Calvin McCarty Gets On Fast Track

13/06/2009 20:26

Off-season training with gold-medal sprinter boosts running back's speed

Athletes are always looking for an edge, so when Calvin McCarty had the chance to train with an Olympic gold-medallist sprint relay runner, he took it.

"Yeah, blast off," said McCarty, of training with Robert Esmie, who ran the opening leg of the 4x100-metre relay at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta for Canada with the words "Blast Off" sculpted into his hair.

"We worked out for a couple of months together, on nothing but speed. Air blast off," he said of Esmie, who worked McCarty on land, in the sand and in the pool.

The two met up in North Surrey, B.C., where Esmie -- who won gold with Glenroy Gilbert, Bruny Surin and Donovan Bailey -- now resides and acts as a personal trainer.

"I ran into him at my old high school, St. Thomas More. He was helping coach our track team, so I talked to him and he said, 'Come see the doctor, the speed doctor at airblastoff.com,' " laughed McCarty. "Then he said, 'So, when they interview you to ask you about your speed, you tell them where you went.' "

Hey, any time a bull of a running back -- McCarty stands five-foot-10 and weighs 215 -- can get quicker is OK by coaches, management and fans alike.

And McCarty looks sharp in training camp. In fact, it wouldn't be a stretch to say he's been the best all-round back over the first week for the Green and Gold, until he was nursing a tender ankle on Friday.

What are the expectations for the 2009 season?

"Just keep contributing," said head coach Richie Hall.

"It's more like what are our expectations as far as how can we get him the football, because he was productive last season. He had a breakout season. He emerged into one of the top all-around backs in the entire league, import or non-import.

"We want to be able to feed him the ball, run the ball, getting him -- I won't say how many touches per game -- but getting him touches because he has been productive. He has the ability to do a variety of things.

"So my expectations are for him to continue to contribute and make more of a contribution than he has in the past."

McCarty was a major threat coming out of the backfield in 2008, rackingt up 490 yards and four touchdowns on 88 carries, and adding 70 receptions for 583 yards.

"Yeah, you always want to get better, build on last season," said McCarty, who has taken a back seat to newcomer Jesse Lumsden with the media, but looks like a No. 1 at camp.

"I don't worry about that. That's fine with me," he said. "I wouldn't say I'm flying under the radar; I'm just trying to make plays. You come to camp wanting to be the man. I'm out here trying to earn it every day.

"I just do my job and execute the best that I can do. The goal is to win, by any means necessary. I have my personal goals and expectations for myself, but at the end of the day it's about winning."

For McCarty, a valuable Canadian, this isn't a 100-metre dash, even though he has been working on his initial speed.

"Coming into the season, you would obviously expect more (touches)," he said. "I've been working to step in and be the guy. I expect to be in there. It's a long season and it's not a race, it's a marathon."

The speed work definitely hasn't hampered his hands any, either. He displayed that with a late touchdown in Thursday's sessions, swinging out and up the sidelines to haul in a perfect throw from Ricky Ray from 40 yards out, blasting his way down the final 10.

"It was right there, right over the shoulder. Didn't have to reach out or nothing," smiled McCarty. "K.P.(Kamau Peterson) said, 'Late hands.' But I could have caught that with alligator arms, it was right on the money."

Just like McCarty's effort so far.

SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:

Calvin McCarty is one heck of a running back – and he’s Canadian to boot. Teamed with fellow-Canadian Jesse Lumsden, the Eskimos should have a very formidable running game this season.