Fantuz on Canadian Air Force: ‘It was a lot of fun’
The Canadian Press
TORONTO — About 10 years ago, the Canadian Air Force was born in Saskatchewan.
The group was made up of four national receivers, Andy Fantuz, Jason Clermont, Rob Bagg and Chris Getzlaf, who played for the Roughriders in 2009 and 2010.
“It just seemed like we had a revolving door of people making plays,” Fantuz, told Donnovan Bennett, who was joined by Clermont, Bagg and Getzlaf on this week’s episode of The Waggle.
“(Darian) Durant had a lot of options and I can’t remember how (the name) came to be but it stuck on pretty fast and went viral across the league, especially in Saskatchewan with the fan base there. I thought it was a pretty cool name that I was proud of and it was nice to see us really taking the league by storm, having a bunch of your best buds (together). It was a lot of fun.”
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Clermont was the most veteran of the bunch, after he had spent time with the BC Lions 2002-2008 before joining the Riders in 2009. Fantuz was in his fourth year in the CFL at the time while Getzlaf was in his third and Bagg in his second.
“Well I think that on that Canadian Air Force, by that time, I was the guy with the old propeller just being air traffic control,” said Clermont. “I was the guy clearing the runway the be honest.”
Having a veteran for the rest of the bunch to look to for good habits and techniques was critical to their success.
Fantuz had his most productive season in the green and white in 2010, where he hauled in 1,380 yards and six touchdowns while Bagg hit a career-high in receiving yards in 2009 with 807. Getzlaf hauled in 946 yards in 2010 before having his best-ever season in the CFL the following year, catching 1,071 yards and 10 touchdowns.
“I think you got to see first hand the kind of work ethic a guy like that has and the toughness, both mentally and physically,” said Getzlaf of playing with Clermont. “He made one of the biggest plays of that year in the playoffs. That was one of the funnest celebrations that I’ve had the whole year, was celebrating that overtime touchdown.”
“When I was coming through college my early years, I was really studying and admiring a guy like JC when he was in BC and really trying to model a lot of my game after him, learning tips and techniques from him,” added Fantuz of his Canadian teammate. “There were guys like (Ben) Cahoon and others across the league but it’s a lot different now where you’re seeing Canadian receivers make the All-Star team, league-wide considered the top receivers on the team or in the league. It is very important to have that depth on your team.
“Maybe that Roughrider team in 2009/2010 kind of paved that way of maybe we can have two or three starting Canadian receivers and that could be a successful recipe for a championship.”
Now Ottawa REDBLACKS head coach Paul LaPolice was the Riders’ offensive coordinator in 2009. Fantuz says that LaPolice created a culture within the locker room that it was a full team effort.
“He wanted to share the wealth,” remembered Fantuz. “He thought we’d be a more successful team if teams couldn’t defend a certain player or a certain couple players. We just had that culture instilled from him and it just trickled down the line. LaPolice, to the quarterbacks and then through the receiver room.
“It was really win by committee and there was no animosity or egos in that room it was all about, someone is going to make the play this time and someone else the next time and as long as we’re winning and having fun.”
