EDMONTON -- Saskatchewan's kicking duties in Sunday's Grey Cup will be handled by a radio advertising salesman and a California bartender.
That's what Warren Kean and Eddie Johnson were doing this year when the Roughriders inquired about their services.
Kean, from Toronto, sold advertising for sports radio in Calgary after the Stampeders released him in June. Johnson, meanwhile, was tending bar in his hometown of Newport Beach, Calif., when Saskatchewan signed him in July.
"We're both kickers who have been bartenders who have lived that life," Kean said. "We're literally working-class guys. We really are. I haven't had the most storybook career. We've been through a lot so we're pretty tight because of that."
Because they were out of football just a short while ago, the two had fun with Grey Cup week in Edmonton. Neither filter nor edit their comments much, which made them media darlings.
Johnson, 29, is the all-California surfer dude sporting a handlebar moustache and extolling the virtues of beach living. Kean, 26, cracks jokes about being shown the door in many a football team's clubhouse.
"In terms of personalities, they are both wackos," Saskatchewan special teams coach Jim Daley said. "One is tall wackos and one is short wacko. Wacko one and wacko two."
Johnson handles punting and kickoffs, but kicked the odd field goal immediately after Luca Congi went down with a season-ending knee injury Oct. 17. Kean was then signed and the former Canadian university all-star with Concordia has had less than five weeks to get his distance and accuracy together for the Grey Cup.
"Game shape for a kicker could mean beer in hand and feet up," Kean cracked.
Johnson, out of Idaho State, had stops with no less than seven NFL teams and also tried out for the Toronto Argonauts last year. When he arrived in Regina, he hadn't kicked much more than a hacky-sack ball in weeks.
"My day consisted of waking up when my body told me to wake up, go for a workout at the gym with my buddy who was unemployed at the time," he said. "Hang on the patio, maybe throw the frisbee around, try to find some innocent bystanders for a game of volleyball and then go to work at five.
"When they called me I said 'Sure, why not. I'll cruise up to Canada. Sounds like a blast.' I went out on my high school field in Newport, brought a football, kicked a couple of balls and said 'OK, I think I can pull this off. I'll take a flight out of LAX tomorrow, sure, sounds awesome."'
When held up against established Alouettes veteran kicker Damon Duval, it may seem like Montreal has the advantage in the kicking game Sunday.
But Johnson gets power out of his six-foot-four, 240-pound frame. He's averaged 43.5 yards per punt to rank third behind Calgary's Burke Dales and Duval.
Johnson tied with Duval for the most single points with eight. He may be laid-back off the field, but Daley says he's a fierce competitor on it.
Kean, five-foot-11 and 195 pounds, didn't kick a field goal in last Sunday's West final win over Calgary. He made three of five attempts during the regular season from 15, 22 and 25 yards. He went 4-for-5 in the West semifinal versus B.C. on distances between 22 and 29 yards.
Kean's accuracy and distance has improved with increased reps. Daley pointed out Kean made field goals from 45 yards Wednesday during a frigid practice at Commonwealth Stadium.
"His leg strength in the months he's been with us has probably gone up 10 yards," Daley added. "He's a got a very straight ball. It doesn't slice and it doesn't hook. From the tee to elevation is very fast. We have less chance of a blocked kick because he's vertical so fast."
Head coach Ken Miller says the plan for Sunday is for Kean to handle field goal attempts from 45 yards and in, plus converts.
Johnson, who went 2-for-3 during the regular season and practised field goals during Thursday's closed practice, may be called on to attempt a field goals from longer than 45 yards. Miller also says he has to take into account Montreal's Tim Maypray, who returned two field goals for touchdowns this season.
Johnson's long kicks can take the return game away from Montreal.
"His ball, if he misses it, is going out of the end zone. It's an unreturnable field goal," Kean said. "The law of averages outside 40, 45 are low. I'm confident I can hit those field goals, but if it's not the time and place and it's coaches call, he's hitting them. It's all about points on the board."
Kean was drafted by Edmonton in 2007, but played only one game for the Eskimos that year. He was signed and subsequently released by Winnipeg in 2008 and didn't catch on with another team until Calgary brought him to training camp this year.
He kept kicking though. Kean sneaked onto fields when he could and fit sessions in around whatever job he had at the time. Kean's grateful the Stampeders let him use McMahon to train over the summer.
If Sunday's championship comes down to a field goal for Saskatchewan, Kean's career could still yet become storybook.
"That's what I signed up for," he said. "That's every day in the gym, that's every 'Hey, you're cut get back on the plane' that's what it's all for."
Johnson shakes his head over his lifestyle overhaul, but he's embracing it.
"I've had a couple of '80s action-movie flashbacks, so to speak," he said. "My schedule is far more regimented now. It feels good to show up and have something going on. Sometimes when you have that full beach lifestyle, sometimes you feel almost guilty about it believe it or not, like 'I've really got to get my life together. What am I doing with my life?' It's a huge turnaround.
"From bartending to Grey Cup, you can't really beat that right?"
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