Johany Jutras/CFL.ca
The 2016 CFL season had everything a football fan could ever ask for, and more.
To those unaware or newly acquainted with our game and the league there are many misconceptions. We’re too small. There aren’t enough jobs available. The game isn’t as entertaining as our southern counterparts.
Whenever I hear these opinions all I can think is it is possible to poke holes in any slice of high grade mozzarella until it appears as a cheap piece of Swiss cheese. Those who wish to find flaws in any game or league will do so regardless of the product in front of them. However everyone is entitled to their opinion and that creates for great discussion.
That discussion in 2016 led us in such an incredible variety of directions that my belief in the entertainment value and on-field quality of Canadian football was reinforced more than ever.
We had one of the most dominant teams in recent history in Calgary blast their way through the regular season only to lose in spectacular fashion on our biggest stage. All the while led by the wonder kid with the sparkling smile and the satanic in-game demeanour.
We saw a young BC Lions team come to life and show flashes of utter brilliance in the return and passing game only to be destroyed time and time again by the one hurdle too tall to clear. The one painted red and black standing as tall as the Stampeders spirit animal Quick Six.
We stared in amazement as Winnipeg imploded. Many across the league trying to decipher not if but when the powers that be would no longer be in Manitoba. All of a sudden the beer snake was stacked in joyous celebration in place of a means to endure the inevitable. All brought on by a quarterback change, a lengthly lightning delay and a record setting defence which would steady the Bombers to the tune of a miraculous playoff appearance.
We raised an eyebrow when Chris Jones won the 104rd Grey Cup in Edmonton only to depart for Saskatchewan days later to be named judge jury and executioner. The Riders would see a record number of players pass through the hallowed halls of Taylor Field at Mosaic Stadium including those who were not permitted to be wandering the premises.
The Riders were an interesting case study in turning around a franchise this season and despite their poor record and impending move into an unbelievable new venue the conversation across the prairies remained the same as it has for the last decade: what is the future of Darian Durant as the leader of the big green machine? As we pass from 2016 to 2017 there is still no answer. Only time will tell.
Derel Walker was one half of a dynamic receiving duo in Edmonton that set a record for single-season combined yardage in 2016.
We had a pair of record breaking receivers led by a new head coach in Edmonton who appeared as unstoppable as any duo in the history of the CFL only to be shut down not by a defensive back, but in the most Canadian of ways. Snow, as the dynamic duo of Walker and Bowman ventured deep into the East division playoffs just minutes from Parliament Hill.
In the East we were given great intrigue with drama which major network primetime weekday television producers could only wish for. The teams from the Atlantic side of this big, beautiful country started the season off doing something they have rarely accomplished in recent memory – winning games on the road and against the west.
That didn’t stop Montreal and Toronto from falling out of favour quickly though. Their record proves their struggles but their determined spirit and leadership meant that they never stopped trying.
Toronto refused to sit idly by and not take Drew Willy off the hands of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers after he had fallen out of favour in the West. The double blue also decided to clean their receiver room out in hopes of redefining their culture by cutting four players are once.
A move their struggling counterparts from la belle province would match by waving goodbye to Duron Carter and Kenny Stafford while also relieving long time Alouettes decision maker Jim Popp of his multiple duties in order to hire the first francophone head coach in Montreal history. Jacques Chapdelaine would lose his interim tag shortly after the season where he gained the respect of many around the Alouettes and CFL.
Some viewed these moves as a waving of the proverbial white towel. The Alouettes viewed it as an opportunity and would win their last three games on the way to winning the most games against the west by an east division team in 2016 (4).
Elsewhere in the east the presumed powers of the division – Hamilton and Ottawa – struggled to find their footing much of the summer and by late fall still had much left to decide.
Jonathan Jennings took another step in a Lions squad that surprised many. Meanwhile, Andrew Harris headlined a Free Agent frenzy in February and then a resurgence in Winnipeg leading into November.
Hamilton had two quarterbacks both pass for more than 2,500 yards but a defensive secondary riddled with injuries was the achilles heel of tiger-town in 2016. Not even a career year and CFL all-star season from a grizzled veteran free agent acquisition in John Chick could save the day for Hamilton.
With that said the Tiger-Cats were not without intrigue.
The swift disappearance of offensive coordinator Tommy Condell before the season began only to have that position filled by a native son in Stefan Ptaszek. The franchise quarterback returning from a devastating knee injury in hopes of leading a charmed late season run to the city’s first Grey Cup championship since 1999. The head coach Kent Austin passionately willing his team to embody the qualities which he trusts to be worthy of a championship, only to overstep his boundaries and be forced from the sidelines for a game.
The Tiger-Cats would end up side by side with the Alouettes and Argonauts in the standings by season’s end and fall on their sword in the playoffs in a way black and gold clad fans saw far too often in 2016.
All of this would make you believe that Ottawa would run away with the division. Not so.
The Redblacks steely eyed veteran quarterback Henry Burris battled both injuries and his bushy tailed up and coming understudy Trevor Harris to remain relevant in 2016. The Redblacks would amaze you with their offensive efficiency one week then fail to produce the next.
Such is the spirit of the CFL’s long season but In Ottawa that inconsistency coupled with home losses felt like a classic underachievement. That is until the team from our nation’s capital battled their way through a most Canadian environment to prevent an all west division Grey Cup only to see the vast majority of BMO Field become their biggest fans.
The Redblacks were valiant champions in 2016 and befitting of the twists and turns which make the CFL special. They exemplified the spirit of the league. A team with a new lease on life, born from great history and tradition. A team with endless questions and week-to-week answers. A team which could make you believe and push you away from one snap to the next.
Perhaps most importantly, a team which could entertain and interest you through the summer heat all the way to the first appearance of snow and make you believe in the magic of Canadian football where anything is possible.
I can’t wait to find out which team will fit that description and be crowned deserving champions in 2017.
