On Aug. 9 in Hamilton, Romby Bryant ran the ball into the end-zone for a Stampeders touchdown.
Then, on Aug. 25 in Regina, the wide receiver picked up a major on a reception.
So what’s next in the sequence of scoring?
“I guess I wish they’d give a chance to throw a touchdown,” chuckled the veteran from Oklahoma City. “Or return one. But you know, it’s all fun and games.”
The touchdown against the Roughriders was Bryant’s first via the air this season. This from the man who had 20 receiving touchdowns over the previous two seasons including a league-leading 15 in 2010.
As newcomer Kevin Glenn, filling in at quarterback for the injured Drew Tate, gets more comfortable with the offence and as teams start focusing on slotback Nik Lewis after a sizzling start, other pass-catchers — inlcuding Bryant — are getting more balls thrown their way.
Bryant has eight catches in the past two games after having just four receptions in the previous four.
“Yeah, they’re starting to double and bracket Nik a lot so a lot of other guys have to step up,” said Bryant. “Joe (West) stepped up last week. Marquay (McDaniel) has stepped up a few times. Johnny (Forzani), Arjei (Franklin), Chris (Bauman) . . . all of us. We’ve all got to step up because Nik’s our big-time receiver.”
Bryant shrugs off the naysayers who dwelled on his modest stats — 15 catches for 188 yards in the first six games — before his recent surge.
“With social media,” he noted, “(the critics) can get at you different ways. They send you messages and tell you that you suck. I read a blog that said I couldn’t get open and that they need to get rid of me. You need to filter all that out. Just look at Johnny — it’s not his fault he’s not getting the ball. It’s just the way the cookie crumbles sometimes.”
The next test for Bryant and the rest of the Stamps offence is Monday’s Labour Day Classic against the Edmonton Eskimos. The players can’t help but feel the extra excitement for this annual grudge match.
“I try to get hyped for every game,” he said, “but we need how important this next game is. We’re trying to win in because it’s the Battle of Alberta and we’re going to try and do it for our fans and bragging rights for now.”
Bryant, who also played in the Saskatchewan-Winnipeg Labour Day weekend rivalry as a member of the Blue Bombers, says these games remind him of the atmosphere for his college games at Tulsa.
“We didn’t have a rivalry game at Tulsa,” he said, “but when we played teams likes OU (Oklahoma) or Arkansas, it got crazy. You know OU is going to bring their fans and when we played Arkansas in Arkansas, that was crazy.”
Another similarity between his college days and the Labour Day and college is the earlier start time.
“I love day games,” said Bryant. “You wake up and you don’t have to think about the game all day. As soon as you get up, you’re getting ready for the game. You don’t have to sit around all day worrying.”