THE CANADIAN PRESS
Nobody is sure if Saturday’s 41-17 Argonauts loss to the Edmonton Eskimos was indeed Ricky Ray’s final game in the CFL. If this is the end of the line, though, all we can do is tip our hat to what was an outstanding career. If it’s not then that’s great, but Ray still deserves a little love to kick off our final MMQB of the regular season.
Earned appreciation
“I’m not sure, so I’m going to take some time.”
Those words from Ray are pretty simple and pretty honest. At the age of 37, and with how things have gone in recent years, how could he be totally sure about his future? On the one hand, there’s no doubt Ray still has the fire to compete at a high level. On the flip side, though, Ray has missed so much time over the last couple of years due to injury it would stop and give anyone pause.
Ray has earned the right to take as much time as he wants and to render whatever decision he wants. He’ll go down as one of the best quarterbacks of his era and he’ll be remembered for his rings, his longevity and his consistency. It’s even more incredible to think how it all started.
Argos quarterback Ricky Ray after perhaps his final CFL game on Saturday (The Canadian Press)
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Ray is one of the most successful quarterbacks in CFL history, but it’s not like there was a lot of foreshadowing of what was to come in his earlier days. After starting in community college, Ray had a solid, but not spectacular, run at Sacramento State but got only a small look in the NFL upon graduating in 2000.
Instead, it was with the Fresno Frenzy of Arena Football 2 where Ray made his professional debut in 2001 before making the Edmonton Eskimos out of training camp the following season. It was during this time that Ray’s legendary stint as a potato chip truck driver happened, too. Yep, nothing to that point screamed “long term professional career” for Ray.
Heck, even his CFL career started with very little fanfare. While Ray made the Eskimos out of his first training camp, he also started the 2002 season as a relatively unknown third stringer. But after a Jason Maas injury early in the campaign, Ray got his shot; he hasn’t looked back since.
I mentioned three things we’ll remember about Ray a little earlier: titles, longevity and consistency. The first one, of course, is self-explanatory. Ray has three Grey Cup rings in total; he won two with the Eskimos in 2003 and 2005 and another with the Argos in 2012. The other two words speak for themselves pretty loudly, too.
On the longevity front, well, Ray has lasted longer than many do in this sport. Not a lot of quarterbacks start for 14 seasons and into their late 30’s. And, on the consistency side of things, even fewer put so many solid seasons together. In his 14 CFL seasons, Ray never had a completion percentage lower than 63.2 per cent, and that was in his first year.
Ray finds himself near the top of numerous all-time, league-wide statistical categories and is Edmonton’s franchise leader in passing yards, completions and touchdowns. For a guy who had to answer questions about his arm strength and mobility early in his career, those numbers are pretty darn good.
I don’t know if Saturday’s game in Edmonton was Ray’s last active appearance in a CFL game. Personally, and selfishly, I’d like to see Ray return for 2017 to see if he can put his recent injured past behind him. More than anything else, though, the last few paragraphs should underline one point: Ray has earned the right to call it a career whenever he sees fit.
Bright future
On this week’s Berg vs. Ferg, we debated whether Montreal or Saskatchewan had a brighter outlook for the 2017 season. While I think a few Rider fans may have contributed to Ferg’s most lopsided win of the season, it doesn’t really matter to me. I think both teams have very positive things ahead of them next season.
I went with the Alouettes because of how good their defensive group has been all season long. Montreal finishes the season with the second-fewest points allowed and with the second-best passing defence in the league. They also forced the most fumbles of any team in the league and finished the 2016 campaign with big wins over Calgary and Hamilton.
With Jacques Chapdelaine in charge on the sidelines, and with him getting an entire off-season and training camp ahead of 2017, I think things are very much looking up. If Vernon Adams Jr. can make this a productive winter, I think the Als can shock a lot of people next season.
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I feel like the Riders are poised for a much better 2017 too, though. I think year two under Chris Jones is going to look much different than year one. Not only do I anticipate some big personnel moves during the off-season, I also think familiarity with Jones will be huge for this group next season. Jones is a proven winner, he’s got some nice pieces and the Riders looked like a drastically improved team in the second half of the season.
Obviously the Darian Durant contract extension plays a huge part in what we see from the Riders in 2017. That team wants to win now and I don’t know if there is a better option than Durant to help it do that in the near future. I know reports suggest things are at a standstill, but I still believe Saskatchewan gets something done with Durant.
Both Montreal and Saskatchewan have a ton of incentive to make 2017 a huge year. The Riders are moving into a brand new building while the Alouettes are now a number of years removed from the glory years with Anthony Calvillo and Marc Trestman. Things are looking bright for both teams and I think some excitement for 2017 is warranted.
Here we go
After 20 weeks of grueling regular season football, the post-season is finally upon us. Semi-Final Sunday is set with Hamilton hosting Edmonton in the Eastern Semi-Final while BC plays host to Winnipeg in the West Division round. So who do we like?
Despite the Tiger-Cats getting to host, I like Edmonton to win as the crossover team. This is a slight preview of the final Berg vs. Ferg of the season, but the Eskimos sure do look scary heading into the post-season.
Edmonton won five of its last six games and made things very interesting down the stretch in the West Division. Despite finishing fourth in the West, let’s not forget that these are the defending Grey Cup Champions. I like that aspect of the Eskimos and I also like how they’re peaking under new head coach Jason Maas at exactly the right time.
Oh, and I also like what they’ve got going on offensively. Mike Reilly is in the midst of one of the best seasons at quarterback in the last decade and, in Adarius Bowman and Derel Walker, boasts the league’s two most dangerous receivers.
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I also remain very skeptical about this Tiger-Cats group. On any given weekend, Hamilton has an outstanding performance in it but it’s been anyone’s guess as to when it’s going to happen. The 2016 edition of the Ticats has been infuriatingly inconsistent and what would lead you to believe that’s going to stop just because the post-season is starting?
The Eskimos are red-hot heading into the post-season while Hamilton enters with losses in five of its final six games. I probably liked Edmonton regardless in this matchup, but the trending natures of both these teams means I like the Eskimos even more heading into Sunday.
On the West side, I’ll go with the Lions at home. It’s not like playing at home was any more of an advantage for BC this season than not, however. The Lions went 6-3 both at home and on the road but there’s something about them playing at BC Place that I always like. The locale of this game is only a small part, though.
Week 16 and 17 of the season saw Winnipeg sweep a home-and-home set with the Lions, albeit by a combined five points. Knowing how close those games were, a big part of me wonders if earning that third win is too much for the Bombers to ask for. The Lions could easily have won either or both of those matchups and I think that puts them in good stead this weekend.
I’ll take the explosiveness of BC’s Jonathon Jennings over Matt Nichols in Winnipeg at quarterback, too. That’s no knock at all on the latter, but I just think Jennings has more game breaking ability at this point.
Neither game this weekend shapes up as a blowout, and I really don’t see a ton between the four teams playing. Buckle up because, and I’m not just saying this, I think we have two really good football games to watch this weekend.
