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July 1, 2016

Morris: Proving doubters into believers not new for elusive Rainey

As a kid growing up in Lakeland, Fla., Chris Rainey used to play football by himself on the street while his grandmother watched from the porch.

“I’d throw the football as far as I could and use my speed to go catch it,” Rainey said with a chuckle after a B.C. Lions’ practice this week. “I did it all the time. She saw me do that.”

Not surprisingly, Rainey’s grandmother decided to sign him up for football. He played offensive lineman the first year but then was switched to running back.

At five-foot-eight and 180 pounds, Rainey has never been the biggest man on the field. What he lacks in size he compensates with speed and heart.

“I got the little man syndrome, the little man heart,” said the 28-year-old. “It’s football. You have to be tough to play football.”

Rainey showed the many dimensions he can bring to the game in the Lions’ season-opening 20-18 win over the Calgary Stampeders.

“You have to prove everyone wrong every time. I feel good. I can say I told you so.”
– Chris Rainey

He used his burning speed as a running back to leave Calgary defenders grasping at air when he scored a touchdown on a one-yard sweep. In the fourth quarter he turned on the jets and returned a punt 72 yards for the touchdown that gave B.C. the lead.

In the game’s dying moments, with the Lions facing a second-and-five, he went up in the air to grab a five-yard catch, then hung onto the ball after taking a brutal hit from Calgary’s Brandon Smith. The catch kept the winning drive alive.

Rainey shrugged when asked if he’s been hit harder in a game.

“A couple of times but not many,” he said.

Rainey has spent most of his life proving himself, turning doubters into believers.

“All my life, everywhere I went, I was told I was too small for this or too small for that,” he said. “Even in public people (say) ‘you play football? You’re too small.’

“You have to prove everyone wrong every time. I feel good. I can say I told you so.”

Wally Buono, B.C.’s head coach and general manager, said Rainey has that explosive ability to give the Lions instant field position. It’s something the team has lacked for the past few seasons.

“When you give him space, he is very dangerous,” said Buono.

When it comes to returning kicks, Rainey has the whole package. It takes him only a step or two to reach warp speed. He has the vision to find open ground. Catching him is like grabbing smoke.

“It’s vision,” he said. “You have to have speed. You have to be fearless and you have to be tough.

“You have to hit (the hole) and know how to make guys miss.”

While Rainey can be like a Swiss army knife on the offence, Buono would prefer to utilize him mostly as a kick returner.

“Chris Rainey is a great athlete,” said Buono. “That’s personified in his returning game. This is why I am so hesitant in overburdening him with other things.

“I don’t want him to get hurt.”

Size isn’t a factor in Buono’s calculations over how often he wants to use Rainey as a running back.

“Whether you are a big running back or a small running back, you can only take so many hits,” Buono said. “If you use him 15 times (a game), by mid-season he’s going to be dead.”

Rainey has travelled rocky road in life. He was born in prison to a mother who was an addict. The grandmother who raised him had an alcohol problem.

There’s also been time when Rainey hasn’t helped himself.

He played his college football at the University of Florida. In 52 games as a running back he gained 2,464 yards and 13 touchdowns on 396 rushing attempts. He also caught 69 passes for 795 yards and six touchdowns

The Pittsburgh Steelers selected him in the fifth round of the 2012 NFL draft and he signed a four-year contract.  He was waived in January 2013 after being arrested on a battery charge.

Rainey was signed by the Indianapolis Colts in November of 2013 but was released in July of 2014 for what Colts’ coach Chuck Pagano said was a “violation of team rules.”

He spent time on the Arizona Cardinals practice squad before joining the Montreal Alouettes in September 2014. He would play five games for the Als before being released in June 2015

 

The Lions signed Rainey in August 2015 and he quickly made an impact.

In a game against his former club he helped secure a win with a key 39-yard punt return.

Two weeks later in Calgary, Rainey returned both a kickoff and a punt for identical 103-yard touchdowns.

History would suggest Rainey can be a double-edged sword, capable of hurting the opposition and himself.

Buono said since coming to the Lions, Rainey has been a model player on and off the field.

“At one time he was a highly rated player,” said Buono. “What ever got him in trouble didn’t necessarily change his athletic ability.

“All I’m teaching Chris Rainey is a little bit of discipline. There is a way to do it and it’s our way, not his way. And he’s been great about that.”

Rainey seems to understand a player is given a limited number of chances. He’s thankful the CFL has allowed him to continue playing football.

“I have no clue where’d I’d be if I didn’t have football,” he said. “Football helped me move forward in life.”