HAMILTON – Davis Alexander was honest, but not flexible.
After the Montreal Alouettes’ never-lose quarterback clutched his nagging hamstring and hobbled to the sideline with his team about to punt midway through the fourth quarter of the CFL East final, he told his coach there was an issue.
That doesn’t mean he was willing to accept whatever Jason Maas decided next, however.
“I told Maas right away that I might have tweaked it a little bit,” said Alexander, whose team was leading 16-13 at the time. “I think he said he was going to get (backup QB) McLeod (Bethel-Thompson) ready and I just said there’s no way you’re taking me out of the game.”
When Alexander starts a game, after all, he wins. He’s now 13-0 as a starter to begin his CFL career, easily a league record, after toughing it out for another dramatic victory Saturday. The native of Gig Harbor, Wash. led the Alouettes on a game-winning drive that ended with Jose Maltos Diaz’s walk-off, 45-yard field goal for a 19-16 triumph over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
The same bothersome hamstring limited him to seven games this year, less than half the season. But Alexander, 27, returned to guide the Als to five wins in a row after the team’s 5-7 start, locking up second place in the East for a team that used four different starting quarterbacks this season. He has followed that up with a pair of playoff triumphs, giving Montreal a chance to win its second Grey Cup in three years next week in Winnipeg.
Two years ago, veteran QB Cody Fajardo was the Grey Cup MVP for Maas’ Als at this same Hamilton Stadium. But with Fajardo hurt during the 2024 season, Alexander went 4-0. And in the off-season, the Als determined Alexander was their man, shipping Fajardo to Edmonton.
“They decided to go with me over one of my best friends, Cody Fajardo. A guy who led this team to a Grey Cup, Grey Cup MVP, led us to 12-5-1 last year, in my eyes, he’s a hall of famer,” the Portland State product said. “When a team gives you that and gives you the keys and shows you the confidence, you better do everything in your power to make sure you’re not going to let them down.”
Even if that means changing your game.
With the injury, Alexander clearly wasn’t able to use his dynamic feet to full capacity down the stretch.
“That’s a really good question,” Alexander said when asked if he could run with any effectiveness in the final few minutes. “I couldn’t answer that for you.”
The answer, even if he won’t say it, was no.
Maas, after deciding he was keeping Alexander in, urged him to “be smarter out there.”
By smarter, in this specific instance, he meant staying in the pocket and “trust. Trust everybody. Don’t do it yourself.”
After the Ticats tied it at 16-16 with a field goal with 1:47 left, Alexander got the ball back at the Als’ 37-yard line. Twice, he resisted any urge to try to run on second down. And twice, Charleston Rambo made big catches, giving Maltos Diaz the chance he needed to silence a sellout crowd.
The Mexican kicker nailed all four of his field goals in the game. And the Als’ top-ranked defence held Ticats star quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell and a high-powered offence to one touchdown in 60 minutes.
“I don’t have to be Superman for this team to win. Whether people believe that or not, I hope now they do,” Alexander said. “This is a full unit, this is one heartbeat.”
Added Maas: “I’m so happy this team gets to move on together because this is a team. If you’d look it up in the dictionary, you’d see a picture of this team, in my opinion. They play for each other, they do all the things right.”
They also have a quarterback with an unwavering belief in himself and his teammates, even when things aren’t going wonderfully (Alexander threw for a pedestrian 210 yards with one touchdown and one bad interception, and added 64 rushing yards).
The quarterback said he watched the movie “300” on the eve of the game. The 2006 action flick showcases King Leonidas leading 300 Spartans into battle against an army of more than 300,000 soldiers.
“I think with 1:40 to go (before the final drive), I couldn’t believe it, they put ‘300’ on the big screen,” Alexander said – and while we can’t verify this actually happened, is there any reason to question the man?
“I don’t know if anybody caught that. They put ‘300’ on the big screen. I started literally laughing, smiling and all I could think about was it had to have been my fricking dad upstairs talking to me, saying ‘you’re built for this, this is the way you want it, Montreal vs. the world.’ And we got it done, thanks to 1-9 (Maltos Diaz) over there.”
Alexander’s father, Matt, lost a battle to lung cancer in August 2024. He was 56. Montreal Gazette veteran football reporter Herb Zurkowsky wrote Alexander had a tradition of talking to his dad after every game. While battling a terrible illness, he held on until the Als were on a bye week.
On Saturday, Alexander showcased his own brand of toughness. His dad surely would have loved it.
“There’s no way I’m not playing (in the Grey Cup),” Alexander said with conviction.
How healthy he’ll be, no one knows just yet. But if Alexander starts, it would be unwise to bet against him.
“It’s special,” Alexander said of his perfect record, “but I think it would make it even more special if we got one more.
"Then we wait another six, seven months and see when we’re going to lose.”
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