CP Photo: John Woods
When Geroy Simon first arrived in Winnipeg in 1999, he admits that he didn’t realize what he was walking into.
“I had no clue who anybody was. I’d heard about the CFL, but I didn’t know a ton about it,” Simon said this week from his home in Vancouver.
“I went to the University of Maryland, so the (CFL) team in Baltimore was there but I didn’t know a lot about it because…I was playing college football and that’s all I worried about.
“I didn’t know about Milt until I got up there. My first couple of days they kept talking about how great he was and I was like, ‘All right, I’m going to come in and wreck this league.’ I was pretty ignorant to the fact of how special he was as a player and a person.”
It may have been hard for anyone to tell in that short time what was really there for the Bombers. Simon was a young, promising player that was just breaking into the league on a team with a deep receiving corps that was led by Milt Stegall, who would win the league’s Most Outstanding Player award in 2002.
What may have been hard for most to tell was obvious to one person, at least.
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Flanked by his father and son, Geroy Simon passed Milt Stegall to become the CFL’s leader in receiving yards on June 29, 2012 (Photo: The Canadian Press)
“He had more talent than any receiver on the team the two years he was there,” Stegall said of Simon this week from his home in Atlanta, GA.
“But I always tell people it takes more than talent, especially at the professional level. Everyone has talent. You have to do the little things on and off the field to make sure you maintain that level that keeps you playing.”
On Friday night, TSN’s CFL Encore games will connect two of the greatest receivers to ever play in the league, showing each one making history. Stegall is up first, setting the league’s all-time touchdown record in a game at home against Hamilton in July, 2007.
Simon follows that up with his BC Lions opening the 2012 season against the Bombers. Simon, the 2006 league MOP, broke Stegall’s all-time receiving yards record in that game, with Stegall on-hand for the history-making moment.
While Simon built his legacy in BC, where he’s now the Lions’ director of global scouting and the team’s regional scout, he called those two years in Winnipeg with Stegall instrumental in his career.
“When I came to the CFL I was just a guy that had talent and for whatever reason I didn’t make it in the NFL, I didn’t have that success. When I came to the CFL I was coming to have 1,000 yards and play a couple years and figure out life after that,” Simon said.
“Being around Milt, he helped me become a true professional. He influenced me in a way that skyrocketed my career and helped it take off. Being around him and seeing the way he put in work each and every week, the way he practised, the way he took care of his body the way he prepared in the classroom, were very instrumental to me to have success.”
“He had more talent,” Stegall said of Simon when he was in Winnipeg, “he just wasn’t at that level. He was young and he wanted to do some things off the field where he enjoyed himself and those things can sometimes affect what happens on the field.
“Coming back his second year in 2000, you could see the maturity level kick in. You could see him start to take care of himself and be professional and that’s where he exploded into the Geroy Simon that we got to see for years and years to come. I’m not surprised about the accolades he was able to attain.”
Milt Stegall had 140 receiving yards to go with two touchdowns that gave him the CFL’s all-time touchdown record on July 27, 2007 (CP Photo: John Woods)
Looking back 13 years to his record-breaking game, Stegall doesn’t remember every single play. He said the only time he re-watched it was with the Bombers in their film session the day after he’d set the record.
“The thing that sticks in my head more than anything was the reaction of the fans after I scored the touchdown,” he said.
“I’ve never experienced anything like that. I was fortunate that I played in college and the pros in the NFL and other places where I had some loud and crazy fans, but the excitement, that right there was nothing like I’d ever experienced in my sports life. I don’t remember the touchdown but I’ll remember that more so than anything. The fans, the way they were screaming and yelling, that put a smile on my face more than anything.”
Nearing eight years after his record-setting night, Simon remembers having the support of 15 friends and family members from across the U.S. and Canada in attendance at BC Place. That Stegall was there for that game meant a lot to him.
“By the Lions and the league stopping the game and taking time to really take in the whole moment it was pretty cool,” Simon said.
“Milt was there, the commissioner was there. Once we broke the record and the game was stopped, I remember Milt coming on the field, teammates high fiving and hugging. I remember my son and my dad being on the field. It was a great experience to share that, not only with my teammates but my family, especially my dad and my son to be there.
“There was a whole off-season of buildup, but I remember having fun, it was a fun game.”
Given that he and his family are in Atlanta right now, Stegall won’t have access to TSN’s feed of the game. Simon, on the other hand, will watch the game and will take part in a viewing party through the BC Lions’ website. That will allow him to relive the moment and to share it once again with fans.
“It’ll be cool to see some of those old games,” Simon said. “Especially now being a scout I can really critique myself and see my deficiencies as well as some of the good things I did.”
With a pair of record setters, hall of famers and former teammates dominating the show on Friday night, there won’t be many deficiencies visible.
