QB Glenn won’t be defined by Cup
In the early days of his football career, Kevin Glenn — like many kids fresh out of college — yearned for a fatter bank account, for a bigger salary.
But thanks to a sage nugget of advice, he mastered a life lesson that sticks with him to this day.
“I had a person tell me one time, that if you chase money, it will run away from you,” the 34-year-old quarterback says, his arms chugging at his sides as he pretends to jog in place in the Calgary Stampeders players’ lounge. “When the only thing you’re thinking about is, ‘I’m chasing the money, where’s the money,’ then it’s going to run away from you — until you stop thinking about it.”
The anecdote serves a purpose this week with Glenn — a financially secure owner of a Tim Hortons franchise in his hometown of Detroit — set to start at quarterback in Sunday’s West Division Final against the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
On the line: A trip to Regina and a chance for Glenn to hoist the Grey Cup for the first time in his 13-year Canadian Football League career.
Also on the line for Glenn: Another shot at silencing the critics over his failure, thus far, to capture the ultimate prize in three-down football.
“I would be lying if I said I don’t feel as though that is something left off the resume,” Glenn says. “I would love for that to be on it.” But ... “I wouldn’t necessarily say that defines me as a player — to say, ‘well, Kevin Glenn won one, so he is this’ or ‘Kevin Glenn didn’t win one, so he isn’t this,’ ” Glenn says. “I believe I’ve done enough in my career in football. I’ve accomplished a lot.”
In other words, obsessing 24 hours a day over Lord Grey’s chalice is counterproductive in Glenn’s mind — much like ruminating over dollar signs.
Tend to business, and the rest will fall into place.
“I feel as though I’m blessed,” Glenn says. “Everything happens for a reason. When the time is right and Kevin Glenn is supposed to win a Grey Cup, he will win the Grey Cup. He will be part of a Grey Cup team.
“I’m going to play hard, and give my all to the team, to getting better at my craft — then it will come.”
And so the entire focus for the Stampeders this week centres on defeating the scrappy Roughriders. Saskatchewan quarterback Darian Durant will no doubt roar into Cowtown brimming with confidence after almost single-handedly leading the green team to a 29-25 comefrom-behind victory over the B.C. Lions in Sunday’s West Division semifinal.
Glenn is coming off two shaky performances to close out the regular-season, but John Hufnagel has already tapped the veteran as his No. 1 quarterback against Saskatchewan.
“Kevin will start this football game,” the Stamps head coach/ general manager was saying Sunday night on a teleconference with reporters. “We just didn’t play good football against B.C. in the last game of the season. Take away the last game, because the Calgary Stampeders really didn’t show up to play it.
“Kevin had two quarters where he had a difficult time, but the bulk of the work he’s done throughout the season, it’s not going to disrupt my thoughts about who should be playing and starting this playoff game.”
Taking over for the injured Drew Tate, Glenn started 13 games this season, winning 10 of them. His overall numbers (223-of-335 for 2,710 yards, 18 touchdowns and seven interceptions) are indicative of a veteran quarterback managing the game with maturity and poise not always seen in his younger years. As for the last two games ... “Confidence wise, I’m fine,” he says, waving off the question. “You have to have a short memory in this game, whether you play well and you lose, or you play bad. That’s just how this game goes. We’re in the business of having a short memory.
“What happened in that Saskatchewan game? I don’t even remember. The B.C. game? That kind of stuff, it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter what we did in week 2, 3, or 4. It doesn’t matter what we did in week 18 or 19. What we need to focus on is next week and getting prepared to play.”
In 2007, Glenn willed the Blue Bombers to the Grey Cup, only to break his arm in the East Division Final and watch helplessly as Winnipeg lost 23-19 to Saskatchewan.
In 2012, Glenn quarterbacked the Stampeders to the championship, only to falter in the big game (Toronto prevailed by a score of 35-22).
If the Stamps — minus two starting defensive tackles and leading receiver Marquay McDaniel — can pull out a victory Sunday, Glenn has a chance to rewrite the script.
“If it comes, it comes,” says Glenn, who quietly moved into 10th spot on the CFL’s all-time passing chart this season with 39,418 yards. “I just believe we already have too much pressure as it is. You don’t want to add all that extra pressure. Sometimes people mistake that for ‘Kevin doesn’t care,’ but that’s not the case.
“If Kevin didn’t care, he wouldn’t be here.”