Veteran QB Glenn rolls past 300 games B2
Veteran quarterback doing what he can to help Reilly and Eskimos on game day
It’s 300 CFL games and counting for Kevin Glenn.
The Edmonton Eskimos backup quarterback reached that milestone in Saturday’s 30-3 loss to the visiting Winnipeg Blue Bombers. The former Saskatchewan Roughriders pivot is third on the CFL’S all-time list of games dressed by a quarterback, behind Damon Allen (370) and Anthony Calvillo (329) and ahead of Danny Mcmanus (298) and Ron Lancaster (288).
“That was really cool,” Glenn said recently from Edmonton. “To be one of three quarterbacks in league history to dress for 300 games is big. When your name is mentioned in those kinds of conversations, it means you’re leaving a good legacy behind. As long as the CFL continues, my name will be spoke of in those kind of conversations and that’s good.”
Glenn can add another game to that list when the Riders play host to the Eskimos on Thanksgiving Day Monday. Beginning in 2001, Glenn spent the first three years of his CFL career with Saskatchewan. His other stints with the Riders were in 2015 and 2017.
“I don’t know if it will be my last game (at Mosaic Stadium) or if there will be any more so I don’t look at the game as being more significant,” Glenn said. “It’s significant because I’m coming back to Saskatchewan for the first since I left (after the 2017 season). It’s still just another game and we will give our thanks to be able to play in that game on a significant day.”
Glenn has also played for the Bombers (2004-08, 2016), Hamilton Tiger-cats (2009-2011), Calgary Stampeders (2012-13), B.C. Lions (2014) and Montreal Alouettes (2015-2016). The Toronto Argonauts (2004) and Ottawa Redblacks (2014) held Glenn’s rights, but he didn’t play for either team.
He spent the 2017 season with the Riders, starting 17 games while throwing for 4,038 yards (the fourth-highest total of his career) and 25 touchdowns against 14 interceptions.
The Riders released Glenn on Jan. 4, the day after the team traded the 10th overall pick in the 2018 CFL draft to Hamilton for quarterback Zach Collaros.
Glenn agreed to a one-year deal with the Eskimos on Jan. 15. He signed knowing he would be an insurance policy for Mike Reilly, who had been named the CFL’S Most Outstanding Player in 2017.
Reilly rarely misses a down, and Glenn hasn’t played in any of Edmonton’s 14 regular season contests this season. The role has been a little different for Glenn and that scenario isn’t expected to change Monday.
“I’ve seen a lot of football in the league as far as my experience goes and this is the kind of thing that would take a toll on a different type of person,” Glenn said.
“My character is I’m here to help in any way that I can. I help in watching film, offering my advice on things we are doing and being a sounding board for everyone in the room because of my experience.”
Glenn doesn’t perceive himself as a virtual coach in the quarterbacks’ room.
“I’m still a player and I take my repetitions in practice and all of that kind of stuff,” said the 39-year-old Glenn. “I’m just a player who has been in the league for 300 games and has seen a lot of football. That experience means that I’m able to have those conversations with coaches and players about what is going on.” That includes Reilly. “Mike and I talk a lot and that’s what it means to be a backup quarterback with a lot of experience in this league. You help out in other ways,” Glenn said. “There are things that I can see on the sideline and with the ipad that I can help him with when he comes off the field. We talk about us as a team and about trying to get back on track after the performance of the offence this past game.”
How long Glenn will continue suiting up remains to be seen.
“They are going to have to kick me out of the league and every team will have to say that they don’t want me and that’s when my tour will be over,” Glenn said. “We’ll just have to see.”
They are going to have to kick me out of the league and every team will have to say that they don’t want me and that’s when my tour will be over.