Monday, November 05, 2007

CIS CORNER: HEC OF A COINCIDENCE

The loose connection of the day: Jamall Lee, the record-setting running back for the Bishop's Gaiters, can officially be called Canadian university football's answer to Adrian Peterson, AKA Purple Jesus.

Lee, the Quebec conference's Hec Crighton nominee, changed his number to 28, same as Peterson, before the season after wearing No. 32 his first two seasons. Whether it had anything to do with Peterson is unknown, but he told the French-language La Tribune that Peterson is a runner he's tried to emulate:

"When he played at the University of Oklahoma, my father (Orville Lee, the former Rough Riders star) told me to watch him closely. He's basically the same height and the same weight, he's fast and can run with power."

It's a coincidence, but it's one heck of a coincidence. Should Lee go to the CFL, he might face some of the same doubts Peterson encountered. With Peterson, it was a question of durability; with Lee, it would be nationality.

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