thestar.com

VANCOUVER - As of 1985, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers' official policy was that they absolutely despised Rick House. He was a turncoat who, without so much as a by your leave, had jumped ship and gone over to the hated Edmonton Eskimos. In a city where football is mighty serious stuff, this transfer was seen as a loathsome act of treachery.

"I was just ahead of my time, I guess," House said yesterday. "There was quite an uproar but I knew I was within my rights to accept Edmonton's offer after my contract in Winnipeg had expired and the Bombers failed to give me a new one. But it just wasn't done in those days, you know. Sort of a gentlemen's agreement, I guess. A lot of people suffered because of it.

House is the Mr. November of Canadian football, consistently raising his work to all-star levels in post-season competition. He has completed 71 passes in 19 playoff games, gaining 1,087 yards. Included is Edmonton's 1987 Grey Cup victory over the Argos; House had seven catches that day for 134 yards. And he excelled in last Sunday's Eastern final, another conquest of Toronto. So as far as Winnipeg is concerned, House's rehabilitation is complete. Whatever madness seized him that time has since been cured.