MONDAY SHOW RECAP: MICHAEL BISHOP JOINS!

It was wall-to-wall football on Episode #159 of The Rod Pedersen Show on Monday! Here are the highlights:

• Rod and Dupes were joined in the bunker by former CFL’ers Mike Abou-Mechrek and Nik Lewis as they recapped the NFL’s Conference Final Sunday, and discussed the latest news in the CFL.
• Former Patriots, Packers, Argos, Riders, Bombers, Stampeders and Arena League quarterback Michael Bishop joined the show via video chat for a very interesting conversation. Bishop – looking as fit as ever at age 43 – recounted how he suffered a mild stroke two weeks ago and is now recovering. While his doctor didn’t say as much, Michael feels it’s definitely football-related. He admitted to being overwhelmed by the support from the football world when the news came out of his health setback.
• “Bish” spoke glowingly of his time in the CFL, which included 7 seasons with the Toronto Argonauts. While he didn’t remember Abou, he said his time in Calgary around Nik Lewis was unforgettable. He said he doesn’t recall as much about the games as he did the friendships he made in Canada. He said he wished he had appreciated it more at the time.
• Bishop was the Riders’ starting QB for the second half of the 2008 season but threw 4 interceptions in the first quarter of the Western Semifinal against BC at Taylor Field. He was released two days later.
• Roughriders offensive lineman Dariusz Bladek joined the show from Kissimmee, FL. He’s a pending free agent next month and said he has yet to receive an offer from the Riders. He talked about his Instagram Live video on-field after the West Final and how he hoped it wasn’t his last game with the Green & White. Nik stated, “He’s a Canadian offensive lineman. He’ll have a job in this league as long as we wants it”. Bladek made it clear he’d like to remain with Saskatchewan due to his many strong friendships in the province and the momentum the team has.
• Edmonton Eskimos OT SirVincent Rogers joined the show from Texas. He’s Nik Lewis’s cousin, and the pair renewed acquaintances. Rogers missed all of the 2019 season with a torn tricep so he’s very anxiously awaiting the 2020 season. The 2-time All Star and Grey Cup champ was asked which CFL D-lineman he’s thinking about during his workouts but he replied, “All of ’em”.
• The guys debated the CFL’s new Naturalized Canadian rule (imports with 3 years with one team or 4 years in the league will now classify as non-imports). They agreed it’s a great move for the CFL and it should encourage Americans to stay with one team throughout their career.
• The panel discussed Cody Fajardo’s motivation for the 2020 season being the goalpost he hit on the last play of the 2019 West Final loss to Winnipeg. Nik and Rod agreed that Cody is best to put it behind him, however Rod countered that if that’s what works for him, then good for him. “Whatever works,” Rod stated. Nik thinks Cody has enough to worry about being the leader of this team with a lot of pressure on it heading into 2020!
• In the OT segment, Dupes unwrapped a gift from the Saskatoon Blades for the bunker which was a Kirby Dach bobblehead. Rod placed it beside the Brayden Point bobblehead and said, “You two get to know each other”.
• Monday’s show is available for viewing now on our Facebook page or you can listen to the podcast by clicking on the PODCAST tab at the top of this page!
• See you at 10 am CT Tuesday on Facebook Live and RodPedersen.com/ListenLive. Coming into the bunker for a hockey show are La Ronge Ice Wolves Head Coach/GM Kevin “Killer” Kaminski, SJHL President Bill Chow and The Silver Fox, Kelly Remple!