Eskimos QB aims to make a statement, on and off field
Mike Reilly stays focused on football, even when he’s having fun with fashion
Mike Reilly’s statements aren’t limited to his comments to the media.
The Edmonton Eskimos quarterback also makes fashion statements — often dressing up for pre-game road media availabilities in bow ties, vests and funky hats ranging from fedoras to bowlers to roadster caps.
Reilly’s sense of fashion is so keen that the CFL’s Eskimos added a “#MikeReillyHatWatch2017” hashtag to the team’s Twitter account.
“It’s like all or nothing for me,” Reilly said from Edmonton. “I’m not a jeans and T-shirt kind of guy. I’m either doing football and I’m wearing sweats or I’m travelling on the road and it’s the one time where I can’t wear sweats. So I go to the other extreme.
“I like to have fun with it and enjoy it. What other profession can a guy wear a crazy hat? I’m going to take advantage of it.”
When it comes to football, Reilly is all business. Although he may be dressed to the nines to meet the media on Friday, Reilly’s thoughts will be on Saturday’s regular-season finale against the host Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Playoff positioning is on the line for both teams. The Eskimos (11-60) could finish as high as second in the West Division if the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (11-6-0) lose Friday night to the Calgary Stampeders (13-3-1) and Edmonton beats the Riders (10-7-0) the following day.
A Riders win would clinch third place for the Green and White and ensure they would remain in the West Division for the post-season. The fourth-place team would then cross over to the East Division and play either the Toronto Argonauts or Ottawa Redblacks.
Saturday’s game marks the first time Saskatchewan and Edmonton have met since the Riders thumped the host Eskimos 54-31 on Aug. 25. The Riders handed Edmonton its first home loss of the season while limiting Reilly to a season-low 160 passing yards and intercepting two passes.
“I don’t need any extra motivation,” Reilly said. “It’s the last game of the regular season; we’re going into the playoffs, and I have plenty of other things that excite me about the game. We could be playing any other team in the league and there are plenty of other reasons why you want to play well in the last game of the regular season.”
The Riders and Eskimos both enter Saturday’s game on winning streaks. Edmonton has won four consecutive games and the Riders have won their last two.
“I’m excited to get another opportunity because Saskatchewan is a very good football team and I like playing against very good football teams,” Reilly said.
“I like challenging things when it comes this game. I don’t like playing in games where you could have a bad performance as a team and still win. I want to feel that I had to earn it and I had to play well.”
Reilly poses his own set of challenges, with which Riders defensive tackle Eddie Steele is familiar. Steele spent four seasons with the Eskimos before signing with the Riders as a free agent during the off-season.
“He’s still known for his toughness,” Steele said. “He’ll sell his body out to make a throw or score a touchdown on the run. He’s the ultimate competitor and there isn’t any quit in him. He’s a gunslinger at quarterback, yet he’s mobile enough to make almost any play with his legs. Mike is really tough to stop.”
Reilly’s showing against the Riders was an anomaly, at least based on his production this season. He leads the CFL in passing yardage (5,536), average yards per pass (8.8) and touchdowns (30). He’s just 127 yards shy of the Eskimos’ single-season passing record of 5,663, set by Ricky Ray in 2008.
The 33-year-old Reilly, who on Wednesday was nominated as Edmonton’s most outstanding player, has excelled with an Edmonton team decimated by injuries throughout the 2017 season.
“I’m a lot more familiar with our offensive system because this is my fourth year in it,” Reilly said. “That makes it a little less damaging when you do have the amount of injuries that we had.”
I don’t like playing in games where you could have a bad performance as a team and still win. I want to feel that I had to earn it and I had to play well.