Avenge loss to Ticats, roster gets new look
The line that athletes in any pro sport repeatedly throw out is that it’s a great game but a terrible business.
T.J. Heath will tell you it’s more than just a line.
Fresh off the field from a two-interception performance in a 33-21 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, after playing key part in snapping his team’s four-game losing streak, Heath found out he’d been traded to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
Heath didn’t know the specifics right away. At first, as he walked through the room in shock, yelling increasingly louder that he’d been traded, his teammates didn’t believe him. The post-win celebratory music pumped through the speakers and Heath yelled over it until it stopped. He’d been traded to Winnipeg, he told the room.
His teammates started to gather around him. They asked who he’d been traded for.
Heath stared back in disbelief at them and yelled that he didn’t know.
He was dealt to the Bombers for quarterback Drew Willy. Argos GM Jim Barker also sent the Bombers a first-round pick in the 2017 CFL Canadian draft and a third-round pick in 2018. The move gives the Argos some depth at quarterback in the wake of Ricky Ray’s rib and lung injury that could have him sidelined anywhere from three to five more weeks.
The Bombers were busy Sunday, as they also picked up quarterback Kevin Glenn from Montreal for a 2017 fourth-round pick.
Willy, 29, lost his starting job in Winnipeg this season to Matt Nichols. He’s played in five games this year and made 137-of-191 passes for 1,473 yards, five touchdowns and four interceptions.
He’ll arrive in Toronto and could put coach Scott Milanovich in a difficult position, because the last quarterback that joined the Argos played lights out for him on Sunday.
Dan LeFevour was signed to the team’s practice roster Aug. 8. Just over a month after joining the team, and as Milanovich explained after the game before news of the trade broke, LeFevour hadn’t taken a rep with the first-team offence until this past week.
He made 27-of-36 passes for 329 yards, a touchdown and had two interceptions. He also ran 10 times for 39 yards in his first CFL start in over two years.
“Dan, they said, he’s got some gamer in him,” Milanovich said, adding that he and offensive co-ordinator Marcus Brady worked closely with LeFevour to craft their playbook to his game. LeFevour’s mobility added a dimension to the offence that’s been missing all season.
“I wanted him to be a part of it because I don’t know him that well,” Milanovich said. “I watched a cutup of all the plays he’s had in the CFL to see what he’s good at.”
His confidence shining through after the game, LeFevour spoke while Heath was likely getting the news he was on the move. The quarterback was asked if he surprised himself with his game.
“No . . . I might be the only one that’s not surprised,” he said. “I’ve been throwing since I’ve been here. I’ve been studying like I’m the starter since I got here.”
He led the offence to a touchdown on his first drive, shook off two firsthalf interceptions that let Hamilton back into the game, then helped erase a 20-16 halftime deficit, putting the Argos up by 13 in the third quarter. The Argos’ defence made Zach Collaros’s night miserable and special teams came up big with a blocked punt to help set up a third-quarter touchdown.
A party a month in the making was finally unfolding in the locker room when Heath got the news. He pulled in his fifth-interception, helped his team win and was traded. On his birthday. He turned 29 on Sunday.
In a blessing from the scheduling gods, the Argos travel to Winnipeg on Saturday to face a red-hot Bombers team that’s won six games in a row.