Johany Jutras/CFL.ca
CALGARY — It was another busy day in the lead-up to the 107th Grey Cup presented by Shaw.
The day kicked off at the Boyce Theatre, where Canadian Football League commissioner Randy Ambrosie delivered his annual state of the league, first to the media and then to CFL fans.
After that, both the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Winnipeg Blue Bombers got to take in the sights of McMahon Stadium for the first time, as the respective teams took to the field for another day of practice.
MORE GREY CUP COVERAGE 
» Head-to-Head: Who has the edge in the Grey Cup?
» O’Leary: 5 storylines to follow at 107GC
» Beaming Barker gets back to his roots with Ticats
Standout Remarks from the Commissioner’s State of the League
“Yesterday, I was walking through the – walking through the festival grounds, and this gentleman walks over and asks if he can have a moment. And he told me a story about a friend of his who gave away coins, and it was part of his Grey Cup tradition, and then his friend passed away. And he has – and he has taken up that tradition now. And I guess he went to the mint and bought 700 loonies, and it’s his – it’s his contribution to what has become this national event called Grey Cup, wi—that brings Canadians together. And he wanted me to have one. And again, in that moment I realized just how fundamentally important our game is and how important a role it plays in our – in our ongoing discussion about national unity. Because there is no place you can go in Canada that’ll make you feel more Canadian than a Grey Cup. And I plan on carrying this coin with me as a reminder of that important role that our league plays.”
– Randy Ambrosie on the importance of the Canadian Football League to fans.
“There’s lots of research to suggest and support that new Canadians have a strong desire to feel more Canadian, and I can promise you this. I think this is the greatest opportunity we could possibly can – could possibly being put in front of us because this is Canada. What’s happening this week in Calgary, what happens in our stadiums across the coast, what happens coast to coast, is Canada. This is – this league stands for everything that’s good about our country. We are the country that builds bridges. We are the country that is inclusive. We are the country where a Hamilton Tiger-Cat fan
today somewhere, you know, on these grounds, will stand next to a Bomber fan, and they’ll have a beer together. That’s – that’s the CFL, and that’s Canada, and we need to reach into those communities, and that’s a big part of the 2.0 strategy.”
– Randy Ambrosie on the CFL 2.0 initiative
“We are now and will be the world’s largest global football league. The world’s largest global football league is the CFL. We had – we had nine players on our active rosters this year and two practice rosters spots. That’s 27. This coming year we’ll have two global spots with three practice roster spots. That’s 45. We’re the biggest global football league in the world, and we have to start thinking like that and we have to start acting like that. It is time for some good, old-fashioned CFL swagger to acknowledge and recognize our place in this – in this sports landscape and be proud of it.”
– Randy Ambrosie on the influx of global players in 2019
“We should always be in Atlantic Canada. In some way, somehow, some way, we should always be there because those are great football fans. Our ratings in Atlantic Canada were up 50 percent this year. And we went there for a football game and we bra—and embraced them, and they embraced us back. And you know what? As far as I’m concerned, we’ve got to find a way to be there. We – we are hoping for a stadium. And we’re hoping for our tenth team. But I’d like to say to the people of Atlantic Canada you are part of the CFL family. We are in fact a coast-to-coast league. And – and we’re going to find creative ways, if not through an – a franchise right now, but we’re going to find creative ways to be there. We’re going to go back to Halifax and talk to the – Mayor Savage. We’re going to go back to Halifax and talk to the Premier. We’re going to find a way to be in Atlantic Canada. We’re going to Hali—find a way to be in – in Nova Scotia and in New Brunswick and in every part of that great part of our country because there’s a lot of football fans there, and we need to embrace them.”
– Randy Ambrosie on fans in Atlantic Canada
Standout Remarks from Hamilton Tiger-Cats Practice
“Not at all. It’s who we are and it’s how we got here. From the outside in, it may look loose or confident or whatever adjective you want to put on it, I’d encourage you to come watch us Day 1 at McMaster in training camp, see how we practiced and see if there’s any difference.”
– Orlondo Steinauer on the Ticats being loose ahead of the Grey Cup game
“I think when I was first going through this, I felt all of the emotions — nervous, anxious, excited, all of those ran through me. As you start to learn your team and your staff, you start to become more comfortable. I’ll still have all those emotions run through and I think that’s healthy. I think that means your running at — quote-unquote — normal. I wouldn’t expect the players to be any different It’s kind of the anthem and the flyover that locks me in and that’s a great feeling. It locked me in as a player, it locks me in as a coach. I’ll say that I’ll have all the emotions, but once the ball is kicked off, it’s football.”
– Orlondo Steinauer on having nerves heading into the Grey Cup game on Sunday
“Ted’s a good guy, man. He’s probably one of my best friends on the team and being able to work with him in the middle — a vested vet, somebody who’s been in the CFL for a long time and knows how to do it correctly both on and off the field — it’s a blessing to be able to play with him and on the same side. Off the field, he’s a great guy. He’s a little quiet, but once you get him out of his shell, it’s hard to find a better friend than him.”
– Dylan Wynn on his relationship with Ted Laurent
“I definitely force the issue. First day when I sat next to him, he gave me a weird look and he’s like ‘why are you sitting so close to me in meetings?’ I’m like ‘Ted, you and I are going to be best friends and we’re going to make it to the Grey Cup, I promise.’”
– Wynn on Laurent continued
“Midway through the season when Rob Hitchcock went on the wall of honour and the ‘99 team was there, I had a chance to talk to some of those guys. Just to see the friendship and the teammates that got together for the reunion of that Grey Cup and for Rob Hitchcock, that was great to see. So I don’t thnk it’s sokme desperation to end the drought. We just want to be great and be legendary like those guys are and get back together in the future the way they did and be part of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats franchise and the Grey Cup glory forever.”
– Luke Tasker on breaking the Ticats’ championship drought
“We go Tupac Tuesday, Marley Monday, White boy Wednesday, Throwback Thursday, Aloha Friday, and then when we have meetings on Sundays, it’s Gospel Sundays — naturally.”
– Dylan Wynn on the Ticats’ playlist throughout the season
“They’re both going to go down so it’s fine. Whoever has the football, my job is to tackle them and if I wasn’t good at it, I wouldn’t be here.”
– Dylan Wynn on dealing with Andrew Harris and Chris Streveler
Standout Remarks from Winnipeg Blue Bombers Practice
“It’s been a lot of fun playing with Willie. Me and him actually trained in the offseason and he moved to Austin in the offseason. We worked out together a lot, had a lot of conversations about playing together and it’s been fun. He’s a guy, when you watch him play, you’re like ‘dang, how did he make that play?’ And he makes it look easy. He’s such a talented guy and we were so excited. A couple of my teammates said it felt like we won the award because that’s one of our brothers.”
– Jackson Jeffcoat on playing alongside Willie Jefferson; Jefferson winning Most Outstanding Defensive Player Award
“It’s not a distraction. I like everybody who reaches out, it means that much more to me. Whether it’s friends, people who grew up with me, family or people in the community. I’ve gotten stopped at grocery stores before, basically giving me a history of the drought. That’s the motivation, to see fans who really believe in us and who are passionate about this process and seeing how hard we worked. It’s going to mean a lot to them to bring that Grey Cup home on Sunday.”
– Nic Demski on breaking the Bombers’ championship drought
