Kevin Sousa/CFL.ca
When the Hamilton Tiger-Cats acquired the rights of Bo Levi Mitchell, you knew it was on. When he signed in Hamilton the floodgates were sure to open. As expected, a number of free agents signed in The Hammer, many due to Mitchell’s presence.
Hamilton fans were ready to see the offence rip up and down the field with a rejuvenated Mitchell and a plethora of new targets. As camp went on we heard much about the building chemistry, saw the dazzling preseason performance of Bo as he tested throwing windows while dialling in his footwork and timing back to ‘CFL starter’ levels and got set for the regular season.
Everything was supposed to be better, new, upgraded.
Here’s the problem: football doesn’t care.
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Football is a ruthless monster of a game — and more importantly business — where your projections, predictions and expectations mean nothing. As soon as you hit the field anything and everything can happen. I’m forever reminded of this after I scribble all over my CFL on TSN play-by-play preparation for hours and hours every week in hopes of being perfectly prepared for any situation that might unfold over the three hours after opening kickoff.
A piece of paper that my teammates — namely Duane Forde — regularly and lovingly pour water onto just before kickoff to remind me that all that prep is great, but the game doesn’t care.
All the game of football demands is execution and effort between the white lines from 15:00 in quarter one to the final whistle.
So far in 2023, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats just haven’t been good enough. A daunting Week 1 task in Winnipeg quickly unraveled with turnovers, penalties and a highly motivated Zach Collaros on the other side. A Week 2 Sunday night showcase in Toronto was plagued by a couple bad Mitchell interceptions deep in Argos’ territory and the emergence of Chad Kelly as a real threat to push his stock ever high in CFL fans’ respect-o-meter.
The fourth quarter came, and with it little hope for Hamilton to avenge its Week 1 loss. Mitchell was hit in his own end zone while evading pressure and came down awkwardly on his side, before slowly limping to the sideline with an injury that saw Matthew Shiltz finish the game, making 13-14 pases in garbage time.
So, here comes Hamilton, home to Tim Hortons Field for what was expected to be a Bo Levi Mitchell welcoming party. It’s a laughable paradox to the treatment Mitchell has received from Steeltown through his Calgary career.
That will have to wait, as Shiltz has been announced starter with Mitchell — despite not being fit to play — still dressing as a third-string quarterback behind first year CFLer and former Eastern Michigan QB Taylor Powell.
Shiltz has only been in Hamilton a few years, but his role as a constantly needed emergency quarterback has endeared him to many Tiger-Cats fans. A gritty, no-nonsense player who despite his slighter than average frame has never shied from using his legs and taking a hit.
In 2023 Shiltz built up his body to absorb more of those hits in hopes of bouncing back to his feet. At somewhere around 214 pounds he is the biggest and strongest he’s ever been, while getting yet another chance to show he should be a starting quarterback in the CFL.
Asked why he hasn’t been able to lock down the confidence of a team’s No. 1 role north of the border this week, Ticats’ head coach Orlondo Steinauer simply stated, “opportunity.”
Shiltz came in to be Dane Evans‘ backup, played plenty and tried to lead a comeback in the 2022 Eastern Semi-Final against the same Montreal Alouettes he’ll face Friday night. When Mitchell was traded for, it was obvious Shiltz would be coming back under the guise of backup once again and here he is less than a month into the season getting starter reps.
This, like many opportunities for Shiltz, is a chance to prove he can grow past the backup label and earn that starting role consistently, becoming the hunted instead of the hunter on a depth chart.
Whether or not that happens in Hamilton this season or beyond remains to be seen but Shiltz would do well to remember that the game of football just doesn’t care. It will do to him what it’s done to Jeremiah Masoli, Dane Evans and now Bo Levi Mitchell in Hamilton.
With that as the framework, Hamilton enters its home opener with all the pressure imaginable against a loose and bye week-refreshed Alouettes club. It’s a Friday night football setting you’ve dreamt of for months, especially if your name is Matthew Shiltz.
