(Editor’s note: Since the story was published, the Argos have provided an update on Ray’s health, stating that he has feeling in all extremities and has undergone concussion protocol without any current symptoms).
As a right tackle, the sound of bodies colliding is the soundtrack to Chris Van Zeyl’s working life.
There was something different in what he heard when Ricky Ray was hit on Saturday night.
“I just heard it,” Van Zeyl said of the injury, who has been tasked with protecting Ray for the last seven years.
Ray had been under pressure all night from a Calgary defence that played like if it was aggressive enough, it could undo the pregame Grey Cup ceremony, like it could go into the crowd and snatch each of the 6,000 replica championship rings that fans were given out of their hands.
It wasn’t the intention, but the Argos may have lost much more than mementos of last year’s stunning Grey Cup win.
Ray rolled out of the pocket, seemingly unaware that Ja’Gared Davis was galloping in behind him. He saw Cordarro Law in front of him, getting low to make the tackle. But Davis wrapped him up from behind, pulled him down and Ray’s head was sandwiched in a horrible way between two hulking bodies. Crack.
Ray was down on the field for almost 20 minutes while trainers from both teams attended to him. He was eventually put onto a stretcher and carted off the field. He was taken to Toronto Western Hospital for precautionary reasons, TSN’s Matt Scianitti reported.
“It’s always scary to see a guy you played with for seven years take a hit like that,” Van Zeyl said. “To see a guy like that who you’ve spilled blood with and fought his ass off and came back every time and just to see him hurt like…yeah. My heart was broken.”
While Ray was assessed on the field, it felt like everything came to a halt. A concerned silence fell over the 16,450 fans at BMO Field and players from both teams took knees and spoke to one another while they waited to see what would happen next.
“It was encouraging and you could feel it out there,” Argos coach Marc Trestman said. “Not only with our players but their players as well. Nobody wants to see anybody on the ground. Everyone knows how difficult this game is to play. There were words of encouragement on both sides while we were waiting on Ricky.”
James Franklin, who entered following the Ray injury, may be pressed into action sooner than many had anticipated if the Argos starter is to miss significant period of time (Adam Gagnon/CFL.ca)
Ray’s day and his 16th season started in his typical low-key fashion. He took the Go Train into Exhibition Station and casually walked up to BMO Field.
Other hall-of-fame bound quarterbacks may not appreciate those things, but the light anonymity that sometimes comes with playing in the CFL seems to roll off of Ray’s back. Whether it was a game like Saturday night, where his team was down 34-1, or if the tables were turned the other way, Ray’s demeanour never changes.
“He’s amazing, he’s an amazing person and that’s why it hurts even more when you see him on the ground,” Van Zeyl said. “You see him and you feel helpless, like there’s nothing you can do to take that away. It’s tough.”
Van Zeyl saw Ray try to get up, then reach for the back of his helmet. It was as big a red flag on an injury as you’ll see on the field, so he told his quarterback to stay down.
“He was talking. He didn’t seem like he was out of it or anything like that,” Van Zeyl said. “You could just tell he was trying to figure out the source of what was going on.
“When he starts reaching for the back of his helmet, better safe than sorry. It’s a long season, it’s barely…it sucks to see someone in that kind of state. I think he’ll be fine. I hope he’s going to be all right.”
Watching Ray get carted out you hope for the best. He’s shown his toughness throughout his career, battling knee injuries and shoulder surgery. In 2016 he suffered a partially deflated lung. As he’s aged, now at 38, everyone has wondered if it would be the injury that ended his career.
Trestman said he was optimistic and encouraged by the initial reports the doctors had given the team, but that they’d have to wait and see what came next.
