Category: Alternative Football

For six years, quarterback Mike Reilly was a hero in Edmonton, guiding the Eskimos to a 2015 championship and racking up impressive numbers through the air and on the ground.

Now behind center for the BC Lions – his second stint with the Vancouver-based Canadian Football League team – Reilly gets to go from “baby face” to “heel” on Friday when he visits Commonwealth Stadium.

“I spent six great years in Edmonton and enjoyed every minute I was there, through ups and downs and a lot of life-changing experiences both on and off the field,” Reilly said during a conference call on Wednesday. “Obviously on the football field, winning a Grey Cup and a (Most Outstanding Player award) and being part of six different teams, because it truly is a different team every single year.

“Then the off the field changes, being married prior to the 2015 season and then having both my daughters born in Edmonton during the 2016 and 2018 seasons.”

If you follow the Canadian Football League as I do, you know that many of its top-tier quarterbacks – not just journeymen –tend to get around.

For example, Damon Allen, who had an incredible 23-year run in the CFL, threw for 72,381 yards and 394 touchdowns while rushing for 11,920 yards and 93 scores. He played for six different teams (he had two tours of duty with Edmonton and was also behind center for the Ottawa Rough Riders, Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Memphis Mad Dogs, BC Lions and Toronto Argonauts).

Anthony Calvillo recorded league bests in passing yards (79,816), touchdowns (455), completions (5,892) and 300-yard games (125) in a 20-year CFL career that saw him play for the Las Vegas Posse, Hamilton and Montreal Alouettes.

I actually saw him live when he quarterbacked against Matt Dunigan and the Birmingham Barracudas at Legion Field back in 1995, obviously having no idea he’d become a legend north of the border.

And Doug Flutie racked up more than 41,000 passing yards and 270 touchdowns while playing for BC, the Calgary Stampeders and Toronto over eight seasons.

Shoot, Kevin Glenn had his rights held by every CFL team before retiring on June 12 with 52,867 passing yards and 294 scores.

There are many more examples, of course; the list of accomplished quarterbacks is a long one that includes several guys who have changed uniforms while setting records at every stop. Now it’s Reilly’s turn.

The 6-3, 230-pound quarterback started his CFL career with BC in 2011 before spending 2013-18 with Edmonton. A free agent at the end of the 2018 campaign, he chose to return to his original club thanks in large part to a four-year, $2.9 million contract.

“It’s more of doing what’s right for you and your family,” Reilly said. “I didn’t feel like there were negatives with either team on the football side of things.”

In six seasons with the Eskimos – including one that ended with a Grey Cup title – Reilly threw for 26,929 yards and 143 TDs and added 3,040 rushing yards and 45 more touchdowns in 94 starts.

“I do feel like I became the player I am now because of my time in Edmonton,” Reilly said.

Going into Friday’s game against his old team, the former Central Washington player has passed for 27,949 yards and 149 touchdowns in Canada.

At age 34 and just two seasons removed from a MOP Award, the Kennewick, Washington, native has already secured his CFL legacy. But last week he was 22 of 39 for 324 yards and a touchdown in BC’s 33-23 loss to Winnipeg, and wants his homecoming to be much happier for him and BC than the hosts.

Edmonton opened its season with a 32-25 victory over Montreal.

“I’m excited to go back again,” he said. “There’s a lot of great memories as a home field starter at Commonwealth Stadium and hopefully as a visiting player now. I still have a lot of great close friends on the coaching staff and on the roster.”

But like the outstanding QBs who came before him, Reilly will now try to continue his success at the expense of fans who once cheered him on.

It’s nothing personal – just business. And if a player hangs around long enough in the CFL, he’ll experience both sides of the baby face/heel coin.

“I’m sure (the reception) will be mixed in the sense that a lot of the fan base knows it was a great opportunity for me to come here, but at the same time there’s always going to be that animosity for leaving a team,” Reilly said. “And I get that … I totally understand it. They have a great fan base there and I had the privilege of playing there more than 100 games. I expect them to support their team and that always makes it tough on the opposing team.

“Once the ball’s kicked off, I’m the enemy at that point.”

While many of you are dialed in on August 24 (the official start of the 2019 college football season) and/or September 5 (NFL opening night), my wait for a new gridiron campaign ends today.

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats host the Saskatchewan Roughriders at 7 p.m., marking the official kickoff of the 2019 Canadian Football League regular season.

That means from now through the Grey Cup on November 24, I’ll be spreading the CFL gospel on a street corner near you.

Many of you will ignore me, while some might hurl rotten fruit and vegetables in an effort to make me shut up. If you go that route, though, I’ll merely double down on the league that features three downs to make 10 yards, onside punts, and the chance to score a single point even if you miss a field goal.

But, I’m not necessarily seeking converts today; I’ve got five months to evangelize. However, for those of you who’ll tune into ESPN+ tonight and babble on about the CFL’s “unique” rules, I do feel the need to clear some things up.

While both Canadian and American football share a common ancestor in rugby and followed a similar evolution, it’s actually the game played north of the border that more closely follows the original gridiron game.

All you have to do is put a quarter in the ol’ Google Machine and you can learn all sorts of cool stuff.

For example, in its earliest stages the sport was a violent mess and barely recognizable as what we now think of as football. At one point in the 1880s a touchdown was worth two points, the point after kick was worth four points, and a field goal earned five points. There were, in fact, several scoring changes over the next couple of decades.

By 1906 though, the sport was altered dramatically when the American Intercollegiate Football Rules Committee was formed and charged with setting up a system of game play that promoted both safety and cleaner game play.

And guess what?

Teams had three downs to make 10 yards and the field was 110 yards long – two elements of the CFL that remain today.

Those 1906 rules also included five point touchdowns and four point field goals – as well as kickoffs from midfield – but the point is, CFL rules that are seen by some as off the wall are actually more traditional than you might’ve thought.

The 1906 regulations came three years after Canadians adopted the “Burnside Rules,” which championed the “three-to-make-10” cause. They also reduced a team’s number of players allowed on the field at one time from 15 to 12, and CFL games continue to feature 12 to a side.

American football finally went to the four downs to make a first down format in 1912, and also reduced the length of the field to 100 yards.

That was also the year touchdowns became worth six points and field goals were downgraded to three.

Not to humblebrag (OK, it is to humblebrag), but I already knew most of this stuff anyway.

Almost from the time I could read I was fascinated with football, and I remember combing through those old, red World Book encyclopedias and reading about players clad in leather helmets and canvas pants. The Robert Leckie classic “The Story of Football” is still proudly displayed in my bookcase.

By the time I discovered libraries I was able to soak in as much gridiron history as I could handle, and rule changes was one of my favorite topics.

Any time a new pro league comes along I get weirdly excited at the thought of how it might tweak the game.

To the CFL’s credit, it’s always had rules that I found different enough from the NFL and American college football to make watching a game a familiar yet special (and highly enjoyable) experience.

So whether you prefer one style over another – or if, like me, you can get behind both – football is upon us once again.

It really doesn’t matter how it started … I’m just glad it did.