Mitchell working to get better
Stampeders quarterback leaving no stone unturned since Grey Cup loss
Bo Levi Mitchell is reminiscing about the glory days back in Katy, Texas, where he started playing football in the fifth grade.
Initially, Mitchell wanted to line up as a receiver but begrudgingly accepted the assignment as quarterback for the expansion Ravens.
“We went 0-11 our first year and then we went 1-10 our second year,” he said wistfully. “I think we only scored on one play. The only play we scored on every single time we scored — which was maybe eight times in two years — the play was called the Statue of Liberty.”
Suffice to say, Mitchell has many more plays in his repertoire as the starting quarterback of the Calgary Stampeders and the reigning most outstanding player in the Canadian Football League
Still, the 27-year-old learned lessons early on from losing with such regularity. He instinctively knows how to scrape himself out of bed the next day and move on to the next challenge in search of the next win.
So don’t expect Mitchell to suffer an extended hangover from Calgary’s 39-33 Grey Cup loss to the Ottawa Redblacks.
Sure, it was heartbreaking. And sure, he committed an uncharacteristic three interceptions.
But bad games happen even to the best.
“You look at the three picks I threw,” he said.” I’ve only thrown three in a game one time in my own career. So that was something I wanted to look at. There were miscommunications between me and my receivers — between me and my guys — on certain things.”
Mitchell conducted a postmortem on his personal Grey Cup performance before talking it over with head coach Dave Dickenson and general manager John Hufnagel — both outstanding quarterbacks in their own right.
“Their concern was: ‘You had a great season. You did such great things. Were you trying to put a stamp on it at the end of the season?’ ” Mitchell said. “And maybe that was what I was trying to do — trying to make big plays happen.”
Looking back, Mitchell made plenty of big plays happen during the 2016 regular season. He completed a gaudy 68 per cent of his passes for 5,377 yards, 32 touchdowns and just eight interceptions.
His modus operandi centres on distributing the ball around to his playmakers and letting them work their magic.
“Once Bo sees something, he’s going with it,” said slotback Marquay McDaniel. “He’s not secondguessing it. He’s not trying to force the ball.
“Once you spread the ball around to everybody, it makes you that much harder to defend. Defences can’t just focus in on one or two guys. They have to cover guys across the board, because Bo is going to take what you give him.”
In the first three quarters of the Grey Cup game, Mitchell uncharacteristically forced the ball deep instead of taking the higher-percentage shorter passes. Even so, he very nearly led the Stamps to one of the greatest comebacks in Grey Cup history.
“I’m young,” Mitchell said. “It was a good learning point. And now it’s a burning drive. It’s a passion. I’ve been working out harder than I ever have and pushing myself more to try to find new limits.
“I always refer back to basketball. To me, I’m the point guard. I’m the guy who wants to get LeBron James the ball. I want to let the athletes go out there and make plays.”
Heading into training camp, Mitchell is blessed with an impressive arsenal of playmakers at his disposal, including the dependable McDaniel, rising star DaVaris Daniels, the CFL’s most outstanding Canadian in running back Jerome Messam and the promising Kamar Jorden.
“Bo just keeps getting better — every week, every game, every year,” McDaniel said. “He’s doing a better job getting a comfort level with everybody. That’s hard to do. It really is hard when you have so many different players at so many different heights and so many different speeds.
“Bo has that Texas swag. He has that humbleness. He has that cockiness. And he’s talented. He’s like the total package, really. And he’s the best in the league.”
While the Stampeders lost offensive tackle Derek Dennis and defensive end Frank Beltre this off-season, most of the core is back.
And it all begins with Mitchell, who lost the grand total of two games in 2016.
My how things have changed since his humble beginnings on a team of 10-year-olds that went 0-11 in Katy.
“I still feel very good about having the most outstanding player on our team,” Dickenson said. “That’s the guy who runs the engine and keeps things moving in the right direction.
“What I like about Bo is that he does give a lot of the credit elsewhere. He’s our leader. He’s the guy who has the biggest impact on a game and a big reason why we won so many games last year.
Provided he stays healthy, there’s no reason to expect that to change in 2017.
I’ve been working out harder than I ever have and pushing myself more to try to find new limits.