Argonauts.ca staff
TORONTO – When Curtis Steele went down with an injury in training camp, it appeared that the Argos would enter the season with rookie RB Henry Josey as the team’s feature back. Despite the coaching staff’s confidence in his abilities, the first week of the season brought the signings of two veterans at the position in Chad Kackert and Brandon Whitaker.
“When Curtis went down we felt we needed to get a veteran running back,” said GM Jim Barker. “When Brandon became available we thought that would be a good move for us.”
Just one week into the season that decision has paid dividends for Toronto, as Whitaker, now in his seventh CFL season, played a significant role in Toronto’s week one win against the Edmonton Eskimos. Whitaker recorded 174 yards from scrimmage in his Argos’ debut, including a 57-yard touchdown on a catch from QB Trevor Harris. But the former Montreal Alouette seems more intent on looking forward to the next challenge than back on former success.
“We celebrated the win for about 24 hours,” said Whitaker, “then it’s on to the next one. It’s a long season. One thing I learned in the past is not to get the ‘success flu’ and get caught up in one win.”
Whitaker was cut by the Alouettes following this season’s training camp, and his familiarity with the coaching staff and the systems in place in Toronto made signing with the Argos an easy decision.
“It feels like the good old days,” said Whitaker, referring to the years he spent with current head coach Scott Milanovich as his offensive coordinator in Montreal. “It’s the same offence, the same group of guys with Coach Scott, [Marcus] Brady, and [Jonathan] Himebauch. It feels like home, the locker room embraced me as soon as I walked in the door. It’s been a very easy transition for me and I feel blessed just to be here.”
Despite his early success in Toronto, few could blame Whitaker for feeling slighted by the Alouettes, who he provided with six years of solid service in the backfield. But the running back shuns the idea that his play in Toronto is motivated by spite or pride.
“I don’t feel like I have to prove anything to anybody except me,” he said. “I’m very critical of myself and my play, and to be honest I had lost a step during camp, so [being cut by Montreal], I took that as constructive criticism.”
It seems that Whitaker took that criticism to heart, as his play has spoken for itself through one week. Following the team’s win against the Eskimos, Milanovich gave a short, but telling answer when asked about Whitaker’s performance.
“The kid can still play,” he said.
With week one in the books and a matchup with the Roughriders in hostile Mosaic Stadium looming, Whitaker makes no bones about his goals for the rest of the season.
“My goal for myself this season is to go out and help the team win a Grey Cup,” he said. “That’s it.”