In over 20 years as a coach and general manager in the CFL, Wally Buono had never done this for another player.

He didn’t do it for Doug Flutie, Allen Pitts or Alondra Johnson in Calgary. He didn’t do it when Dave Dickenson left the B.C. Lions. And he didn’t do it last year when Brent Johnson retired after a storybook finish to his career with the Leos.

All those players had bled for Buono. All were a huge part of his success. And in all those cases, a decision was made, and Buono moved on.

But not this time.

Not with Geroy Simon.

“There aren’t too many guys who’ve had this kind of influence on the fans, the organization, the market,” said the B.C. Lions’ general manager. “Geroy is a superstar on the field and off the field. Just because we couldn’t come to an agreement doesn’t mean you discard him and move on.”

Even though that, in effect, is what happened on Thursday.

“This is a tough day,” Simon said in a private moment.

“I’m leaving the place I’ve been the last 12 years. This is all I’ve known.

“I’ve got a special relationship with (the Lions) and that’s not going to change. We did it this way because we didn’t want it to look like there are any bad feelings. There aren’t. It’s something that had to be done.”

And now he moves on to Saskatchewan — and football fans in this province are left to wonder at what they’ve lost.

On a strange day, it was a strange sight to see Buono and Simon, sitting side by side, expressing their unconditional love and respect for each other while the great receiver’s playing career was ending in this town.

In his opening remarks, Buono said he felt like he was attending a funeral. Later, he said it was like a great marriage that ends amicably, with the parties going their separate ways.

In reality, it was a bit of both. It was also a love-in for Simon, who leaves as the greatest Lion of them all.

But, for all the emotion of this day, there was still one question hanging in the air: Did it have to come to this? And, despite some sincere attempts by both Buono and Simon to explain the situation, that one was never fully answered.

This, after all, wasn’t the wrong football decision. The law of diminishing returns was setting in with Simon last year and the issue became how quickly his marvellous skills would erode. Buono would have loved to have him back in a reduced role at a reduced salary.

But, Simon being Simon, said he’s still “a 1,500-yard receiver,” and you don’t have the career he’s had unless you have a great deal of pride, ego and confidence.

“I don’t accept mediocrity,” he said. “So, yeah, because I wasn’t going to accept a mediocre role it led to this.

“I was never told exactly what (that role would be). (The reduced) salary woke me up. There were a lot of parts to this.”

That, at least, was the football aspect of this decision and Buono is seldom wrong when he assesses a player’s expiry date. But there were also a lot of parts to this from the Lions’ point of view, and that’s what made this day and this decision so difficult.

One of Buono’s first moves with the Lions was to make Simon the feature receiver in his offence. During their nine years together, the Lions went 101-60-1, won two Grey Cups and Simon became the CFL’s all-time leader in receiving yards. They built something, these two men, something strong, and it wasn’t easy to walk away from it.

“Will there be another Superman?” Buono said, referring to Simon’s gridiron alter-ego.

“I don’t think so.”

Simon, for his part, talked about his 12 years with the Lions, his relationships with longtime teammates Dante Marsh, Korey Banks, Angus Reid and Johnson. You can throw trainer Bill Reichelt and equipment manager Kato Kasuya in there.

“They’re not blood,” Simon said. “But they’re like my brothers. We’re friends for life. I’ll miss that more than anything.”

But, like so many things, it’s all changed after Thursday.

“You have to separate the emotional side from the business side,” Simon said. “Emotionally, I’m still a B.C. Lion. That’s what’s tough.”

Tough on him. Tough on Buono. And tough on every football fan in this province.

ewilles@theprovince.com

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