Nobody knows the CFL game better than its participants. Grey Cup week is the one time of year all of the best players are in town at the same time. Rivalries are put to the side as players congregate with and congratulate each other as like-minded members of the CFL brotherhood.
So instead of prognosticating about Sunday’s big game ourselves, we decided to pick the brains of the men with intimate knowledge, catching up with the some of the game’s best and brightest to weigh in on the 104th Grey Cup and their opinions about the league.
Sportsnet: What makes Bo Levi Mitchell so good?
Brandon Banks (Hamilton Tiger-Cats): He’s so consistent. He makes others guys good on his team. He’s had plenty of new receivers this year and they just stepped right in. He’s a leader on and off the field.
Josh Bourke (Toronto Argonauts): He just has a confidence that is unshakeable. He doesn’t make a lot of mistakes so he doesn’t have much reason not to be confident but he just makes it look easy. He’s just got it man. He’s a stud.
John Bowman (Montreal Alouettes): I think he’s one of the most cerebral quarterbacks in the league. I know when we play him he makes fast decisions and gets the ball out of his hands quick. He audibles, it’s like he sees the defence coming and he’s not afraid to trust everybody on his team. He doesn’t have one individual player he goes to.
Solomon Elimimian (B.C. Lions): They’ve done a good job of running a good system around him. Not to say he’s a system quarterback because he’s not. Bo is very cerebral. He knows where all his receivers are, he’s seen so many defences. And the big thing with Bo is the offensive line does a great job of keeping him upright in the pocket.
Andy Fantuz (Hamilton Tiger-Cats): As he’s grown his understanding of the game is remarkable. He just seems to make every throw look easy and every read look easy. You have to give credit to Dave Dickenson. They’ve got chemistry. When you have a play-caller and quarterback on the same page they are going to pick you apart and continue to not give the game away and beat themselves.
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Sportsnet: What is the legacy of Henry Burris?
Banks: He’s definitely going to be one of the greatest of all time. He’s the ultimate leader, ultimate warrior. A guy that’s doing it at his age is just motivation for everybody else. Whatever teams he’s on he’s made it to the Grey Cup. When he leaves he’s definitely going to be a legend.
Bourke: He’s won championships before and I think he wants to win one more to cement his legacy – if you play in a league for that long that’s pretty impressive.
Bowman: The bad thing is he’s always going to be known as ‘good Hank, bad Hank’ and that sucks for him because he’s done some tremendous things in the league. He’s been the [MOP], he’s 41 and he’s still playing like he’s in his mid-30s. Hopefully things will turn around for him legacy-wise and people will enjoy the time he’s had in this game.
Elimimian: He’s the ultimate competitor. He’s won Grey Cups. He’s won MOPs and he’s faced adversity. He’s been in situations that [were] probably not the best for him but he’s come back and he’s leading this team in the Grey Cup. He’s a winner. He’s won everywhere he’s been at and he’s just a good all-around person. If you have the chance to talk to Hank he’ll ask how your family is doing. He’s one of the good guys in the CFL.
Fantuz: He’s a competitor. He’s so much fun and he’s always smiling. So his legacy I think is smiling, adversity and [being a] competitor. He’s always smiling, he always has press coming at him in different ways but he always performs in big games.
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Sportsnet: If I made you commissioner for one day what rule would you change?
Banks: Probably the challenges. Even though I’m on the offensive side, I don’t like how it’s to the point where you can almost challenge any type of play.
Bourke: No such thing as offensive line holding. No just kidding. I don’t like challenging all these [pass interferences]. I know you want to get it right but it slows down the game. I think human error is part of the game. Challenging PI on offence or defence; I don’t want to see it.
Bowman: I would emphasize holding. Not just because I’m a defensive linemen. The defence gets the worst end of it. We get roughing the passer if we just touch the quarterback. We need a little help in my opinion.
Elimimian: I would increase the salary cap. That would make a lot of people happy.
Fantuz: I’m immediately revising the pass interference stuff and all the challenges. To me it’s a joke both in the CFL and NFL. I just keep seeing things that don’t make sense and they somehow justify it because of the rulebook. I feel like the refs or whoever is reviewing it needs to have some common sense. You could call holding or pass interference on every play if you get down to the technicality of it. You got to understand what is a football play, what mattered and stop giving games away because of it.
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Sportsnet: Who is the most underrated player in the league?
Banks: Stefan Logan. He’s pretty good. He gets a lot of things called back and his team doesn’t win as much but he still racks up a lot of yards. It’s tough going up against me as I get more of the popularity vote but definitely he’s underrated. He’s played well the last two years especially at his age still people need to keep a close look at him.
Elimimian: Bryan Burnham. He’s one of the top receivers. On Ottawa I would say Greg Ellingson. He’s over 1,000 yards. You hear of Ernest Jackson and Chris Williams but when you watch film you know he’s a really good player.
Fantuz: Luke Tasker. He’s one of the best in the league and doesn’t get talked about a lot.
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Sportsnet: In the event they win the Grey Cup, should the 2016 Calgary Stampeders be considered the best team of all-time?
Banks: That’s the best I’ve scene. They win 15 games a year.
Bourke: I played on some great teams in Montreal but they’ve been dominant on both sides of the ball all year. As much as I don’t want to say they are one of the best teams, but they are.
Bowman: No, not at all. I was apart of a team in 2009 that had one of the best offences in league history and one of the best defences in league history. But nobody talks about us.
Elimimian: I would say for sure you have to put them in that conversation. The record they had was tremendous. We beat them one time and the other loss they had their quarterback wasn’t playing. Not to say there’s an asterisk but you have to take that under consideration.
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Sportsnet: Who is going to win the 104th Grey Cup?
Banks: I’m an underdog guy. I want Ottawa to win but if I had to put my money on it I’ll have to go with Calgary because they’re just so consistent. I’m going to ride with the East because I’m in the East side but if I had to put my money on it, it would be Calgary.
Bourke: I really want to say Ottawa because nobody is giving them much of a chance but I got to go Calgary. They’re too much on offence. With Bo Levi Mitchell and all those receivers, they’ll just put up a ton of points and I don’t think Ottawa will keep up. They’ll keep up for a little while maybe in the first half but I think Calgary will pull away in the second half.
Elimimian: That’s a tough question. The easy choice is Calgary but the offence of Ottawa has so many weapons. Ernest Jackson is one of the best players I’ve played against. They obviously don’t have Chris Williams. Greg Ellingson is another great receiver. They have some good weapons on that offence. With those offensive threats I don’t think it’s going to be a decisive win for Calgary like everybody thinks.
Fantuz: I got Calgary. I think they’re too strong across the board. I think Ottawa is going to have some tricks and put up some points and I think their defence will play well, but ultimately I think special teams and the grind of the fourth quarter will determine the game.
