anybody who would be a good quarterback for them because of the situation they were in where Zach (Collaros) wouldn’t be able to play (in Sunday’s West semi-final). They were like, ‘Well, we know you aren’t coming back anytime soon, are you?’ I was like, ‘Nah, I’m not stepping back onto the field.’ That’s when names started getting thrown around.”

So the Roughriders did ask, in a roundabout way, but Burris said the conversation wasn’t about him returning to the field.

“They just said they needed somebody in an emergency situation,” Burris said. “We had a talk, but it wasn’t anything talking about me coming back. It was a casual talk.”

Burris added with a laugh: “I told them if they could have beer on the sidelines for me to drink during the game … Well then, yeah I’d play.”