O’Shea humbled to be handed hall pass
Linebacker won three Grey Cups with Argos, began career with Tiger-Cats
WINNIPEG— Mike O’Shea would have rather been preparing for a game Tuesday than talking about himself.
But with his Winnipeg Blue Bombers on a bye week and the Canadian Football Hall of Fame poised to welcome him later this week, O’Shea had no choice but to suck it up.
“This is not enjoyable,” the 46-yearold Blue Bombers head coach told a conference call. “Playing football was extremely enjoyable, coaching is extremely enjoyable.
“The rest of it is, you know, not at the top of my list.”
O’Shea will be enshrined Thursday in Hamilton, joining running back Kelvin Anderson, quarterback Anthony Calvillo and receiver Geroy Simon in the player category.
Former Calgary Stampeders president Stan Schwartz and longtime Saskatchewan Huskies coach Brian Towriss will be inducted as builders.
Despite his discomfort, O’Shea called the honour “pretty neat.”
“Given the history of the league and what I believe the CFL means to Canada, it’s more than humbling,” said the North Bay, Ont., native. “I think it’s pretty cool because I genuinely love this league and country and to be part of this and of this history is pretty special.”
The six-foot-three, 228-pound linebacker left his mark on the league, capturing top rookie honours in 1993 with Hamilton and later winning three Grey Cups with Toronto (1996-97, 2004) as a player and another as an assistant coach (2012).
O’Shea was named the CFL’s top Canadian in 1999 and holds the league record for most regular-season games played by a defensive player (271).
O’Shea finished his career with the second-most games played as an Argo with 205 and in 2015 was named to the franchise’s all-time team. But his CFL tenure began inauspiciously as moments after the Edmonton Eskimos selected O’Shea fourth overall in the 1993 CFL draft, they dealt him as part of package to Hamilton for quarterback Damon Allen.
Allen led Edmonton to the ’93 Grey Cup title while O’Shea was able to embark on his illustrious pro career much closer to home.
“There’s not even a split second where you can think, ‘Oh Edmonton drafted me, awesome. I can’t wait to play in Edmonton,’ and then all of a sudden you’re in Hamilton,” O’Shea said. “The opportunity is unbelievable, you’re just so grateful for it.”
O’Shea played three seasons with Hamilton before signing with the Detroit Lions. After being released by the NFL club, O’Shea went to Toronto instead of returning to the Ticats.
“The conversations with Hamilton at that time kind of went off the rails,” O’Shea said. “To this day I believe if somebody can play their entire career with one team, that’s pretty special.”
Toronto traded O’Shea back to Hamilton in 2000 but he re-signed with the Argos the following season and helped them capture the Grey Cup in 2004.
Four years later, Toronto released O’Shea. The club wanted the star linebacker to retire, but O’Shea wasn’t interested.
“If you retire you don’t have the option of going anywhere else,” he said.
Despite never playing again, O’Shea has never formally signed retirement papers.
“I don’t know that any player needs to retire,” he said. “There’s certain situations, I’m sure, each player goes through (but) the majority of us just get cut.”
O’Shea joined the coach ranks in 2010 as Toronto’s special teams coach; he was hired by the Bombers in 2013.
“I enjoy coming to work every single day, it’s a lot of fun,” he said.