BC Lions linebacker Adam Bighill played on the same team at Central Washington University as Edmonton Eskimos quarterback Mike Reilly.
One day at practice a defensive player crushed Reilly’s knee. Bighill remembers Reilly limping off the field and wondering if he would see him again that season.
“The next practice he was out with a knee brace on, that was the only difference,” Bighill said, shaking his head.
“I’ve never seen him complain about injuries. I’ve never seen him be scared. He is the epiphany of a tough leader.”
If Reilly were cast in an old style movie western he would be the square-jawed town sheriff who lets his actions speak for him. He isn’t always fancy but isn’t afraid to get dirty to get the job done.
Toughness has always been one of Reilly’s trademarks. Whether it’s standing in the pocket and taking a hit to complete a throw, or putting his head down to run over a tackler for a first down, the 30-year-old from Kennewick, Wash., will do whatever he can to help his team.
“To me, I just want to win,” Reilly said after the Eskimos practised this week to face the Ottawa REDBLACKS in Sunday’s 103rd Grey Cup presented by Shaw.
“I don’t care how we do it. I don’t care what the numbers are, if we throw the ball 60 times or if we run the ball 60 times.”
Reilly threw for a season-high 370 yards and three touchdowns in Edmonton’s 45-31 victory over the defending Grey Cup champion Calgary Stampeders in last week’s Western Final.
It was the Eskimos’ ninth straight victory and put them into the championship game for the first time since 2005.
“We’re playing good football right now,” said Reilly. “I think the reason for that is we just take it one week at a time. We don’t look at the streak, we don’t look at how many we have won.
“We have moved on from the Western Final. It’s been all about Ottawa since Monday morning. That’s how we have always done it. I think that’s why we are able to show up and play well.”
Reilly’s physical and mental toughness were tested early this year.
He spent most of last season recovering from more injuries than Wile E. Coyote after a day of chasing the Roadrunner. There was a broken bone in his right foot; an atrophied calf muscle and hamstring and bruising on bones in his ankle.
Just when Reilly felt healthy again he suffered a knee injury in the fourth quarter of Edmonton’s season-opening game, a loss against the Toronto Argonauts.
In one of his darkest moments Reilly could still see a bright light.
“When they told me I was going to miss half the season I was pretty ecstatic,” he said. “Before that I thought I was going to be done for the whole year.”
That didn’t make the long road to recovery any easier.
“It sucked,” he said. “It was not fun.”
Reilly came off the bench to play in the Labour Day loss to Edmonton, then started the next week. The Eskimos haven’t lost since.
In just half a season Reilly completed 214 of 39 passes for 2,449 yards, 15 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He also was Edmonton’s second-leading rusher with 324 yards on 66 carries.
Reilly’s take-no-prisoners style comes naturally. Growing up he played football with his older brothers.
“We learned really quick if somebody got hurt and came running into mom, it was either get back outside and keep playing or you are done for the day,” he said.
Reilly always wanted to keep playing.
His father was also his first football coach.
“Being the coach’s kid kind of sucked sometimes,” Reilly said. “My dad took the route where he was going to push me harder than anybody else so no other parent could come and complain he was being too hard on their kid.”
It seemed no matter what team he played for, Reilly always had to prove himself. Whether it was high school, college or pro, he always had to battle his way up the depth chart.
“I really felt like I never have been handed anything,” Reilly said.
“I understand how hard I have had to work to get to where I am. I also know how quickly it can be taken away.
“Whenever I am done playing I just hope to look back on it and say I really gave everything,”
After college Reilly spent time in a couple NFL camps before joining the BC Lions as a free agent in 2010. He spent three years with the Lions, was part of the 2011 Grey Cup team, then was traded to Edmonton in 2013.
The time in BC helped Reilly learn patience.
“That was tough because I didn’t get to play,” he said. “Looking back on it now, it was probably the best thing that could have happened to me.
“I have seen some guys with pretty good talent come through the league and they get pushed into a position to play too early and they don’t know how to handled it and don’t play was well as they could have. I got a lot of practice work against (the Lions’) defence. I feel like that prepared me for the role I have had for the last three years.”
Bighill isn’t surprised by Reilly’s success.
“Whatever the moment is, he’s always in control of it,” said Bighill. “No moment has ever been too big for him.
“In college he would be running over linebackers or defensive ends like it was nothing. He has no fear. He is learning now he can’t make a career doing that.”
