Willis game for anything
EDMONTON — Odell Willis is the guru of the virtual gridiron when it comes to the real-world Canadian Football League.
And anyone who would like to dispute his title better be prepared to put their money where their mouth is.
The Edmonton Eskimos’ defensive end makes no secret of his love for the wildly popular Madden NFL football series, and routinely takes on all comers in online competition, including fellow CFL players from across the league.
But one thing’s always bothered him. “Why do you have to play
Madden, why can’t you play Canadian football? It’s all the same thing,” Willis said. “I mean, they’ve even made other crazier football games besides that, why not give us a chance?”
It’s almost impossible to compare the Canadian market to the economic juggernaut down south, and costs have always been prohibitive in the development process alone. But with today’s technology, online markets and countless indie video game art houses, it’s only a matter of time. Canadian Football 2017 dropped on Wednesday morning on Xbox Live and Steam, showcasing the three-down circuit, but because it doesn’t have the backing of the league, team names, stadiums and players are different. “I think about a lot of stuff. It’s out of my control, but I wish the league would at least look into it,” Willis said. “But they’re doing what they can to help promote us, I guess, and I feel like they’re happy where we’re at. I’m pretty sure they have plans to do other things, but at the same time, you can only just wait to see what they do. “You can only take that idea to them and from there, it’s up to them what they want to do with it, how they want to spend the money. At the end of the day, all of it is about money and who can make a buck off what.” Willis has been playing Madden “since I was old enough to play it,” he said. “My older brother had all the video games. I always just played against my friends and stuff.” Now the eight-year CFL veteran finds himself part of an inner circle of pro-football players across the country who get involved in online competition from time to time. “We do, but I typically stick to myself,” Willis said. “When I play guys, I either want to bet for money or something. I don’t want to play just for fun, just so you can be talking. I don’t want to do what the other guys do, I want it to actually mean something. So if I play you and you lose a couple hundred dollars to me, then we’re going to see how you take it compared to you beating me and just constantly nagging me about it all day. Nag me and then lose $200, then we’ll talk.”
In football’s virtual realm, beating Willis certainly comes with bragging rights, side bet or no.
“I feel like my rank speaks for itself,” said Willis, 32. “So I don’t need too much arguing with guys about that, because if you want to, let’s just put money on it and call it a day. I’m not going to sit here and argue like a big kid about me being better than you and sitting there talking trash. Let’s put money on it and see who wins.”
Against thousands upon thousands who compete online, Willis consistently rises to the upper echelon of the online leaderboards with each annual release of
Madden titles. “I always break 100 every year,” he said. “And once I break it, I just stop playing until the next one comes out. I have proof of mine, so I don’t worry too much about people talking about video games. I’m an older guy now, so I don’t do all the talking anymore.”
For Willis, a CFL video game would be the tip of the iceberg.
“I just never know why it hasn’t ever happened,” Willis said. “I mean, a lot of stuff in this league I wonder why we don’t have the same things as the NFL when we’ve been around way longer than the NFL. I remember reading some of the history where I saw Rocket (Raghib) Ismail signed a four-year, $18-million deal, so why can’t we get the same endorsement deals as the NFL? Some things are out of my hands, I just play the game and enjoy it and, hopefully, in the next 20 years or so, the league will just evolve.”