Still work to be done
Ellingson not getting carried away with catch
OTTAWA Greg Ellingson let some air out of the tires on the Ottawa Redblacks Express on Monday.
It wasn’t that the 26-year-old receiver was not willing to re-tell his part in the 93-yard pass-andrun touchdown play that lifted the Redblacks to a 35-28 victory against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the CFL’s East Division Final on Sunday, but rather that he was reminding everyone there was work yet to be done.
“It really doesn’t mean much if we don’t get the win in Winnipeg and bring back the Grey Cup,” Ellingson said Monday morning after the Redblacks met to discuss logistics for CFL championship week in Manitoba.
“If we get the win this weekend and get the Grey Cup, then (the game-winning TD against the Ticats) is going to be a huge deal. If we don’t, I don’t think it’s going to mean as much.”
For many of a certain age, the pass that Ellingson caught from quarterback Henry Burris near midfield before eluding two Ticats defenders and racing another 57 yards to the end-zone evoked memories of a 104-yard pass-andrun play from Rough Riders QB J.C. Watts to Pat Stoqua that won the 1981 East final in Hamilton and the hallowed Tom Clements-to-Tony-Gabriel touchdown pass that won the 1976 Grey Cup game over the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
“I won’t say ‘destiny,’ ” Ellingson said about Redblacks hopes for a title after just two CFL seasons and one year after they finished last overall at 2-16. “I just know that we believe in ourselves and we believe that we can get the job done.”
Burris, 40, waxed poetic about the Redblacks’ Grey Cup opponents, particularly the Edmonton Eskimos defence he’ll face next Sunday at Winnipeg’s Investors Group Field and “mad scientist” Chris Jones, their head coach and defensive co-ordinator.
He also apologized to Redblacks fans “for all the heart attacks we might have caused, and palpitations and everything, but I guess that’s what it is like when you’re playing a big game in a big situation.
“It seemed like we were battling against a great Hamilton TigerCats team and also against all the frustrations of the past here in Ottawa. But, once Greg made that catch, it felt like the bubble burst.”
That the Eskimos will be the opponents in their franchise’s first Grey Cup game means different things to different Redblacks.
Linebacker Damaso Munoz said he couldn’t deny special motivation attached to a championship game against the team he left under less than amicable circumstances as a free agent following the 2013 season. On the other hand, the best thing he could do for the Redblacks would be to maintain his composure and do his part to lead his current teammates to victory.
“It feels like a dream,” said Munoz, who in October tweeted a request to Winnipeg stadium staff not to change the Wi-Fi password because the Redblacks planned to return for the Grey Cup game.