RAY YEARNS FOR ONE MORE GREY CUP SHOT
Argos QB knows career is winding down, and wants to go out in a blaze of glory
The optics are not lost on Ricky Ray. Not at this stage of his life or his football career.
On Sunday, while he’s playing quarterback in the East Division final and trying to push the Toronto Argonauts to the Grey Cup, his close friend Jason Maas will be coaching against his old rival, Dave Dickenson, in the West Division final.
Ray looks around the CFL and sees other former quarterbacks coaching — Anthony Calvillo in Montreal and Khari Jones in Vancouver — and he can’t help but wonder: How far is he from the end and how close is he to a new beginning?
This is how you think when you’re 38 and in your 16th season of professional football, when you’ve taken too many hits trying to find an open receiver, been officially and unofficially hurt too many times.
Yet, somehow, this magical season arrived, turning back the clock and stopping time.
You think about this week and this game against Saskatchewan and every year before this one and you think about what the future might bring. Sixteen years is more than a lifetime in pro football. No one knows yet whether there will be a 17th.
It was easy to doubt Ray after the last few Argo years. He was getting old and was already slow and being battered so often that his career seemed day to day rather than year to year. The old Argo regime, which made him the highest paid player in the CFL, then asked him to sign a contract with a relatively low base salary and rather high bonuses.
He doesn’t care much to talk about getting his salary stripped. If he played, he got paid well. If he didn’t play, he didn’t make much. Ray gambled on himself and won — and this year he’s going to Grey Cup Week even if the Argos don’t, as the East nominee for most outstanding player.
He giggles, just a little, as he’s reminded of that. Last winter, before the Argos had a coach or a general manager or even a player of consequence signed at receiver or defensive back, Ray wondered about his future. Did he have one?
“Back then, I really didn’t know what to think,” Ray said. “I was unsure of my situation, unsure of what was going to happen here in Toronto. Really, for the first time in my career, I didn’t know.”
Then a phone call came. It was Marc Trestman. He had accepted the Argos head coaching job, but it had yet to be announced. Trestman wanted to know: Did Ray still have the passion to play?
He needed to hear that and more from Ray before going to his February press conference and announcing him as his starting quarterback. He made the announcement having not seen him play since Trestman left the CFL for Chicago. He made the announcement trusting his gut and knowing he had no other real option at quarterback.
It was the old beaten up guy or nobody. Trestman went for the old beaten up guy who still throws the cleanest football in the history of football. And with a bump or two along the way, it has worked out wonderfully well.
“For me, it’s been one year at a time for a while,” Ray said. “I’ve kind of been on life support for the last couple of years with some of the injuries I’ve had ... For me, I just try and enjoy the moment as best as I can. I don’t try and think ‘This could be it.’ I think you know time is winding down on you and you’re getting to the end of your career.
“This could be my last opportunity with a shot at a championship.”
That’s why Sunday is so precious for him. And next Sunday, if there is a next Sunday for the Argos. This is Ray’s sixth season in Toronto and there is speculation in the gossipy CFL that no matter what happens, it will be his last. He’s been part of one championship team. He wants two.
Maybe then it will be easier to return to Edmonton, learn to coach from his old friend Maas, play backup to Mike Reilly, be closer to his California home, quietly begin to wind down his Hall of Fame career.
First, there is a game to play. With BMO Field nearly filled. An atmosphere he hasn’t known before as an Argo. That brings a smile to his face and suddenly he’s a kid again. If only for the moment. If only for two more Sundays.