Milo won’t be sitting at home this Sunday
Chris Milo has gone from the couch to the Cup.
The 29-year-old Montreal product was unemployed after being released by the Saskatchewan Roughriders on July 6. On Aug. 1, Milo signed with the Ottawa Redblacks — and, on Sunday, they’ll play for the Grey Cup.
“Things took a turn for the worse in Regina after Week 1, so I was sitting on my couch watching guys play football for a few weeks and wondering if I’d ever be able to take the field again,” Milo said Monday. “Sure enough, Ottawa reached out to me and we reached an agreement.
“Ever since then, things have gone a whole lot better for me. I definitely took advantage of the opportunity.”
Milo handled the Roughriders’ kicking duties for four seasons and was set to do the same in 2015. However, he was “deactivated” by then-head coach Corey Chamblin after just one regular-season game and replaced by Paul McCallum.
Shortly thereafter, Milo was cut by the Roughriders. About a month after the punter-kicker found employment, Chamblin was fired by Saskatchewan after an 0-9 start.
Milo isn’t one to gloat about the turn of events. He remains grateful for the chance the Roughriders gave him and for the way he was treated by the coaches, management and fans in Regina.
In his mind, everything happens for a reason — and right now, his destiny is to help the Redblacks try to win their first Grey Cup.
“There comes a time when you have to move on,” Milo said of leaving Regina. “(Football) is a business and that’s life. I’m really happy where I am right now. I’m in a good place and the people around me are awesome.
“We’re going to do everything we can to make those people proud on Sunday and hopefully we can bring the Cup back with us from Winnipeg.”
The Redblacks will face the Edmonton Eskimos in the CFL final Sunday in the Manitoba capital.
After joining the Redblacks, Milo was good on 31 of 34 field-goal attempts (a career-best 91.2 percentage) and 32 of 37 convert tries in the regular season.
On Sunday, he was four-for-four on field-goal attempts and three-for-three on convert tries as Ottawa beat the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 3528 in a thrilling East Division final.
Hamilton appeared to be in good position to win the game, considering that the Redblacks — operating into a stiff wind — were facing a second-and-25 in their own end with less than two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
But Ottawa converted in a big way, as quarterback Henry Burris hit Greg Ellingson for a 93-yard pass-and-run touchdown. Milo’s convert with 1:11 left completed the scoring.
“If that (TD) doesn’t happen, I’m punting into the wind and giving (Hamilton’s Justin) Medlock — who’s one of the best kickers in the league — a chance to kick a field goal to win the game,” Milo said. “That’s just the way the cards played out. We were meant to be in this Cup and here we go.
“When I was at home watching them play, I was kind of hoping that I’d be able to be a part of this,” Milo said. “You could see it on TV, the way they were on the sidelines during games. They’re calm, cool and collected. There was something special about this organization and about this team.
“Obviously, we only have one more week together as a group — you never know what’s going to happen after that — but we want to take advantage of this and win for each other. That’s what we’ve been doing all year.”