Corey Grant
CFL.ca
The goal every time a football player steps onto the field is to Win. Win each one-on-one battle; Win each possession; and to ultimately Win the game. This week winning takes on a whole new meaning because if you win you get to play another week and if you don’t…well let’s just say, “winning is the only option.”
There have been 144 regular season games played in the CFL, and when you add 16 pre-season games, you have a lot of football played in 6 months and for the four playing in the Divisional Semi-Finals everything comes down to this weekend.
The playoffs! Where there are no second chances!
Throughout the regular season there have been great plays and bad plays; missed plays and made plays. Players have made mistakes and then turned around and had stellar performances. There have been blowout wins and nail biting wins. There have been games where individuals have been looked upon to carry the team on their shoulders and the next week the team has carried them. This all happens during the regular season and players get an opportunity to learn from each moment and use it as a building block for the next week.
But, the playoffs are a different animal!
There is no tomorrow, no time for mistakes, because each mistake is amplified 100 times. Every opportunity must be taken full advantage of because you may never get that chance again and it could be the difference between winning and losing. The difference between success and failure in the playoffs is inches and every inch counts. (I’m talking about chain links in the first down makers).
Michael Jordan said, “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
All the failures that each team and player has endured during the regular season must now contribute to their success in the playoffs.
As Milt Stegall said earlier on this week, “If we sell out this game we guarantee a Win!” Milt is one of the CFL’s greatest receivers and understands what it takes to win in this league and I don’t see anything wrong with what he said because at this time of the year winning is all that counts. Every team left in the playoff run wants to win and believes that they’re going to win whether they say it out loud or not! (Each player is “guaranteeing” to their teammates that they’ll have their best performance of the year. Right?)
But wanting to win isn’t going to guarantee a win, and guaranteeing a win isn’t going to help a team win. Only execution and a team’s determination to give that extra effort will decide the results of the game.
In the famous words of Herm Edwards, “”This is what’s great about sports. This is what the greatest thing about sports is. You play to win the game. Hello? You play to win the game. You don’t play it to just play it. That’s the great thing about sports: you play to win, and I don’t care if you don’t have any wins. You go play to win. When you start tellin’ me it doesn’t matter, then retire. Get out! ‘Cause it matters.”
Every second matters in a playoff game, every time you step on the field whether it’s Offence, Defence, or on Special teams, it matters.
We play this game to Win and if you want to continue on your playoff journey, and onto the Divisional Finals, your best bet is to take advantage of every opportunity because there are no second chances in the Playoffs.
Corey Grant is a 10 year CFL veteran who has played with the Ti-Cats, Alouettes and, for the last 7 seasons, the Roughriders. A Stoney Creek, Ont. native, Corey has won Grey Cups in 1999 and 2007. He was named the East Division Outstanding Rookie in 1999.
