CFL wires QBs, coachs for sound
While many a defender has tried to get into the quarterback’s head during a game, the CFL is rolling out the red carpet for television audiences to do just that, as live microphones are being introduced to the game plan.
The maiden voyage marking the first time live mics were used in a CFL regular-season game launched Sunday night with the Calgary Stampeders and Hamilton Tiger-Cats, and you can bet the Eskimos quarterback had his eyes – and ears – on how it all went down when the volume was turned up on head coaches Dave Dickenson and Kent Austin, and pivots Bo Levi Mitchell and Zack Collaros.
“They’ve got guts, man,” Mike Reilly said, perhaps referring more to the decision by the CFL to bring fans deeper into the game than to Sunday’s four test pilots. “Off the field, I’m pretty calm. On the field, my emotions and my competitiveness show through quite a lot and 99 per cent of what I say on the ... field would not allowed to be shown on live national television.
“So those guys have guts, but it will be interesting to see. It’s probably part of the game that the fan base probably doesn’t really ever get to see. So it will be interesting to see how it unfolds. But I don’t think I can censor myself well enough to be in that scenario, but good for them.”
While it’s called a Live Mic Broadcast, it won’t exactly be in real time. A 10-second delay is in place to ensure a family friendly atmosphere is maintained once the emotions – not to mention any trash talk in range – intensify. At least, that’s the hope. “They would just have to act like my microphone disconnected or something, like: ‘We lost the feed,’” Reilly said.
“My teammates, they love me for it – at least that’s what they tell me. The last couple games, I’ve been able to calm down a bit, but I take football very serious, I’m very passionate about it but that’s just the way it goes sometimes.”
But the risks aren’t without their potential rewards. If this program takes off and the 104-year-old league becomes an innovating model for others to follow, CFL quarterbacks have a chance to be household names across the country, not just in the decked-out dens and team-coloured man-caves of those who already count themselves as fans.
“There’s no doubt about it, there are a lot of personalities in our league that are just great guys and it’s kind of cool for the fans to get a different look at it,” Reilly said. “Our league and TSN have both done a nice job of trying to expose us a little bit more than just the game itself, it would be a cool experience, I’m sure.” Not to mention eye-opening. “There’s a lot that goes in,” Reilly said of the inter-play banter, as well as after the snap. “There were a lot of times (Friday) night, where I’m out of the pocket running and pointing out directions to my guys, telling Cory (Watson) and Shakir (Bell) to go and block.
“We see a blitz coming and we’ve got a delayed screen to Shakir and before the ball’s even snapped, I’m yelling, ‘Go now, go now, go now!’ And he gets out and we get the ball thrown to him before the blitz could get to him. So there’s a lot of communication that happens.”
Of course, not everyone is suited for the live audio spotlight in the heat of the moment.
“I don’t even want to comment on it, to be honest with you,” said Eskimos head coach and former long-time CFL quarterback Jason Maas.
And while Reilly has been mic’d up in the past, it was for post-game editing purposes. This time, the quarterbacks’ words are being heard during the live broadcast as fans were brought right inside the huddle and onto the sidelines.
If and when Reilly’s turn comes and it becomes the Live Mike Broadcast, he welcomes it.
“It just depends if you’re comfortable just being yourself out there,” Reilly said. “I’ve been mic’d up for a number of games: The West final and the Grey Cup, I was mic’d up for the first game of the season.
“It’s hard at first because you try to censor yourself a little bit, but after the first couple of snaps you just realize this is how I play and this is who I am. They’ll use what they can and won’t what they can’t.”
Then again, knowing Reilly’s offensive line, who have become notorious for hijacking teammates’ interviews, the quarterback might be lucky to even get a word in edgewise on his own mic.
“Absolutely, that’s the thing,” said Reilly. “I think more than anything you just hear the hits and just the physicality of a football game and that’s the best part of it.
“So it might be kind of a cool experience.”