Patrick Doyle/CFL.ca
There are a lot compliments we give great quarterbacks. We try to attach tangible quantifying words to describe what our eyes perceive to be greatness. Terms such as ‘accurate’, ‘strong-armed’ and ‘leader’ come to mind, while many more are applicable.
Thirty-eight year old Toronto Argonauts quarterback Ricky Ray has – at times – been all of those words. As a younger man in Edmonton, Ray might have been faster. He certainly had a stronger arm and a bit more ability to avoid the rush, but as father time crept into the picture, Ricky Ray did something every professional athlete wishes to accomplish.
He evolved.
Numerous quarterbacks, national or international, have come and gone from this great league because they could not adapt, evolve and survive. Ray has done just that. Despite the expected ups and downs of being a pro quarterback, including injury-riddled seasons and poor team records, Ray has been a fixture year over year.
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DeVier Posey has emerged as a go-to target in his second season catching passes from Ricky Ray (Patrick Doyle/CFL.ca)
The most interesting part of Ricky Ray’s career evolution might be that he’s made it seem at times uninteresting. Asked this week what it’s like to play with Ricky Ray, Grey Cup-bound Argonauts teammates responded almost unanimously with one phrase.
“He leads by example.”
Ray doesn’t need to be loud or angry or flamboyant because he’s been around long enough to realize those things fade, while steady work and patience are forever.
I followed Ray from practice field to post-game celebration in last week’s Eastern final.
He barely talked.
Ray saved his energy for all that really matters. Preparing and executing the game plan entrusted to him by a coaching staff he has the full confidence of and in.
Football is very much a game of capitalizing when the moment requires, which can, in theory, run counter to Ray’s patient, measured approach to the game he has loved for more than two decades.
When a big green wave of emotion washed over Ray and the Boatmen Sunday against Saskatchewan, with the chance to make the Grey Cup on the line, Ray put on full display why his patient yet clutch approach to the CFL game is so powerful.
With 2:37 left in the fourth quarter, Ray and the Argos, who had just given up a soul-crushing punt return touchdown, were suddenly trailing by three.
Ray jogged onto the field in that trademark casual manner in a way that only he can and assembled a huddle 68 yards away from a game-winning score. The ensuing 10-play drive — eight plays of which Ray played in — would feature every aspect of Ray’s evolution and put on display why Marc Trestman, at his introductory press conference well before the season started, named Ray his starting quarterback:
Play 1 — 1st and 10. Toronto 42-yard-line. 2:37 remaining
Against a classic Chris Jones three-man rush, Ray would step up to avoid hell-raising big man Willie Jefferson, and with five available targets look off fullback Declan Cross before throwing a dart down the right sideline to DeVier Posey. A gain of 13 yards and a first down on first down.
Play 2 — 1st and 10. Midfield. 2:31 remaining.
Against a four-man rush, Ray put his acting skills to work, taking the snap from Most Outstanding Lineman nominee Sean McEwen and looking to the right to move the defence before snapping back left and leading James Wilder Jr. to his upfield shoulder to help gain yards after the catch.
An S.J. Green cut block and Wilder Jr. juke move later and the Argos had seven yards and a manageable second down. By no means a sexy play but the type you’ve come to assume Ray can make in his sleep even 10 years from now.
Play 3 — 2nd and 3. Saskatchewan 48-yard-line. 2:06 remaining.
Staying aggressive in their play-calling and with an offence-friendly down and distance, Ray looked down the seam for a homer shot before checking the ball down to recently-returned receiver Anthony Coombs. The young Argo was blasted by veteran Riders defensive back Jovon Johnson but picked up the first down.
The hit Johnson laid would have a lasting impact on plays remaining on the drive as he fell to the turf and he was looked at by trainers. That of course meant Johnson had to leave the field for three plays, which forced Chris Jones’ late season defensive back addition, star receiver Duron Carter, back into action on defence.
Jones grabbed Carter as he became aware of his sudden situation, spoke directly into his helmet ear hole and gave Carter a supportive shove towards his temporary cornerback role.
Play 4 — 1st and 10. Saskatchewan 45-yard-line. 1:46 remaining.
Instead of attacking Carter as the Calgary Stampeders had tried in Week 17 to little success, Ray and the Argos went away from the makeshift defensive back and called a safe checkdown over the middle to Wilder for no gain, thanks to a great tackle by Saskatchewan middle linebacker Henoc Muamba.
After the game I asked Ray what his mindset is when entering the field with a chance to put together a game-winning drive. His response perfectly described the cautious nature of this first down play:
“I try to tell myself to remain calm and just go out and execute the play. There have been times where I’m guilty of trying to make the special play but we had plenty of time, we weren’t in a rush and I just told myself to trust the play, go out and do what we’ve done all year long.”
Play 5 — 2nd and 10. Saskatchewan 45-yard-line. 1:27 remaining.
On second-and-10 the Riders continued to defend the end zone, not the first down and Toronto went back to the well, finding Anthony Coombs in the right flats — a gain of five which setup an all-important season-defining third-and-five for Ray and the Argo offence.
Play 6 — 3rd and 5. Saskatchewan 40-yard-line. 1:16 remaining.
With Jovon Johnson still on the sideline due to his injury sustained tackling Anthony Coombs earlier in the drive, Duron Carter remained at corner. James Wilder Jr. patiently waited until right before the snap to sprint towards the right flats — the same place Ray had already hit Coombs twice in the drive.
The difference on this play is that Wilder uncharacteristically turned vertical, twisting linebacker Samuel Eguavoen in a knot and confusing Duron Carter, who floated through the field in look of work but unable to find any. Ray stepped up in the pocket and threw a strike to Wilder for a gain of 22 yards in a do-or-die situation.
A change-of-pace play saved for the perfect moment and executed to perfection. How much more Marc Trestman and Ricky Ray can you get than that? Ray, on the play after the game, described the all-important Wilder grab:
“We were trying to get James there. A lot of the time we run him in the flat but on this play he’s getting vertical and we got the right coverage, he ran a great route and made a big catch to keep that drive going”.
Play 7 — 1st and 10. Saskatchewan 17-yard-line. 0:52 remaining.
Not looking to settle for a game-tying field goal, Ray loaded up a pass again as he had all drive long and targeted Armanti Edwards on a quick out route to the right side.
Just as he had on the first play of the drive, Willie Jefferson wreaked havoc, this time knocking down the pass for an incompletion.
Play 8 — 2nd and 10. Saskatchewan 17-yard-line. 0:49 remaining.
On a drive that showed a little bit of every skill and approach Ray had picked up in his esteemed career, the final throw might have been the one toss that showed what makes him impossible to stop for a full game.
With the Riders dropping into a zone to protect the goal line, Toronto asked Ray to look between and around green uniforms and drop a dime between coverage.
Of course Ray completed the 17-yard ‘in’ route to Armanti Edwards perfectly on time and target between four defenders. Even without the strongest arm or quickest feet in the CFL amongst quarterbacks, Ray uses aspects of timing and understanding space to place the ball exactly where it needs to be, when it needs to be there. The results can be stunning.
Short-yardage quarterback Cody Fajardo would come in to cash Ray’s eight-play effort by scoring a one-yard sneak touchdown, giving the Argos back a lead they would not lose again en route to an Eastern Final crown.
In Sunday’s Grey Cup, Ricky Ray has the opportunity to once again put his calm, reserved, gentle nature on display on the CFL’s grandest stage. If he is able to complete the Argos’ storybook season with a Grey Cup, he’ll have to defeat a Calgary defence full of brash, loud, excitable characters. The antithesis of Ray.
That defence’s goal is undoubtedly to make Ray leave his comfort zone and do something he’s unsure of. The problem is at this point, Ray has seen just about everything, and what he hasn’t experienced yet just forces another calm, controlled in-game evolution which has allowed Ray to succeed for so many years north of the border.
