McCallum Asked To Retire In BC

Paul McCallum was a money kicker when the lights were on for 23 CFL seasons, but when the B.C. Lions practised Thursday night the sun was setting and the veteran kicker was nowhere to be found.
The CFL team has asked the 45-year-old to retire after just five days of training camp.
General manager Wally Buono met with Thursday afternoon with McCallum, who had his locker cleaned out and headed to the Lower Mainland.
“I need some time to think,” McCallum said.
It’s possible that McCallum, who led the CFL hitting 90.5 per cent of his kicks last season, would ask for his release to try and catch on with another team.
However, coach Jeff Tedford decided to hand put kicking in the hands of Americans Anthony Fera and Richie Leone, whose leg strength this week was impossible to overlook. All that remains to be determined is whether the ending is messy or not.
Tedford said that McCallum had been allowed to go home for personal reasons and wouldn’t elaborate.
“We’re giving him time to be away from camp,” said Tedford. “We’ll see if he’ll be back. In the next few days we’ll know what’s next.”
Buono wouldn’t say much about it. “This is a very complicated process,” he said.




(Vancouver Province)