Grey Cup Commentary, Notebook

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Today’s Commentary comes to you from the 111^th Grey Cup in Vancouver.

And let me tell you the teams change, sort of, but the faces don’t.

Arriving at the Vancouver airport, it wasn’t a huge shock that there wasn’t any Grey Cup signage to be found. It’s a big, world-class city, with lots going on.

But lightposts were adorned with Grey Cup Festival banners on the way down Granville Street on the way into downtown, so nobody can say they don’t know what’s going on.

But then it hits you: the downtown core, particularly around the Convention Centre and Pan Pacific Hotel, there’s Grey Cup revelry as far as the eye can see.

Vancouver is a pillar of CFL history, and they’ve hosted many Grey Cups in the past. They know how to do it right and there’s a bandshell set-up which had the Lions cheerleaders already performing for the crowd on stage, and a long lineup for the Zip Line just a few steps away.

CFL fans from every team were congregating in the area, getting into the Fan Fest for a sneak peak. It’s the same great faces we’ve come to see for decades at Canada’s most iconic sporting event.

I’ve long said there are two distinct sides to Grey Cup Week: the party, and then the game.

The Toronto Argonauts and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers will appear in the 111^th Grey Cup on Sunday at BC Place.

But for now, there’s not much talk about the game. These fans get together every year during this week, and there’s been a year’s worth of catching up to do.

There’s plenty of time to preview the game but that won’t begin in earnest until the weekend.

For now, it’s about the party, and the friends.

And we all know, that’s what makes the CFL great.

That’s today’s Rod Pedersen Commentary.

(The Rod Pedersen Show airs daily at 12 pm & 4 pm ET on Game+TV, WQEE Radio, Podcast & YouTube Live)

VANCOUVER – Zach Collaros always sees room for improvement. 

Even after putting up a career-high 4,336 passing yards in regular-season action, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers quarterback thought he could have done better. 

“I don’t think you’ve ever arrived and I’m the kind of person that’s never really satisfied with the way I play,” he said Wednesday. 

Whether he was satisfied or not, Collaros’ performance powered the Bombers to the Grey Cup. Winnipeg will face the Toronto Argonauts in a battle for the championship title Sunday. The 36-year-old athlete from Steubenville, Ohio, will be making his sixth Grey Cup appearance and is looking to collect his fourth ring.

The path to Sunday’s game wasn’t smooth.

Winnipeg started the season 0-4 and Collaros didn’t throw a touchdown pass through the winless skid. 

The Bombers were “in a state of flux in a lot of different areas,” said head coach Mike O’Shea, and the quarterback had to navigate the tumult. 

“He’s got a really good understanding of timing and, from a leadership standpoint, what needs to be said and when. And he has the ability to fire up the guys and get them working,” O’Shea said. 

“But I think most of it is that guys look at him and they see him laying it all on the line all the time, and the amount of work he puts in, and they naturally and very easily want to put in a great deal of work and be good for him, too.”

After going 2-6 to start the campaign, the Bombers blanked the B.C. Lions 25-0 on Aug. 1 and never looked back. Winnipeg reeled off eight straight wins and finished the regular season atop the West Division with an 11-7 record. 

Collaros finished second in the league in passing yards behind Bo-Levi Mitchell of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. His biggest show came on Sept. 28 when the six-foot-one, 218-pound University of Cincinnati threw an eye-popping 432 yards and six touchdowns as the Blue Bombers handed the Edmonton Elks a 55-27 beat down. 

VANCOUVER – With a smile, and a shake of his head, Janarion Grant says there’s nothing personal for him about Sunday’s Grey Cup game even though the CFL’s top punt returner will be facing his old team when the Toronto Argonauts play the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at BC Place Stadium. 

No thoughts of revenge, maybe vindication?

“It’s not personal,” Grant said during Wednesday’s media day. “It’s another Grey Cup game. I’m blessed to be part of it. I’m just ready to go to work.”

Grant spent four years with Winnipeg, winning Grey Cups in 2019 and 2021. In 41 regular-season games the slippery 30-year-old from Fort Trilby, Fla., scored eight touchdowns on kick returns, making him the franchise’s all-time leader.

Even when the Bombers allowed Grant to become a free agent last winter he didn’t take it as a snub.

“It was a business deal,” he said. “It happens. You just move forward.

“The guys know how I am and how hard I work. They know I’m ready to play.”

When Toronto head coach Ryan Dinwiddie realized Grant was available he encouraged general manager Michael (Pinball) Clemons to sign him. 

“I didn’t understand why he was a free agent (but) I told Pinball, let’s get him in here,” said Dinwiddie.

Grant didn’t disappoint. He returned 67 punts for a league-leading 989 yards and three touchdowns during the regular season. He also was second in kickoff returns with 1,000 yards and a touchdown.

The Argos finished second in the East this year with a 10-8 record but head into Sunday’s game as heavy underdogs. With starting quarterback Chad Kelly out with a serious leg injury, veteran Nick Arbuckle will be the starter.

VANCOUVER – Mike Miller is back in the Grey Cup but with a different twist.

Miller helped Winnipeg make three straight appearances — winning twice — before being sidelined last year with a neck injury that ultimately ended his CFL career. On Sunday, the 35-year-old native of Riverview, N.B., will be on the field as the Bombers’ special-teams coordinator when they meet the Toronto Argonauts at B.C. Place Stadium.

“It’s certainly different,” Miller said during Winnipeg’s media availability on Wednesday. “It’s more work … as a player the adjustment is being at the meetings on time, watching film on your own.

“Stuff (now) is more daunting, it’s a commitment but if you love it, it’s not really work at the end of the day. It’s what needs to be done so if those are the extra hours you have to put in, you do it.”

The six-foot, 215-pound Miller was a special-teams dynamo over 11 CFL seasons with Edmonton (2011-16) and Winnipeg (2017-23). But he didn’t play all of last season after suffering his neck injury during training camp.

And although Miller worked with the team’s specialists in a non-playing role, his intention was returning to the football field. And neither was coaching until Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea offered Miller the special-teams role. Although Miller wasn’t initially ready to stop playing, the opportunity to remain in the game as a coach was too good to pass up.

In January, Miller retired as a three-time Grey Cup-winning player (2015 with Edmonton, 2019 and ’21 with Winnipeg) and the CFL’s all-time leader in special-teams tackles (226) to join the coaching ranks.

Winnipeg is making its fifth straight Grey Cup appearance and chasing a third win. For many, a victory Sunday would punctuate the franchise’s dominance but Miller said that’s not the major reason why the Bombers want to again hoist the hallowed trophy.

The Canadian Football League (CFL) has announced: 

• Saskatchewan defensive lineman Bryan Cox Jr. has been fined for violating the CFL Code of Conduct by making an inappropriate gesture to fans.

As per league policy, the amount of the fine was not disclosed.

(Canadian Press/CFL PR)