National Post (National Edition)
Long road to first CFL start
CUT A DOZEN TIMES, BETHEL-THOMPSON FINALLY GETS HIS SHOT WITH ARGOS
Mcleod Bethelthompson long ago left any football superstitions he had on the gridiron sideline.
But a little crazy? The Argonauts quarterback, on the eve of his first start in the Canadian Football League, would cop to that.
The road to Bethelthompson’s role on Thursday night against the visiting Ottawa Redblacks at BMO Field was rife with disappointments and unwanted twists, but the fact now is that the 30-year-old has been given a wonderful chance to solidify his standing on an Argos team that is desperate for a victory.
“It’s amazing,” Bethelthompson said on Wednesday following the Argos’ walk-through.
“All the work I have put in, hopefully it’s going to pay off and I can just go out there and spend time with great people on a football field, playing a game I love.
“I think I was cut 11, 12 times in the NFL, being signed and cut and signed again.
“(The possibility of leaving football behind) creeps into your mind for sure, but it takes a level of insanity and a level of obsession to keep it going. I think I’m insane to say I’m still here.”
The Argos, in their first game against an East Division foe in 2018, stumbled through their first six outings, winning once and not since July 7 against Edmonton at BMO.
Quarterback James Franklin, in the absence of injured starter Ricky Ray, couldn’t execute, leaving Argos head coach Marc Trestman little choice but to turn to Bethelthompson against an Ottawa team that sits atop the East with a 4-2 record.
The Argos have lost three in a row, but all will be forgotten if Bethel-thompson, who has thrown two passes in the CFL for a total of 10 yards (both with Toronto last season), can muster enough to lead the Boatmen to success.
“Here is a young man who could not be more deserving than anybody to have a chance to play and to start for his football team,” Trestman said. “He is not a guy we brought in two weeks ago to play. He has the respect of every man, every player and every coach on this team. Everybody is pulling for him.”
Trouble for the defending Grey Cup-champion Argos, however, is that the inconsistencies haven’t been limited to the position of quarterback. The woes run the gamut of the roster, and if wins are going to start happening, there must be an improvement from each player who is active, not just the guy who is paid to move the offence down the field and score.
While injuries have had an impact, those types of challenges represent little different than anything other CFL teams have experienced and managed to endure.
“It really has been shooting ourselves in the foot,” said offensive lineman Chris Van Zeyl, a member of the Double Blue since 2008. “Penalties, (missed assignments), it has been a little bit of a comedy of errors, where if it’s not one guy one play, it’s another guy another play.
“It’s a culmination of everybody kind of taking their turns. I think you see little glimpses of how good we can be, but those drives usually have been marred with some error.
“We really need to play a clean game and when we do that, we can beat some of the best in the league.”
Said Trestman: “You never know what our record is by the way we work. What has to translate on the field is we have to take care of the football (and) play smarter football. We just haven’t been consistent with anything.”
Bethel-thompson wasn’t going to follow a strict routine in the hours leading up to the game, certainly not one marked by things he would not do otherwise. There’s preparing for, as he said, upward of 70 snaps, rather than the likelihood of taking none at all, but that’s it.
“I used to be very superstitious and then I was talking to a coach of my brother and he said that superstitions only limit you,” Bethelthompson said. “I accept what comes. I’m excited to go let it rip.”