Argos celebrate improbable win

The Argonauts celebrated their Grey Cup victory with a rally Tuesday at Toronto’s Nathan Phillips Square.

Veteran quarterback Ricky Ray carried the Cup through a crowd of cheering fans, many of whom clamoured to get a photo of the iconic trophy.

The 36-year-old Ray, who won a CFL-record fourth Grey Cup as a starting quarterback, hasn’t determined his football future, but he was treated to chants of “one more year” by fans and teammates while addressing the rally.

“Only one? Why not two, huh?” Ray replied to cheers.

After missing the playoffs in 2016 Argos were not expected to be here at the start of the season, but they completed a remarkable worst-to-first turnaround with a 27-24 comeback victory over the Calgary Stampeders in Ottawa on a snowy Sunday night, capturing the franchise’s CFL-leading 17th Grey Cup championship.

General manager Jim Popp, who was brought in along with head coach Marc Trestman in the off-season to help turn the franchise around, said winning the Grey Cup was “no fluke” in spite of low expectations heading into the campaign.

“We had the best record down the stretch,” Popp told the crowd. “We beat four straight Western teams. We beat everybody in the league.

“It takes a little luck, but I’m going to tell you, the belief in the room is why we won.”

Toronto finished the regular season with a pedestrian 9-9 mark, but it was still good enough for first place in the weak East Division.

The Argonauts had a firstround bye before dispatching the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the division final and then topping the favoured Stampeders to win the Grey Cup.