LOCAL TALENT IN GREY CUP
Rookie Bomber Desjarlais to start in CFL finale
Essex native Brandon Revenberg and Belle River’s Drew Desjarlais play the same position and will be chasing the same prize on Sunday.
A four-year veteran, the 26-year-old Revenberg will be at left guard for the Hamilton Tiger-cats on Sunday in the 107th Grey Cup in Calgary against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, who will have 22-yearold rookie Drew Desjarlais starting at left guard.
“I didn’t really know him when I was playing back home,” said Revenberg, who is an Essex high school product. “I finished high school before he got to high school.”
Revenberg went on to become a two-time Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference all-star as well as an academic all-conference pick at Grand Valley State University.
Hamilton made him the third pick overall in the 2016 Canadian Football League Draft and the six-foot-four, 301-pound Revenberg has been an Eastern Conference all-star the past two seasons.
“I don’t think we’ve really met, but it’s funny because we were running scout drills and I was saying, ‘I’m Brandon Revenberg,’ ” Desjarlais said.
“I was doing all his pulls and plays.”
A University of Windsor Lancers product, the six-foot-two, 313-pounder rose up the chart before May’s CFL Draft when the Blue Bombers took him fourth overall.
“I love seeing Windsor guys have success,” said Revenberg, who also mentioned Dakoda Shepley, the fifth overall pick in the 2018 CFL Draft by Saskatchewan. “There are a bunch of great linemen.”
Desjarlais, who was the highest selection ever from the Lancers, moved into the starting lineup midway through the season after an injury to Cody Speller, who has since moved to centre due to an injury to Michael Couture.
“(Right guard) Patrick Neufeld told me how lucky I am,” Desjarlais said of playing in the
Grey Cup as a rookie. “It doesn’t always happen this way. I’m just soaking it all in right now.”
Neither team has won a Grey Cup this century. Hamilton hasn’t been to the final since 2014 and hasn’t won since 1999. Meanwhile, this is Winnipeg’s first trip to the final since 2011, and the Blue Bombers haven’t won a Grey Cup since 1990.
“I think the nickname for it is the Drought Bowl,” said Revenberg, who was a CFL all-star in 2018. “We have one purpose and one goal.”
Hamilton has been the cream of the CFL crop all season, compiling a league best 15-3 record before rolling into the final with a 36-16 win over Edmonton.
“As soon as I stepped off that plane in Calgary, I got that feeling it was a big deal,” Revenberg said. “The team mentality for us is always the next game is the biggest. It’s been a day-by-day progression.
“At the end of the day, this was the end goal, but we got here by taking it game by game and team by team.”
The ride has been much wilder for the Blue Bombers, who finished third in the West Division. They took out Calgary in the first round and then watched a potential game-tying touchdown pass hit the upright in Saskatchewan to preserve the win and send them to the Grey Cup.
“Last week had the emotions,” said Desjarlais, who is a Belle River high school grad and Essex Ravens product. “It was crazy over the last three minutes. I didn’t even want to look onto the field. That was really something else to see the whole team’s excitement as that ball hit the crossbar.”