CFL.ca
When the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Calgary Stampeders clash on Saturday at McMahon Stadium, two of the CFL’s marquee quarterback names will lead their teams into a West Division matchup with plenty to play for.
For both teams the end goal is of course the same, to pile up as many wins as possible, put the team in a position to earn home field advantage in the playoffs and make a run towards the Grey Cup.
While the big picture goal of both quarterbacks matches that of their teams, Matt Nichols and Bo Levi Mitchell bring significantly different challenges and realities into this week’s matchup.
For Nichols, the last week has been anything but regular. In a rare human moment, the Bombers QB spoke honestly and emotionally following the loss to Ottawa last Friday.
“The saddest thing tonight for me was I feel like I give my heart to this city and this team,” Nichols said.
“I put everything in there to go out there and try to perform for my teammates and these fans and it was pretty sad for me. I took some shots tonight, took a big one on my elbow and had to come out for a couple of plays and shook that one off and got booed by the whole stadium that I was coming back out there. That was pretty hard for me tonight.”
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Football is a sport and starting quarterback a position which often asks players to dismiss personal opinion and honest emotional reflection in favour of helping the team reduce distractions and stay focused on the task at hand.
This reality made Nichols’ moment both shocking and refreshing, despite what you think of the contents of his comments. The ability to forget expectations and show genuine frustration is a galvanizing moment for the Bombers quarterback struggling to climb the West Division mountain.
In all honesty, Nichols is right to be frustrated with fans treatment of him, and fans are right to be upset with him. The Bombers pivot has not yet passed for 300 yards in a game and is only completing 62 per cent of his passes. He was also injured for the first three games of the season.
My takeaway from Matt Nichols’ comments were that he wants respect. Being in an offence constantly overshadowed by the likes of Andrew Harris is a unique issue in the quarterback-driven CFL and Nichols clearly longs to be included amongst the elite passers of the Canadian game.
The respect Nichols wants has never been an issue for his opponent this weekend, Calgary Stampeders quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell.
From his earliest days in the CFL Bo Levi has shown elite talent, processing speed, footwork and accuracy. He is consistently among the CFL’s highest-rated quarterbacks in a variety of annual statistical rankings and shows no sign of slowing down while powering one of – if not the best – CFL pass-catching groups.
What Mitchell is searching for is much bigger than respect. He wants to have his name mentioned alongside the Garcia’s, Flutie’s and Burris’ of Calgary football history.
Having lost the last two Grey Cups Bo Levi and the Stampeders refuse to talk about the concept of winning a Grey Cup in order to make up for missed opportunities but the players and coaches in red and white know that their era in Calgary will be defined by more than stats or regular season wins.
We will only remember the current Stampeders as one of the best CFL teams over a five year period we’ve seen to never win a championship, or as a group that faced great adversity and had to overcome severe mental roadblocks before being considered great, as validated by a Grey Cup ring.
History is very cut and dry in that way which isn’t fair, but it is a fact.
Last week Bo Levi and the Stampeders took a loss on the road to Saskatchewan, their first of any kind in 2018. Now they return home to prove their worth and re-establish themselves as the CFL’s elite team. Bouncing back from wins is a Stampeders specialty, especially since Bo Levi Mitchell became their quarterback. Another sign Mitchell and his legacy are ready to take another step towards immortality.
Yes it’s just Week 11. No it’s not quite Labour Day when ‘the season starts’ according to someone who doesn’t understand math, momentum or any combination of the two. While this week seems like a sleepy one on the Ccalendar, the Winnipeg vs. Calgary game gives us great theatre.
Two quarterbacks in search of vastly different goals. One respect, the other legendary status. Week 11 is just another chance for each to take another step toward their goal.
