Penton: Quarterbacks hog spotlight in the CFL
By Bruce Penton
Just like in the National Football League where quarterback is king, the men barking out signals behind centre are the stars in the Canadian Football League, too.
It’s the CFL’s 67th season, but the Grey Cup game in Winnipeg Nov. 16 will be the 112th edition of the professional football championship of Canada. Prior to 1958, when the CFL was officially formed, there were two leagues in Canada, the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union in the east and the Western Interprovincial Football Union.
Star power thrives at the quarterback position, and even non-stars are given the chance to shine. Remember last fall’s Grey Cup game, where the Winnipeg Blue Bombers were heavy favourites to beat the Toronto Argonauts, especially because the Argos were playing backup QB Nick Arbuckle after No. 1 Chad Kelly, the league’s most outstanding player (MOP) in 2023, broke his leg in the Eastern final. Well, all Arbuckle did was throw for 252 yards and two touchdowns and the Argos scored 24 points in the fourth quarter en route to demolishing the Bombers 41-24.
So while Toronto is content to know that with Kelly and Arbuckle, they have probably the best 1-2 punch at quarterback, other field generals around the league are just as talented. Two-time MOP Zach Collaros is still in charge of the offence in Winnipeg, and Bo Levi Mitchell, the CFL’s MOP in 2016 and 2018 while in Calgary, will be counted on to steer the Tiger-Cats offence in Hamilton.
Perhaps the most intriguing quarterback situation is found in B.C. and Calgary. While Vernon Adams was the starter for the Lions last year, he was demoted in mid-season when 2022 sensation Nathan Rourke returned to the Lions after a failed effort to crack a National Football League team. In the off-season, the Lions traded Adams to Calgary, who will replace Jake Maier as the Stampeders’ starter. Adams will obviously have motivation to shine when the Stamps and Lions meet in 2025.
Overall, the quarterback talent in the Western Division is stacked. Besides Collaros, Rourke and Adams, the West also features Saskatchewan’s Trevor Harris and Tre Ford of Edmonton. Harris played in only 12 games due to injury last year, but still managed to throw 20 touchdown passes. In Edmonton, Ford’s strong suit is his running speed. He averaged 9.0 yards per carry last year and Elks’ management has expectations of a 1,000-yard running season for him. He’s also not bad at throwing the ball, completing 72 per cent of his throws last year. In 2025, he’ll have former Lions’ offensive co-ordinator Jordan Maksymic as his coach. Ford will be backed up by Cody Fajardo, the former Roughrider and Alouette QB.
Despite the star power at QB, only three quarterbacks have ever been named Most Outstanding Player. Russ Jackson of Ottawa was honoured four times in the 1960s, Gerry Dattilio of Montreal was the winner in 1980, and Rourke got the MOP nod in 2022.
My prediction: A QB will win the award in 2025.
Retired sports columnist Rick Reilly, in a blast-from-the-past column after Tiger Woods obliterated the field with a 12-shot win in the 1997 Masters: “… Forty-seven-year-old Tom Kite … would finish second in the same sense that Germany finished second in World War II.”
Coaching wisdom from Alabama football legend Bear Bryant: “If anything goes bad, I did it. If anything goes semi-good, we did it. If anything goes really good, then you did it. That’s all it takes to get people to win football games for you.”
Eamon Lynch of Golfweek.com., on the popularity level of certain LIV Tour golfers: “Take Patrick Reed. Every entertainment product could use a villain who needs a slab of bacon strapped to his face to get a dog to lick him.”
Cathal Kelly of the Toronto Globe and Mail, describing the Florida Panthers style of play: “Florida Panthers’ ‘nice nose you got there, mind if I rip it off?’”
Bob Molinaro of pilotonline.com (Hampton, Va.) with a business note: "With Bill Belichick headlining the program, North Carolina has sold all 20,000 of its season tickets at a 25-per-cent price hike, after failing to sell out last season.”
Greg Cote of the Miami Herald, on four of the best Florida Panthers’ players: “Sasha Barkov and goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky are quiet as church mice. Matthew Tkachuk and Brad Marchand chirp like crows on a wire.”
Another one from Cote: “(The Panthers) become only the fourth team since 1980 to reach the Stanley Cup Final a third season in a row -- a Cat trick.”
RJ Currie of sportsdeke.com:: “Sacramento coach Mike Brown was fired just over six months into a three-year extension he signed with the Kings. Even in the NBA, they call that a fast break.”
Headline at fark.com: “Rockies attempt to gin up the roster by designating Martini for assignment; he was reportedly shaken by the news.”
The late Muhammad Ali, feeling confident about an upcoming fight: “I’ve seen George Foreman shadow boxing and the shadow won.”
Care to comment? Email brucepenton2003@yahoo.ca