The Canadian Press
Jeremiah Masoli is under a little pressure, at least from the outside looking in. Some guy named Johnny Manziel has had a few articles written about him since signing with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats last month. It has many wondering if it’s only a matter of time until Manziel takes the reins as Hamilton’s starter. Of course, Masoli was always going to have something to say about that, and I thought he spoke pretty loudly on Saturday night.
Masoli may not have picked up the desired result over the weekend, but he impressed me once again in Hamilton’s 28-14 loss in Calgary. Masoli was accurate, explosive, and dynamic while throwing for 344 yards on 25-for-36 passing and ran for a touchdown in his season debut. Nothing I saw suggested a guy playing like he’s looking over his shoulder.
I’ve always been a big believer in Masoli going back to his impressive college days with Oregon and Ole Miss. But it took him a little while to get a foothold professionally as he attempted to learn the CFL game. He’s understudied long enough though, because Masoli has arrived.
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Jeremiah Masoli escapes pressure during a Week 1 loss to the Stampeders (Larry MacDougal/CFL.ca)
All the guy has done is given his team a chance to win since taking over for the departed Zach Collaros midway through last season. In the 11 games he’s started since that time, Masoli has thrown for 15 touchdowns and ran for five more while only being picked off five times. All the evidence I’ve seen says the Ticats made the right choice going with him over Collaros.
Look, I’m all for Manziel getting playing time, but he still has to earn it. A big name and a Heisman Trophy can’t and shouldn’t guarantee playing time. As he starts to learn the Canadian game, I can absolutely see Hamilton working Manziel in to give defences a different look.
Overtaking Masoli on the depth chart is a totally different conversation though. Not only is Manziel going to have to earn that spot, but Masoli is also going to have to falter significantly to open up the room. If this were a few years ago, I’d be a little more confident that might happen, but not with how Masoli has played over the last nine months.
I know he didn’t get the right result on Saturday night, but for me, Masoli did nothing but help his cause as Hamilton’s number one.
All about the best
No one is ever going to accuse Bo Levi Mitchell of lacking confidence, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The Stampeders quarterback ended up number two behind Edmonton’s Mike Reilly on TSN’s annual ranking of the CFL’s top 50 players released just before the start of the season.
I thought Mitchell gave a fascinating response to his number two ranking on his weekly radio show on Sportsnet 960 in Calgary last week. Some may construe it as cocky and some will totally get where he’s coming from, but one thing is for sure: it’s the unfiltered truth.
“In my personal opinion, and this comes from a Drake song, I’m in the top two and I’m not number two,” Mitchell said. “If you don’t see yourself as the best player, there’s something wrong with you. I do not disagree with their choice. Last year Mike Reilly was the best player in the league.”
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Mitchell makes a point, though. The 2016 Most Outstanding Player likely has the same mindset the other elite quarterbacks in this league have. I’m willing to bet Reilly, Ricky Ray, and any other starting pivot believes they have the ability to be the league’s best. It’s what drives them and it’s one of the things that sets the best apart from the rest.
“In Florida, when I was trying out for the Stampeders…they were showing us film and just trying to introduce us Americans to the CFL game,” Mitchell recounted.
“I hadn’t even signed a contract with them yet, they hadn’t even offered it to me. I’m watching the film and as we walk away, I’m talking to Dave…and I said ‘hey Dave, who’s y’all starting quarterback, #4?’” And he was like ‘oh that’s Drew Tate’ and I was like ‘I’m going to take his job, then I’m going to win you a Grey Cup, and I’m going to be the best player to ever play in this game.’
“And, yeah, it’s facetious and confident, probably a little bit past the line, but that’s how you have to think. If you don’t see yourself that way, then how are you ever possibly going to get there? If you don’t think that LeBron James has always seen himself as overtaking Michael Jordan as the best player to ever play, no one would ever be talking about that.”
We all have our own opinions on who the league’s best player is right now. Both Reilly and Mitchell had pretty darn impressive Week 1 performances and did nothing to mess with their number one and two rankings, respectively. What I really liked, though, was the glimpse into the mindset of one of the league’s best players.
An adopted home
Damon Allen went into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2012 and was bestowed another honour earlier this year. The legendary quarterback was elected to Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame and will officially be inducted in a ceremony in October.
It’s hard to argue the decision as Allen put together one of the best career’s our country’s league has ever seen. But he’s somewhat of a unique case for CSHOF, as he wasn’t born in this country.
Nope, Allen was born and raised in Southern California and spent the first two decades of his life there before making his way to Edmonton in 1985 after his college career at Cal State Fullerton came to an end. More than three decades later, Allen is associated far more closely with his adopted country than his birthplace.
“It’s part of my journey,” Allen told me at a CSHOF event last week. “I can’t just talk about the United States when I think back and look over my life. More than half of my life has been in Canada and that’s one of the reasons why I stay.
“And the fact that I’ve been able to, I guess, parlay and continue to grow as an evolve as a person in Canada and now give my life not only to amateur sport and the game of football, but also give my life to charity and giving back to community.”
Damon Allen won a Grey Cup and Most Outstanding Player late into his career (The Canadian Press)
Allen has indeed put his roots down in this country. Now ranked number two all-time in passing yards and touchdowns, Allen stayed in the Toronto area after his career came to an end with the Argonauts following the 2007 season. And he’s still very involved with both football and charity work.
Allen runs the D9 Quarterback Academy in Ontario and is very involved with the development of Canadian football players as a result. He’s a huge proponent of amateur football in this country and is also an influential advocate for men’s health issues.
Additionally, Allen runs a pair of golf tournaments in a pair of cities he starred in. His tournament in Edmonton is in support of autism while his event in Toronto supports parents affected by post-partum depression.
On the field, of course, Allen’s Hall of Fame credentials speak for themselves. In his 23 seasons, he won four Grey Cups, earned three Grey Cup MVP awards, and was named the league’s Most Outstanding Player in 2005 at the age of 42.
It’s the final honour that might mean the most for Allen. Not only does he hold a North American pro sports record as the oldest MVP in his league, it also served as significant vindication. Allen won the Grey Cup in his second year with the Argos, then his MOP award the next year, and it all came after a difficult departure from the Lions after seven years.
“What I was hearing from BC was basically saying my good years were behind me,” Allen recounted. “As a competitor, I knew I had a lot more left in me. I use everything to motivate me, too, and so what made…going to the Argos so special is…what they thought about me when I got there.
“They thought I was the missing piece for them going to a championship or going to the Grey Cup. That made me feel really good that Pinball (Clemons) and that organization wanted to take on the oldest quarterback in the league and they’re the oldest franchise in the league. I thought that was a match made in heaven.
“(We) ended up winning another Grey Cup and I ended up winning the Most Valuable Player the year later. That really gave me what I needed was when I won MOP at 42, you know, being at that age and still being a dominant player in the league, that made the difference in my career and being with Toronto.”
Allen is now a two-time Hall of Fame inductee in this country, which sounds about right. Not bad for a kid from San Diego.
