RED, BLACK . . . AND GREY!
Ottawa wins overtime thriller after blowing big first-half lead in CFL title game,
Oh, how Henry Burris wanted this. He hated how Calgary once told him he was gone a year before it happened. He hated being called Bad Hank. It was like his entire 17-year career had come to this place, right here. He wanted it, all right.
Well, Hank showed them. He showed everybody. At 41, after having his knee mysteriously lock up in the pre-game warmup, all Henry Burris did was go out to play in a game he had lost twice in the past three years, against one of the great teams in CFL history, and deliver nothing short of the game of his life.
And he won. Smilin’ Hank was named most valuable player in a Grey Cup for the second time in his career after the Ottawa Redblacks beat Calgary 39-33 in overtime. “This was the one I wanted,” said Burris. He completed 35 of 46 passes for 461yards, three touchdowns and one interception; he ran in two more touchdowns on QB sneaks. It was the first 400-yard passing game in the Grey Cup in 20 years, since Danny McManus in 1996, and the fourth-highest passing yards in Grey Cup history. Combined with Bo Levi Mitchell’s 391passing yards, it was the most combined passing yards in the history of this game.
Ottawa had to earn it. The Calgary Stampeders are great, and refused to bow. Down 10 in the final two minutes, they scored, recovered an onside kick, and scored again. Overtime. On Ottawa’s first chance, Ernest Jackson caught a Burris pass after juggling it like a live fish for five yards, touchdown. Burris missed an open man on the two-point convert, though. Calgary’s turn.
Mitchell threw for the end zone, and it was knocked away. He missed a man short. Third and 10. The last ball, to Bakari Grant, was knocked up into the air, and one of the great upsets in league history was complete.
All week Calgary had walked with a strut, and for good reason. Since they lost the Grey Cup here in 2012 to Toronto, they’ve had the league’s best record or been tied for it each of the last four years. This season, Calgary lost one game this year with its starters playing. By two points. In June.
But quietly, the 8-9-1 Redblacks had an idea of how to topple the giant. One, keep Burris clean, because if Calgary’s roaring defensive line could get to him with four rushers he would make mistakes, and Calgary will turn mistakes into a 14-0 lead, real fast. If you could manage that, move the chains, nothing too risky, stay in the game, keep the ball away. They didn’t think Calgary’s secondary was exceptional, all-stars and all. Ottawa thought they could win.
And then before the game, Burris’s knee locked up. When Ottawa was introduced, he wasn’t there. Holy cow.
And then, just before the remaining non-chemtrail-flat-earth-all-lives-matter Tenors sang “O Canada,” Burris came running across the field, leaping and pumping his fist. The teams exchanged touchdowns, but Calgary replied fast and tied it, but things started to fall apart. Ottawa was getting nearer to Mitchell than most teams do. Calgary’s leading receiver, Marquay McDaniel, was ruled out in the second quarter with a shoulder injury. Calgary kicker Rene Paredes was penalized for objectionable conduct from the bench. Calgary lost one of their fumbles, and Ottawa recovered one of their own.
Mitchell was the least-sacked QB in the CFL this year, but due to injuries, left guard Ucambre Williams was playing just his fourth game of the year on Calgary’s offensive line. Mitchell threw two interceptions before halftime, and after the first possession of the second half, Ottawa led 27-7.
You could almost hear him: where’s Bad Hank now? One of the reasons Burris has bristled at that nickname for so long is that he grew up in an era where a lot of people thought black quarterbacks weren’t smart enough, and when he was a kid he used to plead with his coach: I love reading coverages, I love solving puzzles.
And then, when he made big mistakes, especially in big games, they’d call it Bad Hank. He’s hated it forever. Well, he was shoving.
And then, the freefall. Calgary scored 16 points in under nine minutes — field goal, touchdown, touchdown, missed extra point. Calgary missed the convert and with 13:35 left it was 27-23, and Ottawa was hanging on the ropes, waiting for a bell.
Hank got them a first down. And again. And again. And then he threw a ball right into the stomach of Calgary’s Ciante Evans. Bad Hank, people said. Bad Hank.
Ottawa got a stop, though, and here he came. Last year, Burris seemed tentative, like he was afraid of making the big mistake. Not this year. On secondand-12, Burris went: 22 yards to Juron Criner, five-yard dump-off to Kienan Lafrance, and a beautiful 38-yard out to Criner inside the 10. Two plays later, Burris plunged into the end zone. 33-23, Ottawa.
Mitchell chucked a third interception, but an Ottawa two-and-out meant Calgary got the ball back, and scored to pull within 33-30 with 1:38 left. On the onside kick, Ottawa’s Brad Sinopoli dropped it, and Calgary got the ball back. Defensive back Abdul Kennah had to make one of the great tackles in CFL history to force overtime. Ottawa should be glad he did.
After the forced, slightly depressed week that was, the CFL needed this to be a game. All those free tickets that swirled around Toronto like shreds of glitter in a snow globe landed, and BMO Field — a great football stadium, if you can over- look the too-short end zones, including the north end where it goes from grass to turf — was very close to full.
Well, they got themselves a game. And a champ.