PLEASED TO MEET YOU AGAIN
When the Redblacks reappeared on the CFL scene in 2014, they poached key parts of their coaching staff and their core from the Stampeders. Now, not only does coach Rick Campbell get to face the franchise he modelled his program after, he has a chance to b
1. HANK’S LEGACY
Smilin’ Hank has already indicated he’ll return for the 2017 campaign, his 18th as a CFLer and 21st as a professional. This Grey Cup isn’t a swan song for Henry Burris, pictured. But it sure is a chance to put an exclamation point on an amazing career and add a third Grey Cup ring to a resume littered with passing records, impressive longevity and durability, as well as a personality that has touched many since the Spiro, Okla., product arrived north of the border with the Stampeders in 1997. Doing it against the franchise that gave him his start and then kicked him to the curb in 2012 when then GM/head coach John Hufnagel traded him east to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, handing the controls to an unproven Drew Tate, is just a bonus. Win or lose, Burris will go down as one of the top quarterbacks ever to play the three-down game. Pulling off one of the biggest upsets in Grey Cup history would help him erase a reputation for wilting in big games and cement his status among the CFL’s greats.
2. BO LEVI’S ASCENSION
At the age of 24, Bo Levi Mitchell won his first Grey Cup in Vancouver, taking home MVP honours in the 20-16 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the process. At the age of 25, Mitchell earned his first Most Outstanding Player nominee nod, losing out to the man he’ll oppose in this year’s Grey Cup, Burris, for the title as best player in the CFL. At the age of 26, Mitchell could get all of it — and he’s in really good position to do so. When leaguewide awards are handed out Thursday night at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Mitchell will win his first MOP trophy. With two more seasons left on a team-friendly contract, Mitchell is the clear face of the CFL these days, something the league has been desperately searching for, and his resume is starting to back it up.
3. WIN IT FOR MYLAN
Numerous lives were changed forever when young Stampeders defensive back Mylan Hicks, 23, was gunned down outside a Calgary nightclub in the early morning hours of Sept. 25 following a home win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Hicks’ death had, and will continue to have, a profound impact on teammates who were with him that night, as well as the franchise as a whole. The Detroit native’s family will be an inspiration in the BMO Field stands on Sunday. Hicks did not suit up for a game during his rookie season, but if the Stamps can complete their championship journey, they need to find a way to get his name on the Grey Cup as the ultimate tribute.
4. SECOND TIME A CHARM?
The Redblacks’ journey to the Grey Cup last season was fun, enthralling and something most never thought possible until it actually happened. In just their second season back in the CFL, this incarnation of the Ottawa Football Club was the underdog story, one with an aging quarterback experiencing a renaissance. In Winnipeg, the Redblacks collided with a juggernaut Edmonton Eskimos team with a great defence, a quarterback in Mike Reilly with something to prove and a head coach who would become the hottest commodity in the CFL about a week later. So what do the Redblacks get one year later? Another juggernaut, another top quarterback and another hot head coaching commodity in Dave Dickenson — one, who unlike Chris Jones, isn’t going anywhere and who has proven this season why teams were so eager to talk to him about their vacant head coaching jobs a couple of years ago. 5. HOW MUCH WILL TORONTO CARE? The CFL needs Toronto much, much more than the 6ix needs three-down football. That’s no secret. The league desperately wants to make its product work in this country’s largest market, something that would go a long way for the reputation of the CFL and enhance the league’s ability to legitimize the brand and change the optics of the way the sport is viewed for future generations of fans. Ticket sales were crawling before decisionmakers admitted their mistake, dropped prices and kick-started a secondary marketing blitz about a month ago. Selling out the Grey Cup — roughly 35,000 at an expanded BMO — in the biggest city in the country shouldn’t be a problem, but football in Toronto is an afterthought thanks to years of inattention. They will find a way to pack the place Sunday, but the real question — and what matters most — is will the city care in the days leading up to the game?