Redblacks relishing their underdog status

Cup berth would render 8-9-1 season moot

The CFL is nothing if not forgiving.

In a good year, three of four teams in the East will make the playoffs. Finish first, as Ottawa did this season with a modest 8-9-1 record — and a single playoff victory will land a club in the Grey Cup championship.

That chance comes Sunday afternoon in the CFL East final against the Edmonton Eskimos (insert punch line here about Edmonton’s eastern roots).

Both teams are striving for back-to-back Cup appearances, no small feat for Ottawa.

Given a nine-team league and a bit of aptitude and luck, it would figure each organization would at least get into a Grey Cup match every few years or so. That Ottawa football teams would spend 23 competitive seasons and many more dormant years between Grey Cup appearances is more astounding than sad. But the record is there.

The Rough Riders were last in the game in 1981, and their last Cup win was 1976, a mere 40 years ago. From 1982-96, Ottawa made just one appearance in the East final — and had zero Cup berths — before the demise of the franchise after 1996. The Ottawa Renegades took their shot from 2002-05 and never qualified for the playoffs.

Into the breach came the Redblacks in 2014, and after a rough debut (2-16), they stunned the league by posting a 12-6 record in 2015. A wild East final at TD Place was decided in a cloud of gold dust — quarterback Henry Burris connected with wide receiver Greg Ellingson on a 93-yard pass-and-run touchdown play that instantly etched its place as one of the great moments in CFL history.

Now the Redblacks are back in the East final, this time against an unrecognizable eastern rival — the Eskimos.

So weak was the East in 2016, the West earned the right to a crossover berth for the third playoff spot in this region. The Eskies made it count by outlasting the TigerCats last Sunday in Hamilton.

To say the Redblacks are fired up about this opportunity would be an understatement. In the lockerroom following Wednesday’s practice, reporters took their lives in their hands passing through an in-house game of mini-basketball as players whooped and hollered with each hit and miss.

Despite home field advantage and having defeated Edmonton twice in 2016, Ottawa is listed as a two-point underdog, which suits Burris more than fine. Edmonton was 10-8 in the regular season. Burris and his mates relish their role as “Average Joes.”

“Dodgeball is my favourite movie, so I actually like the fact we’re the underdog,” says Burris, who regained his starting role from Trevor Harris late in the season.

“Nobody’s going to give us any respect, that’s just how it’s been. All we’ve done is win two East Division titles and put ourselves in position to go to the Grey Cup. It’s not people betting against us, it’s people who are jealous of what we’re doing because their teams aren’t doing it.”

How much the Redblacks are using this home underdog status or last year’s loss to Edmonton in the Grey Cup as fuel is anyone’s guess. They certainly recognize the opportunity for redemption after putting up a home record of 2-6-1.

“It’s all here for the taking,” said head coach Rick Campbell. “We’re thrilled to be at home. There’s no place we’d rather be.”

“You can’t ask for a better situation,” Burris says. “Regardless of what happened this season, we’re where we want to be ... we’ve got home field and all it takes is one win.” Quarterback Henry Burris and the Ottawa Redblacks are listed as two-point underdogs in Sunday’s CFL East final.